why did the schlieffen plan fail bbc bitesize why did the schlieffen plan fail bbc bitesize

The Schlieffen Plan failed for 6 key reasons: The Germans could not keep to the 6-week timetable for defeating France: the Belgian Army slowed the German advance at forts around Liege, while the BEF slowed it further at the Battle of Mons . 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 . To accomplish this, he advocated the use of the flexible command system pioneered by Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. Due to the Schlieffen Plan, a war against Russia in the east forced the Germans to immediately make war against France in the west. He fought in wars against other countries like Austria-Prussia and France. To avoid that situation, Schlieffen planned to attack France first, while Russia was still mobilizing. Find out on AlternateHistoryHub: http://bit.ly/1VJ9T0UThe Schlieffen Plan was the blueprint for Germany's army to avoid a two-front war with Russia and France. Enzyklopdie Erster Weltkrieg, Schningh Paderborn, 2004Michalka, Wolfgang. As well as the fact that Germany's army simply wasn't strong enough. Watch it now, on Wondrium. The last group consisted of three cavalry divisions, three infantry corps, two Ersatzkorps, and a reserve corps on the left wing. France would surrender once Paris was taken, and then Germany would attack Russia. In so doing, they fell right into Hitler's trap. German leaders called this plan Aufmarsch II West. The boldness necessary for it to succeed had been watered down. The swift turnarounds of victory and defeat, typical of the early battles of movement, were over. The Schlieffen Plan was the name of the German grand strategy for fighting a two-front war against France and Russia. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), mobilized quickly and was thrown into battle in northern France. Despite desperate attempts by Winston Churchill to bolster French resolve, the defeat of the British and French armies in May effectively spelled the end of French resistance. However, in order to maximize German flexibility and preparedness, Schlieffen also devised an offensive strategy for a one-front war solely with France. Its role was to advance deep into France and swing around Paris, surrounding the French capital and any forces based near it. It meant sending the entire flanking force through Belgium, a greater logistical challenge. That lead to the turning point in this war because they could not fight on the sea anymore. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan also resulted from several incorrect assumptions that hampered the attack. In the Battle of the Marne, the French army attacked the Germans. This could have meant that the Western Front was limited to a 25-mile area of the Belfort Gap and not 200 miles of trench warfare. There are six main reasons the Schlieffen Plan failed. Conclusion This caused the plan to fail because the army was now stuck in a battle of trench warfare and this bogged down their advance and meant that other countries including Rusia had more time to prepare. Russia would take six weeks to mobilise their army. It is thus that he devised several different strategies in 1905 for various potential future conflicts. One day later, Germany invaded Belgium because of the Schlieffen Plan. France had to end the war. France and Russia could then launch simultaneous offensives that Germany would have little chance of defeating. Blitzkrieg seemed to be based around the pervasive use of new technology. Failure forced Germany to settle into a brutal war of attrition that dramatically lowered their probability of victory in World War I. He was wrong. He was sure that if Germany were to fight a war against Russia and France at the same time, it would not be able to win. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Schlieffens plan would be altered by Moltke, but it would never be fully implemented as he envisioned. Recognising that battlefield conditions changed rapidly and that orders often became overtaken by events, the German army encouraged its commanders to make decisions without waiting for orders from above, thus allowing them to take advantage of fleeting opportunities as they arose. Once one ally was defeated, Germany would be able to combine its forces to defeat the other through massive troop concentration and rapid deployment. When war broke out in 1914, his plan was adopted by another leader, Helmuth von Moltke. Despite a vicious attack, the French retreated lest they risk encirclement by the Germans advancing through Belgium. The experience of World War One had convinced German leaders that these ideas needed to be applied not only at top operational level, but also at the tactical level - by combined-arms teams capable of independent fire and manoeuvre. The battles are remembered but not the schemes that led to them. They'd expected Belgium not to fight back and allow German control but Belgium did. Why was it that Britain and France were outfought at every turn? Germany went on the offensive against France, but with only 80% of their forces as the Russians tied up the other 20% on the eastern border. Schlieffens plan was a sweeping, bold conception of how to achieve victory in a two-front war. After all, during the disastrous campaign in Belgium and France, it had seemed as if German tanks and aircraft were everywhere. German troops rushed through Belgium and Luxembourg into France. This was The Schlieffen plan could only have worked if events had gone perfectly. The decision to mobilize was made by the government, not by the generals. The Schlieffen plan was designed to encircle the French in Belgium and cut off their retreat to the Marne. