The Schlieffen Plan
- Created by General Count Alfred von Schlieffen, December 1905
- Plan worked in the event of an attack on France one Russia had started to mobilize forces near the German border.
- In 1905, Shlieffen was chief of the German General Staff.
- Schlieffen believed that the most decisive area for any future war in Europe would be in the western sector.
What was the Schlieffen Plan WW1?
Schlieffen Plan, battle plan first proposed in 1905 by Alfred, Graf (count) von Schlieffen, chief of the German general staff, that was designed to allow Germany to wage a successful two-front war. The plan was heavily modified by Schlieffen’s successor, Helmuth von Moltke , prior to and during its implementation in World War I .
How was the Schlieffen plan executed?
And so, the Schlieffen plan was executed on the Aug. 3, 1914, during World War I when Germany invaded Belgium with the objective to attack France. However, Britain did respond, and swiftly, leading to a victory for Allied Forces and the retreat of German forces.
What inspired Schlieffen’s strategic plan?
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.
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What was the Schlieffen Plan in simple words?
The Schlieffen Plan was Germany's tactical solution for avoiding a two-front war with France and Russia. 2. Under this plan, drawn up in 1905, France would be forced to a quick surrender by a German invasion in the north.
How did the Schlieffen Plan Work?
By using its more rapid mobilization to its advantage, Schlieffen reasoned that he could bring the whole weight of the German army on each of its opponents in turn. The key to Schlieffen's plan was to engage and destroy the French army and quickly knock France out of the war.
What is the Schlieffen Plan and why did it fail?
Q: What was the purpose of the Schlieffen Plan? The Schlieffen Plan, devised by Germany, was intended to force France into submission and then invade Russia. It didn't work because Russian troops attacked Germany while German troops were busy invading France.
Why did the Schlieffen Plan lead to ww1?
In 1914, to activate the Schlieffen Plan required the German army to cross neutral Belgium for quick access to Paris. Done on August 3, this German move ultimately brought the British into World War I because Germany's actions violated the 1839 Treaty of London Britain had guaranteed to Belgium.
When did the Schlieffen Plan fail?
At the outbreak of war in 1914, Schlieffen's plan would be altered by Moltke, but it would never be fully implemented as he envisioned. With Germany's defeat in 1918, the German military blamed the Schlieffen Plan as flawed and the cause of their defeat.
Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail quizlet?
Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail? The Belgium people fought against the Germans, slowing them down. English and French troops had time to mobilize.
Who proposed the Schlieffen Plan?
The Schlieffen plan was a battle plan that was proposed by Alfred, graf (count) von Schlieffen in 1905, which suggested that Germany could win a quick Franco-German war while fending of Russia. Helmuth von Moltke, Schlieffen’s successor, decided to implement this plan during World War I, but heavily modified it, ...
What was the failure of the Schlieffen Plan?
Failure of the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was put into action by Von Moltke on August 2, 1914. It however had a couple of weaknesses, especially due to Von Moltke’s modifications which doomed it to failure. The Russians reached the border much sooner and in a greater army than expected, forcing Moltke to send more troops to ...
What was the turning point of the Battle of Marne?
They came very close to succeeding with the plan, but the Battle of the Marne was the turning point where it became evident that the plan would fail. Loading...
Did Moltke send more troops to the Russian Front than planned?
The Russians reached the border much sooner and in a greater army than expected, forcing Moltke to send more troops to the Russian Front than planned. He advanced with a much smaller attacking army than Schlieffen had recommended.
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
Schlieffen Plan , Plan of attack used by the German armies at the outbreak of World War I. It was named after its developer, Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833–1913), former chief of the German general staff. To meet the possibility of Germany’s facing a war against France in the west and Russia in the east, Schlieffen proposed that, ...
Who modified the Schlieffen Plan?
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. Map of the Schlieffen Plan.
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The Schlieffen Plan was an operational plan used by the Germans to take over France and Belgium and carried out in August 1914. It was devised by and named after German Field Marshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen, who served as Chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1905. In his last year as chief, he developed a plan to ensure Germany could fight and win a major war in continental Europe. This plan was quite ambitious, as Germany was surrounded by powerful nations considered potential enemies.
What was the first objective city of the Schlieffen Plan?
The very next day after receiving Belgium's answer, Germany invaded Belgium heading for the first major objective city of Liège . Thus, the opening phase of the Schlieffen Plan was in effect: the calculated use of maneuver and surprise to fight and win a major conventional war against the other major European powers.
What was Moltke's plan for the Treaty of London?
