Schlieffen Plan (1914)

Schlieffen Plan (1914)

1. What was it?

   • A strategy designed in 1905 by German von Schlieffen to prevent Germany from fighting a simultaneous two-front war against France and Russia.
   • Plan aimed to capture Paris in 6 weeks, before Russia could mobilise its army
     • Once France was defeated, Germany would rush its troops east by train to fight the slower Russian army.

2. Why did it fail?

   • Von Moltke changed the plan so troops didn't go through Netherlands
     • Forced all the northern German armies to march exclusively through a narrow strip of land in eastern Belgium. This squeezed an immense number of soldiers into a geographical choke and slowed attack
   • The Belgian army fought back, slowing down the German advance.
     • Britain supported Belgium and didn't stay neutral, declared war on August 4 1914
   • Russia mobilized in about 10 days rather than six weeks, forcing Germany to divert troops to the Eastern Front

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