What was the first major battle on the western front?

I'm presuming you're inquiring about the first major battle of World War One.

You should look up the First Battle of the Marne which began near Champagne, Fr. The military tactics early on were still very mobile and each side (French vs Germans) continued to try and out flank each other (attack from the side rather than front to front). They had a domino effect that became known as the "Race to the Sea". Once the solders were settled in, they changed to trench warfare tactics and became very stagnant. This became the Western Front.

My wife and I took many history classes (just for fun) and one was about WWI. We actually traveled to Europe, France, Belgium, Germany to visit these battle grounds. My grand father was a WWI veteran, I still have his purple heart.