Moltke's thinking falls right in line with Schlieffen's plan for a quick, forceful move through neutral Belgium that would stun France and catch the nation off-guard , ensuring a rapid defeat. The plan assumed that Britain would not react to the use of Belgium as a highway to attack France. The German chancellor at the time, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, would famously refer to the Treaty of London as ''just a scrap of paper.'' Germany was a signatory of this treaty, so it was recognized as law even under the Kaiser. Germany simply chose to ignore this.
What was Schlieffen's plan for the defeat of France?
Schlieffen's plan set a short timetable for the defeat of France so forces could then focus and engage on Germany's primary rival and enemy, Russia.
What countries were in the Triple Alliance?
The Triple Alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, while the Triple Entente included France, Britain, and Russia. Germany being sandwiched in on both sides by major powers, proved to be a constant source of worry to the point that the country was obsessed with striking first.
How long did it take Germany to defeat France?
It depended on a quick defeat of France, no more than six weeks, so that those forces could then be rapidly re-deployed to fight the Russians in the east.
Why did the British say "just a scrap of paper"?
The phrase ''just a scrap of paper'' would be featured in British Army recruiting posters to stir a sense of moral outrage at Germany's conduct.
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
Grand Couronné. The Schlieffen Plan ( German: Schlieffen-Plan, pronounced [ʃliːfən plaːn]) was a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on 4 August 1914. Schlieffen was Chief of the General Staff ...
Who proposed the Schlieffen Plan?
Zuber proposed that the Schlieffen Plan was a myth concocted in the 1920s by partial writers, intent on exculpating themselves and proving that German war planning did not cause the First World War, a view which was supported by Hew Strachan.
Why was the Schlieffen Plan so difficult?
In 1980, Martin van Creveld concluded that a study of the practical aspects of the Schlieffen Plan was difficult, because of a lack of information. The consumption of food and ammunition at times and places are unknown, as are the quantity and loading of trains moving through Belgium, the state of repair of railway stations and data about the supplies which reached the front-line troops. Creveld thought that Schlieffen had paid little attention to supply matters, understanding the difficulties but trusting to luck, rather than concluding that such an operation was impractical. Schlieffen was able to predict the railway demolitions carried out in Belgium, naming some of the ones that caused the worst delays in 1914. The assumption made by Schlieffen that the armies could live off the land was vindicated. Under Moltke (the Younger) much was done to remedy the supply deficiencies in German war planning, studies being written and training being conducted in the unfashionable "technics" of warfare. Moltke (the Younger) introduced motorised transport companies, which were invaluable in the 1914 campaign; in supply matters, the changes made by Moltke to the concepts established by Schlieffen were for the better.
What was the purpose of Aufmarsch I Ost?
France and Russia would attack simultaneously, because they had the larger force and Germany would execute an "active defence", in at least the first operation/campaign of the war. German forces would mass against the Russian invasion force and defeat it in a counter-offensive, while conducting a conventional defence against the French. Rather than pursue the Russians over the border, 50 per cent of the German force in the east (about 20 per cent of the German army) would be transferred to the west, for a counter-offensive against the French. Aufmarsch I Ost became a secondary deployment plan, as it was feared a French invasion force could be too well established to be driven from Germany or at least inflict greater losses on the Germans, if not defeated sooner. The counter-offensive against France was also seen as the more important operation, since the French were less able to replace losses than Russia and it would result in a greater number of prisoners being taken.
What was Schlieffen's plan for the French war?
In his war contingency plans from 1892 to 1906, Schlieffen faced the difficulty that the French could not be forced to fight a decisive battle quickly enough for German forces to be transferred to the east against the Russians to fight a war on two fronts, one-front-at-a-time. Driving out the French from their frontier fortifications would be a slow and costly process that Schlieffen preferred to avoid by a flanking movement through Luxembourg and Belgium. In 1893, this was judged impractical because of a lack of manpower and mobile heavy artillery. In 1899, Schlieffen added the manoeuvre to German war plans, as a possibility, if the French pursued a defensive strategy. The German army was more powerful and by 1905, after the Russian defeat in Manchuria, Schlieffen judged the army to be formidable enough to make the northern flanking manoeuvre the basis of a war plan against France alone.
What was Ritter's contingency plan?
According to Ritter (1969) the contingency plans from 1872 to 1890 were his attempts to resolve the problems caused by international developments, by adopting a strategy of the defensive, after an opening tactical offensive, to weak en the opponent, a change from Vernichtungsstrategie to Ermatttungsstrategie.
What was the role of the General Staff in the German army?