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Franco-British forces crashed into the side of Klucks army. Plan XVII, which was launched on August 14, 1914, broke against German defenses in Lorraine and suffered enormous losses. Their solution was to fight Russia and France at the same time. It seemed clear to him, given the Alliances, that one day Germany would be at war with both Russia and its ally France. In short, the offensive strategy now known as the Schlieffen Plan was only meant for a one front war, with Russia remaining neutral. They were marching east of Paris instead of going west and encircling the city. Your email address will not be published. But if they had not, it might have been easier for Britain to just keep the German ships in the Baltic and defend France from naval attacks. The slowing advance allowed France time to regroup and organize a defensive stand. Von Moltke made changes to the plan. Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail? Please feel free to fill out our Contact Form. The British lost more ships but the Germans were left with nothing. After crossing the Somme west of Paris at Abbeville and Chaulnes, the main body of the Bataillon Carr would turn to engage the defenders of the French capital, with the Ersatzkorps lending support. []. The German Army was moving too fast for their supply lines to keep up, and the soldiers were weary and underfed. British soldiers may not have been needed in this part of the war. Schlieffen also stressed the need to keep the enemy reacting to German moves. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Der Erste Weltkrieg. THE GREAT WAR covers the events exactly 100 years ago: The story of World War I in realtime. In a two front war the Schlieffen Plan called for a defensive first strategy, followed by strategic counterattacks. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This doctrine stressed speed of manoeuvre and attacking the enemy where he was weakest, and usually this meant attacking the flanks. Eventually, it led to Germanys downfall. Required fields are marked *. 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. These units had the freedom to fight as they thought best, without having to refer constantly to a higher commander. The British forces moved forward and reached Mons. Though not confirmed, allegedly after the failure at Marne the defeated General Moltke reported to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Your majesty, we have lost the war.. French forces were in full retreat. As the German army moved through France and turned south they made it to within 20 miles of Paris, near the Marne River. It however had a couple of weaknesses, especially due to Von Moltke's modifications which doomed it to failure. The resistance of the Belgians and the BEF prevented this. The central groupconsisting of six infantry corps, Landwehr brigades, and a cavalry divisionwas to attack the French at La Fer and Paris, eventually encircling the capital on the north and east. Both the original Schlieffen Plan and Moltkes rewrite were locked at the Reichsarchiv at Potsdam, and access to the documents was strictly limited. Indy explains the numerous reasons why the Schlieffen Plan was doomed to fail. The BEF was sent to join the line of French troops defending the border with Belgium. At the subsequent Battle of the Marne a heroic effort by the French defenders repulsed the Germans and sent them retreating back. Life in the Trenches After the initial invasion of France by the Germans, the Allied troops pushed the German troops back to a stalemate position. In fact, it continued until the end of World War 1 in 1918. The Schlieffen plan was made before World War I. A classic description of Europe at the time was of a powder keg just waiting to explode. That army should have landed on the western side of Paris so as to encircle the city. Nearly two million soldiers fought. This was a crucial moment: it was an admission that the Schlieffen Plan had ultimately not succeeded and was the beginning of trench warfare. In the city, trenches were being dug and barricades built on the approach roads leading into the city. 1. The lack of manpower led to a weakened attack that stalled and caused the formation of a gap in the German lines that French forces exploited. She feared an attack fir many reasons and so the Schlieffen plan was born. The Importance of the Battle of Bunker Hill, The Death Toll During the Plague of Justinian, A Lasting Legacy: The Ships of the Great White Fleet, timeline of the history of the United States. and in the process, capturing Paris. It would be easy to say that even if it had been successful that Germany would have won in a quick conflict. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Subscribe to our channel and dont miss our new episodes every Thursday. The retreat signaled the end of any hope of completing the Schlieffen Plan. Learn More: The Impact of World War INew World Disorder. The execution of this plan compelled Britain to declare war on Germany in 1914. Germany, therefore, could eliminate one while the other was kept in check. 