With the backing of their ally Germany, Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum with extreme demands to Serbia. In order to keep their respect intact, Serbia had little choice but to reject the ultimatum. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28. Russia …show more content…
There were not enough men to execute the Plan and not enough casualties to replace the men. There was no room in the plan for failure and no alternate plans to go to. One of the most damaging things to happen to the Plan was the lack of transportation and communication. The Plan did not take delays into account.It took two weeks instead of two days to take Belgium’s main railway hub,Liege, and the Plan had already started to crumble. Communication was below the time’s technology on the front lines. Carrier pigeons were still being used, and plans were being made on dated information.
One of the most devastating mistakes the Schlieffen plan did was to underestimate Russia. After the Russo-Japanese war, Russia had been seen a weak army that they would come back to later. However, Russia had made many advances between the war and World War I. They had also mobilized first giving them a stark advantage. They also had near 1.3 million men at their disposal, meaning Russia having the largest army out of all the