In the army, organisation and theory had no obvious link with war planning and institutional responsibilities overlapped. The General Staff devised deployment plans and its chief became de facto Commander-in-Chief in war but in peace, command was vested in the commanders of the twenty army corps districts. The corps district commanders were independent of the General Staff Chief and trained soldiers according to their own devices. The federal system of government in the German empire included ministries of war in the constituent states, which controlled the forming and equipping of units, command and promotions. The system was inherently competitive and became more so after the Waldersee period, with the likelihood of another Volkskrieg, a war of the nation in arms, rather than the few European wars fought by small professional armies after 1815. Schlieffen concentrated on matters he could influence and pressed for increases in the size of the army and the adoption of new weapons. A big army would create more choices about how to fight a war and better weapons would make the army more formidable. Mobile heavy artillery could offset numerical inferiority against a Franco–Russian coalition and smash quickly fortified places. Schlieffen tried to make the army more operationally capable so that it was better than its potential enemies and could achieve a decisive victory.
What was the purpose of the Schlieffen Plan?
The Schlieffen Plan was a battle plan drawn up by German military strategists. Its purpose was to secure victory in a war against both France and Russia. It formed the basis of Germany’s offensive in August 1914 but its successes were limited.
Why was the Schlieffen Plan successful?
In military terms, the Schlieffen Plan was partially successful because it bypassed the heavily fortified French border and allowed some rapid penetration into France. The nature of this advance contributed to its own problems, however.
What was Germany's tactical solution for avoiding a two front war with France and Russia?
1. The Schlieffen Plan was Germany’s tactical solution for avoiding a two-front war with France and Russia. 2.
What was the German strategy in the 1870s?
If Germany found itself at war with both France and Russia, it would become a two-front war, forcing Berlin to divide its resources and double its risk. Their preferred strategy was to knock out one quickly before dealing with the other.
What countries did Schlieffen invade?
Schlieffen’s battle plan involved a wave of German troops entering France through its more lightly-defended northern borders – but most would invade French territory via the small nations of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. These nations were neutral, lacked sizeable military forces and had largely unprotected borders with France.
What was the French preferred strategy?
Their preferred strategy was to knock out one quickly before dealing with the other. This was easier said than done, however. The French had constructed a chain of forts, defences and concrete pillboxes (machine-gun nests) along their eastern border with Germany.
What is Schlieffen's philosophy?
It was a bold and daring strategy that reflected Schlieffen’s philosophy: “To win, we must be the stronger of the two at the point of impact. Our only hope of this lies in making our own choice of operations, not in waiting passively for whatever the enemy chooses to do.”
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The Schlieffen Plan was a deployment plan and operational guide for a decisive initial offensive campaign in a one-front war against the French Third Republic. In 1914 it was deployed against two fronts with major changes by Commander-in-Chief Moltke the Younger, resulting in a failure to achieve the decisive victory Schlieffen had planned.
What was Schlieffen's strategy?
The cornerstone of Schlieffen’s war planning was undoubtedly the strategic counter-offensive. Schlieffen was a great believer in the power of the attack in the context of the defensive operation. Germany’s smaller forces relative to the Franco-Russian Entente meant that an offensive posture against one or both was basically suicidal. On the other hand, Schlieffen placed great faith in Germany’s ability to use railways to launch a counter-offensive against a hypothetical French or Russian invasion force, defeat it, then quickly regroup and launch a counter-offensive.
What was the German invasion of France and Belgium?
The Schlieffen Plan was the strategy for the German invasion of France and Belgium in August 1914. Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen was the Chief of the Imperial Army German General Staff from 1891 to 1906 and in 1905-06 devised a deployment plan for a winning offensive in a one-front war against the French Third Republic. After the war, German historians and other writers described the plan as a blueprint for victory. Some claimed the plan was ruined by Colonel-General Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, the Commander-in-Chief of the German army after Schlieffen retired in 1906 who was dismissed after the First Battle of the Marne (September 5-12, 1914).
What did Schlieffen do to the German army?
Schlieffen also recognized the need for offensive planning, as failing to do so would limit the German Army’s capabilities. In 1897, Schlieffen developed a tactical plan that – acknowledging the German army’s limited offensive power and capacity for strategic maneuvers – basically amounted to using brute force to advance beyond the French defenses on the Franco-German border.
What was Schlieffen's first plan for a strategic offensive operation?
In 1905, Schlieffen developed what was truly his first plan for a strategic offensive operation, the Schlieffen plan Denkschrift (Schlieffen plan memorandum). This was designed for an isolated Franco-German war that would not involve Russia, calling for Germany to attack France.
How did Moltke modify the deployment of forces on the Western Front?
Molt ke took Schlieffen’s plan and modified the deployment of forces on the western front by reducing the right wing, the one to advance through Belgium, from 85% to 70% . In the end, the Schlieffen plan was so radically modified by Moltke that it could be more properly called the Moltke Plan. Germany attacked Luxembourg on August 2 ...
What was the German offensive against France?