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. PARTNER CHANNELSITS HISTORY: http://bit.ly/ITSHISTORYSHOWDER ERSTE WELTKRIEG: http://bit.ly/1wkyt WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WORLD WAR I AND WHERE ELSE CAN I FIND YOU? BBC - Standard Grade Bitesize History - The Schlieffen Plan : Revision, Page 3 . With this doctrine, despite being outnumbered in tanks and combat aircraft, they were able to outfight the Allies at every turn in 1940, and cause the rapid and total collapse of Allied resistance. Should one nation go to war, it could drag virtually the entire continent along with it. Moltke watered down the plan. He proposed in 1905 that Germanys advantage over France and Russiaits likely opponents in a continental warwas that the two were separated. With that plan, Schlieffen believed, Gemany could defeat France within six weeks, the campaign concluding with a decisive super Cannae in the south. From the operational ideas of Schlieffen they placed the emphasis on speed, flank attacks, encirclements and decisive battle. If Germany stood on the defensive, Russia could complete its mobilization while France brought her reserves to combat effectiveness. Germany went to war with the plan of Helmuth von Moltke. He thought that war was inevitable. BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The Schlieffen Plan was initially perceived as flawless and strategic, and its purpose was to gain victory quickly for Germany. Moltke estimated six weeks for deployment, leading Germany to believe France could be defeated before the Russians fully mobilized. In 1914, the war began. Across the English Channel, a stunned British military establishment struggled to determine how it was that events had so quickly gone so horribly wrong. 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. Schlieffen also stressed the need to keep the enemy reacting to German moves. This doctrine integrated the operational-level ideas taught by Schlieffen with the tactical concepts developed during World War One. The Schlieffen Plan called for Germany to take the offensive and attack France. The attack in 1914 was almost successful. https://www.history.com/news/was-germany-doomed-in-world-war-i-by-the-schlieffen-plan. 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. Instead, they fought on land. His most recent book, German Strategy and the Path to Verdun, published by Cambridge University Press in November 2004. Schlieffen and his successor, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, trained the German army well in what they termed Bewegungskrieg, or 'war of manoeuvre'. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. For the full article, see, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Schlieffen-Plan. This is due to the fact that the failure prolonged the . Because of that, the French had fortified this road with new forts. Regardless of the historical accuracy of those words, the failure dashed German hopes for a quick victory on the Western Front. Schlieffen set about creating a doctrine that would allow the outnumbered German army to outfight its opponents. At the center of Europe, it might find itself forced to fight against both France in the west and Russia in the east. Last updated 2011-03-30. The third group would concentrate on the most-southern right wing, with eight corps, five reserve corps, and Landwehr brigades, with the help of two mobile cavalry divisions. With soldiers from Britain fighting alongside France, Germanys plan to attack quickly was slowed down because they faced resistance and needed more time for their troops to get there. Timeline. 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. Moltke ordered a German withdrawal toward the River Aisne. Below is the article summary. They were destroyed on April 14, 1945, during a British bomber attack, and only studies of the two plans survived. For its part, the German navy was against the Schlieffen Plan because the bulk of military resources would be directed toward massive land engagements and not the development of more powerful battleships. If you are a teacher and have questions about our show, you can get in contact with us on one of our social media presences. 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 Germanys failure to win a quick victory. The plan failed because it wasnt realistic, requiring a flawless unfolding of events which never occurs in wartime. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. 1914-1918, Profile Books, 2013.Stone, Norman. France couldnt win because it didnt have a plan with Russia. This time, though, rather than invading France by way of North Belgium, Germany defied Frances expectations by invading instead from South Belgium. The victorious Allies looked upon the Schlieffen Plan as the source of German aggression against neutral countries, and it became the basis of war guilt and reparations. With Italian neutrality, neither had a chance to work, Your email address will not be published. There were troops around Paris, and they were about to punish him for not sticking to the plan. The fate of the Schlieffen Plan proceeded a little more positively at first and seemed to be succeeding, but then it broke down in what afterward was called the Miracle of the Marne by French patriots, a truly remarkable moment of salvation and national mobilization to expel the German invader. It had taken only a few short weeks for the Wehrmacht (the German army), under his control, to crush the army of the French Third Republic . It was supposed to be the solution for a quick victory against arch enemy France by invading Belgium and the Netherlands to circumvent French defenses. Russia also supported the Balkan region, including Serbia. The