As a result of alteration to the Schlieffen Plan, the complete failure of the French
As a result of alteration to the Schlieffen Plan, the complete failure of the French
- The Schlieffen Plan was Germany’s pre-war (1906) strategy in invading France in the event of an outbreak of war – aggressive and needed speed and surprise…
The Battle of the Somme took place during 1916 to take pressure off the French at Verdun and the Russians on the Eastern Front. The French were under heavy fire at Verdun and had been since February, and the army itself was close to cracking. The Russians had fought gallantly on the Eastern Front to try and avert the German Forces away from the Western Front. After launching many small offensives the Russians had gained very little ground for the amount of lives lost. This essay is going to explore; 1st Day of the Battle of the Somme, the Pals Battalions used during the Battle and the tactics developed after the Battle of the Somme was over. Each of these key areas contribute because the first day of the Battle of the Somme had the highest casualty rate the British Army had ever suffered, Pals Battalions were inexperienced in the art of battle, and the tactic used before the battle were inconclusive in helping with the battle overall.…
Stalemate during war is when no action can be taken or progress made. The Stalemate on the Western front, a line of trenches stretching from the Swiss Alps all the way across France to Nieuwpoort in Belgium, was a dilemma that was not foreseen by either the allies or Germany. Originally it had been predicted that the war would be over after a quick and decisive battle, this perception was quickly diminished once the war had begun. No one reason explains why the situation on the western front developed into a stalemate but many factors can be considered.…
The Armistice of June 23, 1940 was the end to a long summer between the German forces and the French military. After breaking through French lines in Belgium and pushing back the defense, the French officials knew that the war was finally over and that they needed to find alternative options to survive as a nation. The cause for this defeat is a debated question today, as historians attempt to understand the failure of the French to stop the invasion and protect themselves. In Julian Jackson’s book France: The Dark Years, the defeat is only briefly discusses, but points all of the blame for the failure on the military planning. This is somewhat similar to Marc Bloch’s Strange Defeat, which examines a firsthand account of the High Command that…
The swiftness and the effectiveness of the German tactics, namely Blitzkrieg and the Manstein Plan, played a crucial part on the Fall of France. Blitzkrieg tactics was a doctrine developed by Germany’s military high command that promoted…
By 1918 the western front was still in the middle of a stalemate, but now it looked like there might be a breakthrough that would lead to the end of the war. Even though defensive weapons had ben largely developed and were extremely dangerous offensive weapons had started to be developed largely. I believe the stalemate ended in 1918 due to several reason but mainly because of the entry of the USA into the war but there were other key factors such as the British Blockade, the German spring offensive and the tactics of the British generals. I will now discuss why these causes are influential to the end of the stalemate.…
The war was thought to be brief , however as Germany attempted to attack France, France tricked Germany in the Marne river, causing the Schlieffen plan to fail, elongating the war. The war consisted of volunteer troops whom thought they would fight for a brief amount of time, but as the Allied Powers and Central Powers came to action war broke out for years. When the war continued more men volunteered, because as the government promoted “ Military service was seen as a duty not an option”(pg 661). It was advocated to the people that fight the enemy was an obligation they owed to the government, thus encouraging support from the people at home and the soldiers. Throughout the war, the people received more rights, such as women shedding…
There are several reasons as to why the battles of Verdun, the Somme and Passchedaele were unsuccessful in breaking the stalemate between the Allies and Germany. These reasons include poor planning and ineffective battle strategies executed by the Generals of the war, the introduction and development of weapons and technology, and the unforeseen weather. Lastly, poor communication was an issue that both sides contended with and led to many miscommunications but more importantly the loss of men, supplies, infrastructure and the inability to create a breakthrough to end the stalemate.…
At the start of World War I, Germany did not want to be a part of the war but was brought into it by the countries’ they were aligned with because they had a strong military. During the period of World War I, Germany won many small battles and gained momentum. The major turning point for Germany was the first battle of the Marnes on September, 5–12, 1914. This battle was between the German and the French. The German army had overrun Belgium and was pushing through France, threatening Paris. The British and French forces had already taken heavy casualties trying to stop the Germans, and it seemed that Paris would fall to the German forces. Desperate to stop the advance, British and French forces consolidated on the Marnes River, just outside…
