How the Schlieffen Plan Was Meant
To Work
Before the First World War, tensions were already high. Great Britain
were rivals with Germany over industry, their Empire, and Naval
dominance. Germany had a rivalry with the French, following the German
victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. France therefore hated the
Germans, and clashed with Germany on numerous occasions over the
control of Morocco. Russia had a heated rivalry with Austro-Hungary
over access to the Black Sea. Both wanted to take over the crumbling
Turkish Empire. Austro-Hungary resented Russia at the loss of
prestige, as Russia were taking over the Turks Empire. Italy wanted
overseas colonies, and to show Europe that it was a strong nation. The
smaller nations, such as Serbia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, all wanted to
express their own national identity, and many used terrorism to
promote their cause.
The situation in Europe prior to World War One was dire. On the 23rd
of July, the Arch-Duke of Austro-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, was shot. A
Serbian assassin known as Princips carried out this murder. Austria
gave an ultimatum to Serbia thereafter, and on the 28th, declared war,
and shelled Belgrade, the Serbian capital. The next day, the Russian
army was prepared to help Serbia defend itself against the mighty
Austrian army, and Germany warned Russia not to help the Serbs. On
August 1st, Germany made a declaration of war on Russia, and began
mobilising its army towards France (an ally of Russia in the Triply
Entente) and Belgium. The French army was put on a war footing, ready
to fight against any German invasion. On August 3rd, Germany declared
war on France, and invad...
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...th Russia) by the railway system they had spent months
developing, and hold any Russian opposition.
The German leaders didn't fear the small British contingent, known as
the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F), and didn't even expect the
British to aid the Belgians. Even if the British army did come, the
Germans planned to capture the ports on the Channel, at Ostend,
Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne. They would then sweep south, preventing
the British army travelling across France in large numbers. As it was,
the Germans didn't expect the Russians to be ready in any less than
six weeks. They therefore intended to ignore them to start with. After
France was conquered, and the British were unable to land, the
enormous German army could transfer across via the railway system, to
the Eastern Front, and take on the Russians.
The Schlieffen Plan and How It Was Meant to Work France had made an alliance with Russia that said that nether country could attack the other. This was done to defend against a German attack because both countries border Germany and this made them very vulnerable. Germanys army was not strong enough to attack both France and Russia at the same time. Because of this, the Fuhrer wanted another way that Germany could attack both countries without the army being too weak at one front and
individual war plans which stated how they would rise above their enemies and claim victory. Unfortunately for some, not all of these plans were created equally. Unlike the other powers of Europe, Germany had created only one plan known as the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan had been created to be used as the perfect tool to winning a war, unfortunately the plan had been born from the arrogance of Alfred von Schlieffen and later altered by Helmuth von Moltke. Due to how the Schlieffen Plan was both created
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European powers meant that countries were desperate to show their dominance, and this was best done through military investing. Furthermore, increasing military spending meant that countries wanted to use their armies, and this idea is backed up by the ”use it or lose it” mindset. Alliances were formed to protect one another against possible future attacks, but ended up further increasing the tensions between the European powers as alliances were formed against other alliances. Imperialism meant that countries
At the end of the war article 231 explicitly placed the guilt for 'all loss and damage' of the war on the defeated Germany and her allies. This clause was bitterly denied by Germany and has been a subject of keen debate ever since. The issuing of the 'blank cheque' to Austria in 1914, their strong "will to war", the aggressive Schlieffen Plan, the arms race and vital miscalculations on behalf of the German leaders have all been cited as causes for WW1 that were solely Germany's fault. In the
A Summary of Barbara W. Tuchman's The Guns of August “The Guns of August” was written by Barbara W. Tuchman in 1962. The book details the causes of the first World war and describes the first month of the war. The book clearly illustrates how a local war became an entire European struggle by a call to war against Russia. Soon after the war became a world issue. Summary of the Book Plans The Beginning (Chapters 1-5) The book begins at the funeral procession of King Edward VII of England
Period 1 - The Scheiffen Plan - how it created a Stalemate ========================================================== * The plan was developed by German chief of Staff General Von Schlieffen in 1905 * It was developed due to the development of the Anglo-Russian alliance, and the plan meant to eliminate the chance of Germany fighting as War on two fronts. * The German Schlieffen Plan looked to a quick War - 'Home before the leaves fall' The Aims of the Plan --------------------
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SAASS instructor and inspired this essay. Six simple words simply arranged in two sentences evoke a flood of questions and scarce answers. How can strategy be a guess? Surely at any level, members craft strategies with great aforethought and care. At the national level, the National Security Strategy and the National Military Strategy are prominent examples. How could these documents, so essential to the country’s defense, possibly be a guess? Did the authors fathom a substitution of “guess” for
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