Germans retreated back, settled in, and dug deep trenches in preparation for a long war of attrition. On that day, it also declared war on France and sent its army through Belgium to attack Paris. In World War I, both Russia and France wanted to battle Germany. The French advance east would make it easier for the Schlieffen Plan to envelop the French army when it hinged south after making its way through Belgium. The man who crafted it was the German general chief of staff, General Alfred von Schlieffen. He is posting links, facts and backstage material on our social media channels. His plan called for four army groups, called the Bataillon Carr, to mass on the extreme German right. That would lead to a war on two fronts, dividing Germanys military resources. In practice, however, both plans broke down in disaster. Indy Neidell takes you on a journey into the past to show you what really happened and how it all could spiral into more than four years of dire war. During World War One, the armies of the two Allies had dug in for what became a long, drawn-out conflict. Following an order from Colonel Hentsch, German forces fell back to the Aisne River and began to dig in. In March 1918, they found such a means. First World War resources. As things were then, the German army was unable to defeat its enemies decisively in the war's early battles, and reluctantly settled into trench warfare in late 1914. Gerhard Ritter, a prominent German historian, published those studies in 1956 and concluded that the Schlieffen Plan was German doctrine prior to World War I. Learn more about World War I: Destruction and Rebirth. The French grand strategy, titled Plan XVII, was to attack Germany across the border at their former provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, south of Belgium and Luxembourg. The result strategically was that the German armies had left their flanks exposed to Paris itself, not expecting that Paris would be the site of considerable resistance or military peril. What was the Schlieffen plan? To meet the possibility of Germanys facing a war against France in the west and Russia in the east, Schlieffen proposed that, instead of aiming the first strike against Russia, Germany should aim a rapid, decisive blow with a large force at Frances flank through Belgium, then sweep around and crush the French armies against a smaller German force in the south. The First World War. Die Bchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, C.H. Nonetheless, Paris was to be defended. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. The Schlieffen Plan seemed to be working. Every day they stalled the German advance was a day in which the Schlieffen plan fell behind. Firstly, Germany did not implement the correct Schlieffen Plan. Though a seemingly logical idea, the Schlieffen plan failed tragically for the Germans. France had to be defeated - and this did not happen. This became a concern, the result of which was that the German armies moved closer together. The Schlieffen Plan was a German war strategy theorised by Alfred von Schlieffen and enacted in 1914 by Helmuth von Moltke. The Maginot Line: the Allies expected a protracted, defensive war However, the modern technology was merely used to enhance the capabilities that had already been provided, thanks to the army's strategic doctrine. By Robert T Foley Not your computer? This is a transcript from the video series World War I: The Great War. How Long did the Roman Republic and Empire Last? European leaders largely credited the dominant German victory in the war due to their wargaming plans and other nations adopted the practice so as to keep pace in the arms race. He made the Schlieffen Plan in 1905. To accomplish this, he advocated the use of the. The German Schlieffen Plan had prepared the nation for this exact moment and now was the time to implement it. The Schlieffen Plan failed due to French resistance at the First Battle of the Marne on the Western Front and the European powers participated in four years of trench warfare. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). That last group was to block any French attempt to counterattack, and it could be detached and transported to the extreme right if necessary. Germany had six weeks to defeat France before Russia attacked her. With Germanys defeat in 1918, the German military blamed the Schlieffen Plan as flawed and the cause of their defeat. You can find a selection of answers to the most frequently asked questions here: http://bit.ly/OOtrenches CAN I SHOW YOUR VIDEOS IN CLASS? It was designed for a war between France on one side and the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Italy on the other. He joined the army when he turned 18 years old. The plan was to invade France and capture Paris before the Russians could mobilize. Omissions? This was not the first time Germans had tried to fight in a war on two fronts. Schlieffen was very worried about Germanys position with Russia and France. Sign in. However, a key vulnerability formed in the Germans attack. 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. At precisely the same time the Schlieffen Plan was put into action, its opposite, the Frenchs Plan XVII, was enacted. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. But it turned out to be an ugly way of wearing everyone down during World War I. In the Battle of Jutland, both sides claimed victory. The English and French troops were able to stop the Germans before they reached Paris. Please leave a comment below Cancel reply. It didnt work because Russian troops attacked Germany while German troops were busy invading France. German politicians expected that, in the event of war, France and Russia would support each other against Germany. In World War I, the Schlieffen Plan was conceived by German general General Alfred von Schlieffen and involved a surprise attack on France. The Russian blow would first fall upon the very weak Hapsburgs with the French standing mobilized on the German border. units had the freedom to fight as they thought best After their defeat in 1918, German military intellectuals began reshaping the army. The Schlieffen Plan was the German grand strategy to fight, and win, a two front war against France and Russia. French and British forces counterattacked on the Marne from September 6 to 10, 1914. 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. Answer (1 of 8): Broadly speaking, the plan was too ambitious. And in 1940, influenced by this experience, the British and French leaders of World War Two were still expecting to fight a war in which the defensive would dominate. In the Battles of the Frontiers, the Germans send their opponents reeling again and again. The plan was designed to calculate . Due to the Schlieffen Plan, a war against Russia in the east forced the Germans to immediately make war against France in the west. Thus, in order to win, Schlieffen knew the German army would have to defeat its opponents quickly and decisively. All rights reserved. A series of battles followed. 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 . The Upper Rhine to the Swiss border and the Lower Alsace were to be defended by Landwehr brigades. Great Britain subsequently declared war on Germany for violating Belgiums neutrality. The Schlieffen Plan changed a little as the European tension increased. 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 By early September, they had reached the Marne River, some 20 miles from Paris. It seemed to some that this represented the triumph of military technology over old-style fortifications, a success, for the cult of the offensive. The Schlieffen Plan was designed by Germany's Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen in 1905-06 as a deployment plan against the alliance that surrounded it. The Schlieffen Plan, devised by Germany, was intended to force France into submission and then invade Russia. 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. The Schlieffen plan was also the only Germany's plan for war ("GCSE Bitesize: Extra Facts." BBC. 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. The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan In 1914, Germany believed that they would go to war with Russia. in Land Warfare (International Perspective) with honors and a graduate certificate in German Military Studies from the American Military University. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Repelled by the waste and indecisiveness of trench warfare, they returned to the ideas of Schlieffen, and in 1921 the army published its new doctrine, Command and Combat with Combined Arms. The original Schlieffen Plan was later changed by other military leaders. There was another element entirely outside German control their enemies. He also decided to avoid invading the Netherlands, hoping to keep the British out of the war. Unlike a generation later when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi high command actively sought to create a two-front war, Imperial Germany knew that a war with either Russia or France meant a war with both.. Essentially, speed would be of the essence: first, by very quickly destroying France, and then turning on the Russian great power, a country that was expected to be slower to mobilize and more ponderous in its preparations for war. P.S. Updates? This happy feeling covered up the dangerous situation Germany was in. They might not need to send ground troops or use up their people. The Schlieffen Plan was used by Germany in WWI, but they employed a similar (though not identical) version in WWII. Check out our timeline of the history of the United States for a great place to start and navigate through American history! It likely means that France would have invaded Germany, but at least they were busy with taking back their land. 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'. https://www.britannica.com/event/Schlieffen-Plan, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Schlieffen Plan, Russia had just been defeated by the Japanese. A Short History, Penguin, 2008.Keegan, John. 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. This was the way German armies had taken during the Franco-Prussian war in the past. Ironically, this is exactly what Germany was anticipating. Von Moltke changed certain aspects of the plan. 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. Belgium relied upon its concrete fortifications to hold up the Germans. First, they underestimated how quickly the Russians could deploy their troops. From the Lecture Series: World War IThe Great War, December 1, 2017 History, Military History, World History. And German strategists, most notably Alfred von Schlieffen, had concluded that Germany could not win a long, protracted war against such opposition. A huge German force would come swinging through northern France after invading Belgium and Holland, arcing around Paris to achieve decisive victory within a timetable of about six weeks. \" 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.