The Schlieffen Plan
In 1904 France and Britain signed an alliance, the Entente Cordiale.
The objective of the alliance was to encourage co-operation against
the perceived threat of Germany. Negotiations also began to add
Russia to this alliance. As a result of these moves the German military
began to fear the possibility of a combined attack from France, Britain
and Russia.
Alfred von Schlieffen, German Army Chief of Staff, was given
instructions to devise a strategy that would be able to counter a joint
attack. In December, 1905, he began circulating what later became
known as the Schlieffen Plan. Schlieffen argued that if war took place
it was vital that France was speedily defeated. If this happened,
Britain and Russia would be unwilling to carry on fighting. Schlieffen
calculated that it would take Russia six weeks to organize its large
army for an attack on Germany. Therefore, it was vitally important to
force France to surrender before Russia was ready to use all its forces.
Schlieffen's plan involved using 90% of Germany's armed forces to
attack France. Fearing the French forts on the border with Germany,
Schlieffen suggested an attack through Holland, Belgium and
Luxembourg. The rest of the German Army would be sent to
defensive positions in the east to stop the expected Russian advance.
When Helmuth von Moltke replaced Alfred von Schlieffen as German
Army Chief of Staff in 1906, he modified the plan by proposing that
Holland was not invaded. The main route would now be through the flat
plains of Belgium. Moltke argued that Belgium's small army would be
unable to stop German forces from quickly entering France. Moltke
suggested that 34 divisions should invade Belgium whereas 8 divisions
would be enough to stop Russia advancing in the east.
On 2nd August 1914, the Schlieffen Plan was put into operation when the
German Army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium. However, the Germans
were held up by the Belgian Army and were shocked by the Russian
Army's advance into East Prussia. The Germans were also surprised by
how quickly the British Expeditionary Force reached France and Belgium.
On 3rd September, Joseph Joffre, the Commander-in-Chief of the
French forces, ordered his men to retreat to a line along the River
Seine, south-east of Paris and over 60km south of the Marne. Sir John
French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force agreed to join
the French in attacking the German forces.
The French 6th Army attacked the German Ist Army at the Marne on
the morning of 6th September. General Alexander von Kluck wheeled
his entire force to meet the attack, opening a 50km gap between his
own forces and the German 2nd Army led by General Karl von
Bulow. The British forces and the French 5th Army now advanced
into the gap that had been created splitting the two German armies.
For the next three days the German forces were unable to break
through the Allied lines. At one stage the French 6th Army came close
to defeat and were only saved by the use of Paris taxis to rush 6,000
reserve troops to the front line. On 9th September, General Helmuth
von Moltke, the German Commander in Chief, ordered General Karl
von Bulow and General Alexander von Kluck to retreat. The British
and French forces were now able to cross the Marne.
The Schlieffen Plan had not succeeded. The German hopes of a swift
and decisive victory had been frustrated. However, the German Army
had not been beaten and its successful retreat and the building of
trenches between the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier ended all hope
of a short war.
Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWschlieffenP.htm