How the Schleiffen Plan was Meant to Work
The Schleiffen Plan was made between 1871 and 1905 by General count
von
Schleiffen. The main aim of the Schleiffen plan was to avoid a war on
two fronts;
they decided that they wanted to knock France out of any war with one
lightening
attack. In the time between the General’s retirement and the actual
event, the plan was
worked on and amended by many people. The majority of the plan was
based on
assumptions that the Russian army would take quite a while to
mobilise; in this time
the Germans would attack the French, at Paris. The idea was that the
greatly
strengthened right wing of the German army in the northern Rhineland
would carry
out a wide skirting movement through neutral Belgium and Holland
before moving
south to encircle the French near Paris. The army would create a
sweeping arc of
400miles just to the west of Paris. Belgium and Holland seemed like a
good route
because they expected very little if any resistance, and they were
sure that any
Belgian army would have any effect on the German progress. They were
also working
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under the assumption that Britain would not uphold its ancient pact
with Belgium and
would therefore not get involved. Once the army reached France and
encircled Paris,
they would attempt to take over the French Government, giving Germany
control over
the country. By this time they expected the Russians to have mobilised
and the
German army would then be switched to the eastern front to defeat the
Russian army.
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...mostly to defend ports and harbours
or to attack
ships. The tactic widely used was to lay them in harbours so that when
enemy ships
set off, the mine was triggered and they were aught by surprise. The
principle of the
new technology was that it was used more and to a more positive
effect, taking the
war back from one of attrition to one of movement. For the Germans it
was now a
race against time to destroy the French and British, thus bringing the
continent under
German control, preventing an American army from meeting. Therefore
the entry of
the Americans into the war was a very important reason for the
stalemate being
broken, as it lead to the Ludenrdorff offensive in March 1918, which
aimed to break
stalemate and win the war before the American troops arrived in
France.
Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen was a German field marshal who served as the Chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. He is known for the Schlieffen Plan, a strategic plan designed to defeat Russia and France, which involved fighting both fronts at the same time.
It was military plan for outlined to tackle with a threats of Russia and France if Russia declared war on Germany. Germany had fear because France was militarily stronger at that time. First, Germany would set up a defensive line of military on the Russia and German border to secure their eastern side. This plan involved German troops entering France through its more lightly defended northern borders—but most would instead invade via the small nations of Belgium, Luxemburg, and Netherlands. The plan was strategically important to play a defensive role in the
The Schlieffen Plan was devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, the Chief of the General Staff in the German army in 1905. There were a number of different aspects to the Schlieffen Plan, and all were aimed at defeating France as quickly as possible, preferably in under 6 weeks. The Germans believed this was possible because they had defeated France in Alsace and Lorraine in the 1871. The main aim of the Schlieffen Plan was to knock out and capture France and then attack Russia in order to avoid fighting a war on two fronts at the same time.
The Battle of the Somme was one of the most famous battles that took place during World War One. Germany had believed that a war with Russia was likely to occur and if that happened then they would also come into attack from France. In order to avoid attack from both sides Germany planned to attack France first and then Russia, believing that Russia would need 6 weeks to attack them and they could defeat France in that time. This was the basis of the Schlieffen Plan. Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium as they thought that Belgium would not fight them. Germany launched a massive attack in the French city of Verdun in early 1916.This gave a real shock to France as they did not see it coming but, to lessen the pressure on France, the British planned an attack at Somme. The British wanted to break the German lines so that all the allies could continue the war into Germany.
For the reason that the US contributed the greater part of machinery, manpower and finances to the Allied war effort, General Eisenhower's appointment ahead of Montgomery as the ultimate Allied Commander was logical. He was always sensitive to political and higher-ranking military bosses, above all Roosevelt, Churchill, and Marshall. His focus was completely on the Allies’ goal of "total surrender." A skilled professional, Eisenhower never allowed the egoistical and individual aspirations of any of his generals sidetrack him from trying to realize that goal. He took note and considered Montgomery's views and thoughts but remained the designer of the multi-pronged assault tactic. The approved plan consisted of two phases: The MARKET phase was to “lay a ‘carpet’ of airborne forces across the five major bridges or choke point which existed on the general axis of the main road through Eindhoven to Uden,...
World War II was, quite simply, the most deadly and destructive conflict in human history. In fact, E.B. "Sledgehammer" Sledge, a renowned U.S. Marine who fought on the Pacific Front during the war, gave a first account of the atrocities he experienced in his 1981 memoir, “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.” He said, "It was so savage. We were savages. We had all become hardened. We were out there, human beings, the most highly developed form of life on earth, fighting each other like wild animals” (Sledge). Why, then, is World War II referred to as "The Good War" and why is it still significant today (Terkel 387)? Regardless of the pulverization, demise, and decimation, the war helped introduce a new world, one in which Hitler's Third Reich in Europe was nonexistent. Such a world was advocated by the peacemakers of the post World War II era. On June 5, 1947. The US Secretary, George Marshall, made public the United States government’s decision to aid in the political and economic restoration of Europe (Marshall).