The offensive campaign against France developed in 1905-06, later termed the “Schleiffen Plan,” focused on a brute force attack with sufficient soldiers. When Schlieffen retired, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger took over a Commander-in-Chief of the German army and at the outbreak of WWI, deployed a modified version of Schlieffen’s plan against ...
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
When war looked likely in 1914, the Germans decided to put the Schlieffen Plan into effect, declaring war on France and attacking with multiple armies in the west, leaving one in the east. However, as the attack went ahead Moltke modified the plan even more by withdrawing more troops to the east.
What happened to Bismarck and Schlieffen?
However, Bismarck died, and Germany's diplomacy collapsed. Schlieffen was soon faced with the encirclement Germany feared when Russia and France allied, and he decided to draw up a new plan, one which would seek a decisive German victory on both fronts.
What was the German plan for the war in the West?
The result was the Schlieffen Plan. This involved a rapid mobilization, and the bulk of the entire German army attacking through the western lowlands into northern France, where they would sweep around and attack Paris from behind its defenses. France was assumed to be planning – and making – an attack into Alsace-Lorraine (which was accurate), and prone to surrendering if Paris fell (possibly not accurate). This entire operation was expected to take six weeks, at which point the war in the west would be won and Germany would then use its advanced railway system to move its army back to the east to meet the slowly mobilizing Russians. Russia could not be knocked out first, because its army could withdraw for miles deep into Russia if necessary. Despite this being a gamble of the highest order, it was the only real plan Germany had. It was fed by the vast paranoia in Germany that there had to be a reckoning between the German and Russian empires, a battle which should take place sooner, while Russia was relatively weak, and not later when Russia might have modern railways, guns, and more troops.
What was the German plan for war against France and Russia?
They had feared this for years, and their solution, which was soon put into action with German declarations of war against both France and Russia, was the Schlieffen Plan.
What did Moltke fear would happen if France and Russia allied against Germany?
Moltke feared a great European war might result if Russia and France allied against the new Germany, and decided to counter it by defending in the west against France, and attacking in the east to make small territorial gains from Russia.
What were the problems with the German plan?
Indeed, Schlieffen may even have written it just to persuade the government to increase the army, rather than believing it would ever be used. As a result, there were problems: the plan required munitions in excess of what the German army had at that point, although they were developed in time for the war. It also required more troops on hand to attack than could be moved through the roads and railways of France. This problem was not solved, and the plan sat there, seemingly ready to use in the event of the great crisis people were expecting.
What was the crisis that began World War 1?
As the crisis which began World War One was developing from assassination, through calls of reven ge round to paranoid imperial competition, Germany found itself facing the possibility of attacks from east and west at the same time. They had feared this for years, and their solution, which was soon put into action with German declarations ...
Overview
History
Work began on Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Militärischen Operationen zu Lande (The World War [from] 1914 to 1918: Military Operations on Land) in 1919 in the Kriegsgeschichte der Großen Generalstabes (War History Section) of the Great General Staff. When the Staff was abolished by the Treaty of Versailles, about eighty historians were transferred to the new Reichsarchiv in Potsdam. As Pre…
Background
After the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in 1815, European aggression had turned outwards and the fewer wars fought within the continent had been Kabinettskriege, local conflicts decided by professional armies loyal to dynastic rulers. Military strategists had adapted by creating plans to suit the characteristics of the post-Napoleonic scene. In the late ninet…
Prelude
Helmuth von Moltke the Younger took over from Schlieffen as Chief of the German General Staff on 1 January 1906, beset with doubts about the possibility of a German victory in a great European war. French knowledge about German intentions might prompt them to retreat to evade an envelopment that could lead to Ermattungskrieg, a war of exhaustion and leave Germany exhaus…
Aftermath
In 2001, Hew Strachan wrote that it is a cliché that the armies marched in 1914 expecting a short war, because many professional soldiers anticipated a long war. Optimism is a requirement of command and expressing a belief that wars can be quick and lead to a triumphant victory, can be an essential aspect of a career as a peacetime soldier. Moltke (the Younger) was realistic about the nature of a great European war but this conformed to professional wisdom. Moltke (the Elde…
See also
• Manstein Plan (Second World War plan with similarities)
Footnotes
1. ^ Foley 2007, p. 41.
2. ^ Foley 2007, pp. 14–16.
3. ^ Foley 2007, pp. 16–18.
4. ^ Foley 2007, pp. 18–20.
Further reading
• Clausewitz, Carl von (1993) [1976]. Howard, Michael; Paret, Peter (eds.). On War (Everyman's Library ed.). London: David Campbell (arr. Princeton University Press). ISBN 978-1-85715-121-3.
• Delbrück, Hans (1990) [1920]. History of the Art of War (in 4 volumes). Translated by Renfroe, Walter J. (Eng. trans. ed.). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6584-4.