From the early 1900’s , the two major alliances in Europe were on the one side the Triple Alliance between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy , and on the other side, Great Britain , France and Russia forming the Entente Cordial. It must be noted that, the Entente Cordial became anti-German after the two Moroccan crisis (1908 and 1911) , because of Germany’s lack of diplomacy maters. The two crisis, raised the temperature in Europe, and made war more likely. In addition, Germany followed ‘Weltpolitik’, a form of nationalism , that meant that she would support an expansive policy. Up to 1914, Germany was building up her army. This led to tensions between other countries over the colonies, such as France, however no one was militarily ready yet for a war before 1914. Nevertheless, Germany showed her intentions with the ‘Shleiffen’ plan as she had identified her main enemies and started to build up her army. So, in a very short period of time , the empires began strengthening their naval and military forces with great rhythm. This caused friction and suspicion between the empires, and sooner or later, the war would be inevitable.…
In the outset of the war, Britain was unprepared, and the French had taken a defensive stance. Any war would be a long war; this neatly eliminated the chance of a quick victory. France promptly used their wartime powers to take control of their economy, and Britain had previously taken steps to set up supply systems. Neither nation pooled their resources at this time, further prolonging the creation of an efficient economic machine. The Germans foolishly provided the British and French time to pool their resources and to stockpile the materials and supplies needed to wage a long war. Just as foolishly, the British and French did not take…
This was because Russia had little resources and a small army after the Russian revolution in 1905 so Germany had a devised the Schlieffen Plan to defeat France before Russia could mobilise. This supports what source 2 is saying because a war sooner rather than later would be suitable for Germany as they would have more chance of success and could be a reason why Germany were aggressive as they were pushing for war. An example of Germany pushing for war is the giving of the blank cheque to Austria-Hungary mentioned in source 1: “unconditional support”. This could be because Germany was simply pushing for war and urging Austria-Hungary to make a significant move but it could also have been because Austria-Hungary was Germanys only ally. If Germany didn’t support their only ally they would be completely isolated by enemies and feel more threatened than ever. It was also not only Germany who fancied the war to be sooner rather than later as mentioned in source 3. The source suggests France was also hoping for the war to start soon as they knew it was going to happen eventually so this is a sign of aggression towards Germany: “better war than this perpetual…
The overwhelming loss of the French army in the Franco-Prussian war can largely be attributed to two main factors; the weaknesses of the French themselves, and the reformed military strength of the Prussians. This essay will argue that although France had clear advantages in military experience and weaponry, the result of the war came down to logistics and organisation, in which the French were severely lacking.…
First reason to the failure of the Schlieffen Plan was the inability to push the French southwards after they invaded around and around Paris. They were not able to do it based on their troops. They had many troops but their replacements for the casualties and deaths of their main forces were the problem. The replacements troops were not properly trained. They were weaker and slower than their main forces. Also to add on to that, they never had any training with the new modern guns and could not pull of the plan with the strength and speed that was needed for the Schlieffen plan. However the speed that was needed for the plan was the railroads and trains. When the Germans invaded Belgium, the French and Belgians would completely destroy the tracks as the were backinging up and retreating. This took away a lot of time that was needed to execute the plan because they had to lay the tracks back down. Also when invading Belgium it was…
The Schlieffen Plan was centered around the idea that Germany intended on fighting a two-front war. Seeing that the Schlieffen plan was constructed on a two front war, Germany declared war on Russia and France insisting that Belgium grant them access to travel. While a large amount of the German army would invade France, a small amount of troops were stationed against Russia. Although Because the Russian troops would mobilize faster than expected, he German Supreme Commander Moltke would have to pull thousands of troops out of the army against Paris. The German army thought they would quickly defeat the French then move their troops to East Russia to finish the war with one front.…