The Schlieffen Plan

How it Failed and Led to 4 + Years of Trench Warfare

Surrounded• With Russia to the East and France to

the West, Germany was surrounded by enemies

The Plan

• In 1905, Chief of Staff of the German Army, Alfred Graf Von Schlieffen was given the task of devising a plan to counter a joint attack by France and Russia

The Quick Defeat

• Schlieffen believed the quick defeat of France was key to victory

• If France were to fall, its allies, Britain and Russia, would not want to go on fighting

Big Slow Russia• Schlieffen

estimated that it would take Russia 6 weeks to organize its armies

• Therefore, it was important to the success of Germany that France was forced to surrender before Russia could mobilize

Avoiding the French Defences • German

y feared the French defences around the disputed provinces of Alsace-Lorraine

Concentration of the German Forces

• The Original plan by Schlieffen called for 90% of the German forces to attack France through the Netherlands and Belgium• The rest of the German Army was to head East to prepare for the Russian advance

Moltke Brings Changes

• Schlieffen retired from his post in 1906 and was replaced by Helmuth Von Moltke

• Moltke altered the original plan:– 81% of the German Army would be

concentrated on the west– 19% would concentrate in the east– The Germans would attack through the

flat fields of Belgium and Luxembourg, not the Netherlands

The Plan

The Failure of the Plan

• On August 2nd, The Schlieffen Plan was put into action when Germany invaded Belgium

• The Plan ran into many issues, including:– The Belgians resisted– The Russians were quicker than

expected– Britain rose to the defence of Belgium

and arrived in Europe quickly

The Failure of the Plan

The Western Front

• With Britain’s help and the push from the French out of Paris, the Germans were halted

• However, with the might of the German army having already ripped into Northern France and Belgium, they could only be pushed back so far

• When it became clear that both sides could push no further, the process of ‘digging in’ along the Western Front began

Questions1. Why did Germany feel a need to develop a battle

plan?2. When was the Schlieffen Plan developed? What

does this say about Militarism in Europe?3. What did the Plan believe would happen if France

fell quickly?4. Why was it important that France fall in 6 weeks?5. Why do you think Germany wanted to avoid

attacking through Alsace-Lorraine?6. Who replaced Schlieffen? When did this happen?7. What were some of the changes to the Schlieffen

plan?8. For what specific reason did Britain rise to the

defence of Belgium? (think of your alliances note)9. What role did the Belgians have in the failure of

the Plan?10. How do you think Russia being quick to mobilize

affected the failure of the Plan?