Before 1914-18, Germany had perceived itself as surrounded by enemies who were superior both in numbers and resources. \" HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOUR CHANNEL?You can support us by sharing our videos with your friends and spreading the word about our work.You can also support us financially on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thegreatwarPatreon is a platform for creators like us, that enables us to get monthly financial support from the community in exchange for cool perks. Schlieffen was very worried about Germanys position with Russia and France. The French plan, endorsed by commander Joseph Joffre, called for an all-out attack into Germany to regain the lost territories of Alsace-Lorraine, avenging the humiliating defeat of 1871, and redeeming French honor. Schlieffen Plan has been often considered as a demonstration of Field Marshal Helmuth von . Find out on AlternateHistoryHub: http://bit.ly/1VJ9T0UThe Schlieffen Plan was the blueprint fo. The Schlieffen Plan was a German war strategy theorised by Alfred von Schlieffen and enacted in 1914 by Helmuth von Moltke. After von Schlieffen died, this plan was further worked on and altered by Helmuth von Moltke, his successor. The objective of the alliance was to encourage co-operation against the perceived threat of Germany. This forced the Germans to close the gap, though this meant that the western most army did not go far enough west. With this approach in mind, the French army was sent to man France's heavily fortified border with Germany, the Maginot Line, and to await a German attack. Schlieffen replaced the Clausewitzian concept of Schwerpunkt (centre of gravity) in operational command with the idea of continuous forward movement designed to annihilate the enemy. What was the Schlieffen Plan BBC - History - The Western Front, 1914 - 1918 Animation n n n Count Alfred von Schlieffen drew up the Schlieffen Plan in 1905 when he was German Chief of Staff. From the operational ideas of Schlieffen they placed the emphasis on speed, flank attacks, encirclements and decisive battle. But Germany said that if the Belgian government didnt let German troops go through its land, it would be an enemy. The uniqueness of the Schlieffen Plan was that it ran counter to prevailing German military wisdom, which was principally derived from Carl von Clausewitzs seminal work On War (1832) and the strategic thought of the elder Helmuth von Moltke. The Germans did not believe that Britain would go to war over their 1839 treaty with Belgium, which they described as a 'scrap of paper'. The French followed their own strategy, Plan XVII, with support from the British. Germany could place their military might on one frontier, and then move it to another one. Germany and their allies would invade France through Belgium, instead of directly attacking. First, they underestimated how quickly the Russians could deploy their troops. In addition, as the Germans marched through France, their advance slowed. AND WHO IS BEHIND THIS PROJECT? Next The plan failed because it wasn't realistic, requiring a flawless unfolding of events which never occurs in wartime. Seeing that Kluck had extended his forces and exposed his right flank, he saw a weakness to exploit. Schlieffen foresaw the potential to fight a two-front war against both France and Russia, and also a one-front war against France while Russia remained neutral. Moltke talked to Kaiser Wilhelm II after German forces were defeated. Six weeks later, Europe found itself on the brink of the 20th centurys first world war. Schlieffen thus turned a doctrinal debate (as chronicled by military historian Hans Delbruck) toward the strategies of annihilation (Vernichtungsstrategie) and attrition (Ermattungsstrategie). The Schlieffen Plan The most influential plan was that of Germany - the Schlieffen Plan - drawn up in 1905 by General Alfred von Schlieffen. They were slowing down. Following an order from Colonel Hentsch, German forces fell back to the Aisne River and began to dig in. The UK would not get involved. Schlieffen wished to emulate Hannibal by provoking an Entscheidungsschlacht (decisive battle), using a massive force, in a single act, to bring a swift and conclusive victory. But it was still the same idea: General Schlieffen decided that, even if the French attacked somewhere else in France, he would focus on the right-wing of the German army. They thought that Russia would be slower than Germany because they needed more time to gather their soldiers. Had the German army been mechanised at the outbreak of World War One, it is likely that the outcome of the war would have been very different. Interested in reaching out? Some of the reasons this plan failed was because. The Schlieffen Plan was put into action by Von Moltke on August 2, 1914. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Schlieffen was an ardent student of military history, and his strategic plan was inspired by the Battle of Cannae (216 bce), a pivotal engagement during the Second Punic War. The German general Schlieffen counted on two things. The manpower ratio was 7:1 from right wing to left.That massive force was to break through at the Metz-Diedenhofen area and sweep all French forces before it, swinging like a door that had its hinge in the Alsace region. The Team responsible for THE GREAT WAR is even bigger: - CREDITS -Presented by : Indiana NeidellWritten by: Indiana NeidellDirector: David VossDirector of Photography: Toni StellerSound: Toni StellerSound Design: Marc Glckshttps://www.facebook.com/ReflectionzOfficialEditing: Toni Steller Research by: Indiana NeidellFact checking: Latoya Wild, David VossA Mediakraft Networks Original ChannelBased on a concept by Spartacus OlssonAuthor: Indiana NeidellVisual Concept: Astrid Deinhard-OlssonExecutive Producer: Astrid Deinhard-Olsson and Spartacus OlssonProducer: David VossSocial Media Manager: Florian Wittig and Laura PaganContains licenced Material by British PathAll rights reserved - Mediakraft Networks GmbH, 2015 The first reason is that, in order to invade France, the German first and second armies were in Belgium needing to get to and conquer Fort Liege. Germany lost World War II. It was essential for Germany to strike quickly . Fighting the British and French together on the Western Front was never part of the German strategy. He was in a good position to dictate such terms. It was hoped that Paris itself would be surroundedFrench armies and French leadershipand that this would represent a military masterpiece, a battle of annihilation. It also assumed that Germany would defeat France in less than six weeks. Read more. It does have some truth in it, but there is more to it than this statement says. Since its inception, the Russians had improved militarily, and he did not want to have them invade Germany while he fought France. He was wrong. The Schlieffen plan failed because Germans underestimated Russia and the plan depended on rapid deployment, which was resisted by Belgium. This happy feeling covered up the dangerous situation Germany was in. At the centre of the Schlieffen Plan was that France would be defeated first, making it difficult for Russia and Britain to continue fighting. A battle in the open would generally only last for a day or so, trench battles went on for several days inflicting relentless stress and fatigue. The Schlieffen plan could only have worked if events had gone perfectly. Then the British Army got involved in the fight when they found out that Belgium was being attacked. Above all else, this doctrine created aggressive and flexible leaders. In 1839, Britain made a treaty with Belgium to keep them neutral. Russia would take six weeks to mobilise their army. Germany also had better-trained troops. Helmut von Moltke adapted the original plan by Alfred von Schlieffen and ultimately failed when the Germans were beaten at the Battle of the Marne. They advanced a hundred miles in France. In World War I, the Schlieffen Plan was conceived by German general General Alfred von Schlieffen and involved a surprise attack on France. These plans are typically called wargaming. Prussia invented the modern version of wargaming in the 18th century, but it not adopted widely by other nations until after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The Schlieffen Plan failed for several reasons including a lack of manpower, underestimation of the speed of Russian troop deployments, and the belief that Britain would not defend neutral Belgium. His adjustment left more German forces in the east. Die Bchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, C.H. He also decided to avoid invading the Netherlands, hoping to keep the British out of the war. At the center of Europe, it might find itself forced to fight against both France in the west and Russia in the east. The so-called blitzkrieg of 1940 was really the German doctrine of 1914 with technology bolted on. Across the English Channel, a stunned British military establishment struggled to determine how it was that events had so quickly gone so horribly wrong. Germanys rise as a Great Power during the turn of the century is a story complete with revolution, political upheaval, unstable leaders, and generals dancing in tutus. And as military technology, including that of tanks, motor vehicles, aircraft and radios, was developed during the 1920s and 30s, so it was grafted onto this doctrinal framework. He was younger and his plan was different than Schlieffens. Negotiations also began to add Russia to this alliance. It was a plan that nearly succeeded but its success could only be measured by being 100% successful. [], Amelia Earhart Found Again? They were marching east of Paris instead of going west and encircling the city. Under the direction of Hans von Seeckt, commanders fashioned the doctrine that the Wehrmacht was to employ in World War Two. Updates? The German advance had been hampered by fiercer Belgian resistance than had been anticipatedas well as by the destruction of railroads and other strategic assets by the Belgians or the Frenchand was also slowed by German anxieties by the fear of snipers. To read more on what we're all about, learn more about us here. The plan was devised and wargamed in 1905 by then-Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, Alfred von Schlieffen. Simply put, Germanys geopolitical challenge was the possibility of war on two fronts simultaneously. World War One. The plan used at the beginning of World War I had been modified by Helmuth von Moltke, who reduced the size of the attacking army and was blamed for Germany's failure to win a quick victory. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Within 10 days the Russians had invaded Germany, which meant that the Germans had to switch troops away from western Europe to hold up the Russian invasion. Or just share our videos on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit etc. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Schlieffens plan would be altered by Moltke, but it would never be fully implemented as he envisioned. Because Europe was dividing into two fronts, he thought that Russia and France were serious enemies. The Upper Rhine to the Swiss border and the Lower Alsace were to be defended by Landwehr brigades. The Schlieffen Plan, devised a decade before the start of World War I, outlined a strategy for Germany to avoid fighting at its eastern and western fronts simultaneously. In reality, the way in which the Wehrmacht fought, their 'doctrine' in today's parlance, was based more upon ideas than technology. Through swift action, the Germans would outflank their enemies through the Low Countries, force France to surrender, and then turn to fight Russia. However, the modern technology was merely used to enhance the capabilities that had already been provided, thanks to the army's strategic doctrine. The German Schlieffen Plan had prepared the nation for this exact moment and now was the time to implement it. Contrary to the beliefs of the Allied military establishment of the day, however, blitzkrieg was not a brand-new way of waging war. That lead to the turning point in this war because they could not fight on the sea anymore. The biggest problems in World War One, however, were at the lower, tactical level. The speed, flexibility and initiative of the German Wehrmacht took the Allies completely by surprise during the blitzkrieg at the start of World War Two. They were to buy time for the Belgians, so they could receive support from the French and British, who despite Moltkes hopes joined in the war. Alfred von Schlieffen's Military Writings by Robert T Foley (Frank Cass, 2003), The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940 by Robert A Doughty (Archon Books, 1990), The Roots of Blitzkrieg: Hans von Seeckt and German Military Reform by James S Corum (University Press of Kansas, 1992), The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920-1939 by Robert M Citino (Lynne Reinner, 1999), Germany and World War Two, Vol. The plan was designed to calculate . The failure of the Schlieffen Plan ultimately forced Germany to fight a two-front war from which they could not overcome and did not have the colonies to support the war . Germany and Austria would beat Russian forces. There are so many what ifs that it is hard to know how the outcome of the war would have been different if Germany had not made their plan. Instead of doing this head-on against the heavily fortified French border, Germany would instead first invade neutral Belgium and the Netherlands and then attack France through their northern borders. But his influence continued after that day. Watch it now, on Wondrium. Belgium refused to let Germany pass through their land without fighting. Answer (1 of 8): Broadly speaking, the plan was too ambitious. They had promised to protect Belgium from enemies back in 1839. The Schlieffen plan failed mainly because the Belgians put up a fight, the Russians mobilised quicker than expected, and the plan was changed. In a two front war the Schlieffen Plan called for a defensive first strategy, followed by strategic counterattacks. The typical invasion route into France was through the Burgundian Gate. Rebuffed, Schlieffen responded with belligerence, and he was dismissed. Shocked by their experience, the Allied military observers who had survived the fall of France attributed their defeat to the completely new form of warfare pioneered by the Wehrmacht - the blitzkrieg. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan also resulted from several incorrect assumptions that hampered the attack. 1914-1918, Profile Books, 2013.Stone, Norman. The man who crafted it was the German general chief of staff, General Alfred von Schlieffen. Once again, Germany planned a surprise attack on France. As most of the French army was stationed on the border with Germany, the Schlieffen Plan aimed for the quick defeat of France by invading it through neutral Belgium and moving rapidly on to capture Paris. On September 5, as the Germans continued their march south, Joffre struck. The rest of the German forces had to fall back to keep in line with them. It was devised by and named after German Field Marshal Count Alfred . The plan, however, was flawed from the start. When war broke out in 1914, his plan was adopted by another leader, Helmuth von Moltke. In the course of the negotiations Ptain - victor of the battle of Verdun in World War One - agreed to cede three-fifths of French territory to German control. The Schlieffen Plan What is a Schlieffen Plan. But it turned out to be an ugly way of wearing everyone down during World War I Eventually, it led to Germany's downfall. Kluck believed it was a safe move as he knew of no significant concentrations of enemy troops near Paris. Some of the reasons this plan failed was because. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The BEF was sent to join the line of French troops defending the border with Belgium. Videos: British PathPictures: Mostly Picture Alliance Background Map: http://d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=6030\u0026lang=enLiterature (excerpt):Gilbert, Martin. Although the two armies had more than 3,500 tanks between them, these were largely cast in a supporting role. The Schlieffen Plan disregarded the political implications of what was regarded as essentially a technical solution to a military problem. the lack of communication between the soldiers and their leaders and, the leadership that the leader led them throughout the plan, the amount of assumptions that the Germans made . Germany would attack France first by traveling through Belgium, and take Paris in about 3 weeks. His plan was revised at the outbreak of World War I. His well-trained and organised troops had also caused France's Allies, in the form of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), to beat an ignominious retreat from continental Europe.