The Great Depression era was a dark moment in history for American economic history, however often times we overlook the tremendous response from our federal government. President Roosevelt used the power of the presidency to pass several monumental pieces of economic legislation such as the Emergency Banking Act and the Glass-Steagall Act. Roosevelt’s administration also passed legislation that formulated various social programs such as the Public Works Program and the Federal Housing Authority. These programs were largely focused on providing temporary relief for American citizens. Furthermore, many Americans were employed to construct parks, roads, and bridges. World War II also played a big part in stimulating the American economy during this time period. Citizens at home were able to work on machinery and other military accessories to supply the troops during the war. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration brought America through the most difficult economic time in its history and they ushered in pragmatic progressive economic policies.
The Germans took an unrealistic approach in the decision making process for the battle. During the debate in the German High Command about what to do in the summer of 1943, two options were introduced. The realistic option, which was supported by the best German field commanders and many soldiers, was to compensate for the large Russian numerical advantage by fully utilizing the superiority of the German commander and soldiers in tactics, command and fighting, by a strategy of dynamic mobile defense that would cause great losses to the Russians in a series of local clashes. This would delay the Russians and was a realistic goal as it was easily achievable. However, Adolf Hitler wanted to follow the enthusiast-optimistic option of having a major decisive battle against a large portion of the Russian armour in order to destroy them. He thought that the best suited place for such a battle was the Kursk salient, where the Russians had already established battle grounds. In fact, aerial photos taken by German airplanes clearly revealed that the Russians had already built dense and deep fortifications at the Kursk salient in order to counter an attack. Also, it was evident that many Russian tanks were moved deeper behind the front line. Finally, the Blitzkrieg tactic that was often used by the Germans would have to be changed.
Walls are one of man’s oldest defenses; physical barriers that are erected to keep people out, or, in some cases, to keep them in. Walls are physical fortifications that create tension and distain among people on both sides. This is what the Berlin Wall, or der Mauer in German, was; a physical barrier created in Berlin, Germany during the Cold War. It was created by the East Germans in an attempt to stop East German citizens from immigrating to Western Germany. However, the Berlin wall was a crude attempt to separate the political and social variances in Germany during the Cold War, because, while it created a physical barrier, it still was unable separate people in an ethic manor.
He pointedly noted that “when a battle needs the last ounce of available force, the commander must not be in the position of depending upon request and negotiation to get it…I stated unequivocally that so long as I was in command I would accept no other solution.” Eisenhower EVALUATED the INFORMATION as they “finalized the most massive and complex military plan ever conceived.” Air forces organized a committee that began drafting a systematic bombing campaign to knock out the French railway transportation system prior to Overlord called the Transportation Plan. Eisenhower looked at the IMPLICATIONS and the reciprocal components of Gerras’ model for 2nd and 3rd order effects of his decision and reevaluated his assumptions. Eisenhower was able to minimize his egocentric tendencies and evaluate his decisions. He was persuaded the plan represented the most promising means of wrecking the German army’s communications with
due to a couple of reasons. The most important one was the fact he was
Hitler then ordered the attack on Belgium, Holland and France. The British and French had predicted that the German attack would come through Belgium. So the British and French forces moved north into Belgium to meet the German advance. The Germans again used overpowering blitzkrieg tactics and quickly overwhelmed Holland. The main German attack began further to the south, as...
The Schlieffen Plan is one of the first military plans people learn about when studying World War I. Despite, the plan being common knowledge to individuals who have studied Western military, there is much controversy over why the plan failed for the Germans. In recent decades the main question over Schlieffen’s war plan, whether the plan was meant to be used as a military strategy or not. Since, the reunification of Germany in 1989, document that were once lost are now resurfacing, and with more information, there are more arguments about the reason the Schlieffen Plan failed. The recent argument on why the Schlieffen Plan failed was because Schlieffen was not creating a military plan to follow for war and destroy the French military in one blow, instead he was sketching out the possible ways Germany could defend themselves
* Sir Edward Grey made parliament fight, he said 'if we don't fight Germany will dominate Europe and trade will suffer'
criticized for this, he stood by his decision stating that he knew the Russians would force the army into the cold harsh, Russian winter, such as the case of Napoleon. Even though Schlieffen came up with this wonderful and well thought out plan, his successor, General von Moltke, changed the plans entirely.