The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan and World War I

From 1914-1918 there was a war between Austria-Hungary and German and Allies which is known as World War 1. More than 30 countries were involved in this war. 16 million people died and 20 million people were injured. The advance in technology both caused and ended the stalemate in this war. The stalemate occurred on the western front, which was on the western part of Germany. The failed of the Schlieffen plan forced both countries to be defensive. Evidently, trench warfare was the biggest reason why the war stalemate occurred. Also, the development of tanks broke the stalemate. Without the failed of Schlieffen plan, the country might not have been defensive and made trenches which use a lot of development of the technology and the advance of technology caused occurred and ended the stalemate.

The main reason for the stalemate was trench warfare. The development of technology made the trench more complex and difficult to breakthrough. A lot of new weapons were used in the trench warfare. First, there was a new weapon used called barbed wire. It was placed at the interval of each trench to protect the army from attack. It was so tough that nothing could break the barbed wire. This made it difficult for soldiers to cross over to the enemy’s trench. The second weapon that was used was artillery. It was used regularly in 1914. It could church up the ground and break down the formation behind the frontline. Also, the long range artillery fire was developed at that time. This type of artillery could fire from a place very far from the front line. Therefore, both countries made trenches which were deep enough for the soldiers to go underground and to conceal their bodies. The trenches could keep soldiers take cover from enemy fire. To b...

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... and the cage which was set on the top would prevent the attack, so they failed to destroy it. In addition, the heavy weight of the tank could prevent it from falling into the trench, so it made it possible to cross the enemy trenches. It destroyed all the devices which were used for defending and moved forward to the enemy’s trench. Before these new weapons were used in the trench warfare, nothing could break through the complex trench system. However these new developments of technology could break them and it was able to end the stalemate.

The failure of the Schlieffen plan forced both sides to fight with complex trench warfare which included some new technology, which made the stalemate occur. The stalemate was ended by tanks, another developed weapon. Thus, the development of new weapons and technology created the stalemate, as much as it ended it as well.