WWI:The Schlueffen Plan

In 1914, Germany thought that they would undoubtedly have to fight Russia. They also believed that if this happened that France would always side with Russia, because they were allies and they would still want revenge for the Franco-Prussian war, where they lost a couple of colonies.  Germany realised that if this happened they would be facing a war on both sides of the country, and this was something Germany was very keen to avoid.

Germany believed that they therefore should begin the war, the planned a very quick attack on France where they would of course be victorious, and then they would still have enough time to take their troops to Russia, because they would take a long time getting prepared for war. They were wrong. This was the basis of the Schlieffen Plan.

Assumptions Made By the Germans

• The Russians would take at least 6 weeks to prepare and mobilise for war.
• France could be defeated with ease in under 6 weeks
• Belgium would not mind a whole group of German soldiers marching through neutral territory.
•  Britain would not poke their noses into the war.

What Actually Happened

On the 2nd of August 1914 Germany began to invade Luxembourg and Belgium just like the Schlieffen plan had dictated.

The Belgium army responded to the Germans marching through by retaliating and fighting them. The BEF( British Expeditionary Force) turned up sharpish to defend Belgium, who they had promised help to at a previous date.

Russia was ready for war in just 10 days, so Germany had to remove troops from France, and repost them on the Eastern border.

Germany took a short cut and didn’t take the chance to attack and conquer Paris, but where met by the French troops just east of the capitol where they fought in the battle of Marne(5-11th September) which dramatically slowed the Germans down.