General Chief of Staff Helmuth Von Moltke, also known as Moltke the Younger, foreshadowed his own demise as well as that of the German Armies upon his appointment to General Chief of Staff. Moltke fully admitted that his personal shortcomings and lack of self-confidence did not suit him for the demands of the position . He lived in the shadow of his uncle, the great Helmuth Karl Bernhard Von Moltke, also known as Moltke the Elder. Moltke the Elder, considered an architect of military victories that led to the creation of modern Germany , left a legacy for his nephew to follow and a military leadership reputation to uphold. Moltke the Younger’s mission command and leadership style left the troops of the great German armies searching for …show more content…
Moltke did however, have a significant role identifying and accurately addressing these factors. First, he failed in fully understanding the Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was a plan intended to ensure German victory over a Franco-Russian alliance by holding off Russia with minimal strength and swiftly defeating France by a massive flanking movement through the Low Countries, devised by Alfred, Count von Schlieffen in 1905 . Moltke’s role as Chief of the General Staff was to develop and update Germany’s strategic plans for a possible future war . Unable to grasp Schlieffen’s reasoning that a temporary sacrifice of territory in Alsace-Lorraine would not interfere with the right-wing offensive, Moltke chose to reinforce his left at the expense of the right wing, heavily engaged with Russia at the time . The next factor in the loss of the battle was that the Soldiers themselves were exhausted. They marched over 241km in 33 days with frequent fighting along the way. The troops faced several challenges, such as obstacles and resupply as Belgium and France had demolished bridges and railways in order to restrict the supply capabilities to the German forces. Underestimation was the …show more content…
This rapid turn of events thrust Motlke’s forces into an unforeseen two front battle. The German Armies now had to fight the Russians on the right and the French on the left. The British forces were yet another underestimation on Moltke’s behalf. Germany assumed that the alliance between Britain and France was merely words and did not expect the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) to deploy and advance on the German Army in the manner they did. When Moltke’s Generals assumed operational control and diverted from the Schlieffen plan, it opened a gap in the German’s offensive line approximately 48km wide, allowing the BEF and the French fifth Army to flank the German troops. This decisive turning point denied Paris to the Germans and forced the German Army back to the river Aisne where they repelled successive allied attacks from the shelter of the trenches . Finally, Moltke’s inability to retain control and communication with his Armies’ Commanders led to a disjointed effort, enabling British and French forces to break through critical gaps in the offensive line. Utilizing a system of decentralization, with Moltke based in Koblenz, almost 500 kilometers (km) away, his Generals often did what they saw best, not always in the best interest
The German Command, in planning for a short and swift war, found themselves in a bind when the war started to prolong itself. From the very beginning, their plan started to fall apart, as Belgium, who they assumed would just let them march through to France, took up arms in resisting their approaches (Hull, 2005). The war would get longer and longer and seemed farther away from its conclusion as the months grew colder. As a result of this as well as their Prussian roots, they resorted to dangerously risky and destructive tactics, trying to bring the war to a quicker end while putting more of their resources in jeopardy, a move that eventually did not pay off and ended up leading to the German Empire’s demise (Hull, 2005).
The Schlieffen Plan was created by Alfred von Schlieffen, and he created it to avoid fighting both France and Russia at the same time. The problem was that France and Russia were on opposite sides of Europe. Which meant they would have to split their army in half. The Schlieffen Plan stated that Germany would defeat France while Russia would be mobilizing itś army. They assumed that Russia would take six weeks to mobilize,and that France was weak and Russia was strong. They didn´t think that GB would be fighting for France because of the treaty signed seventy - five years ago. The Schlieffen Plan had many flaws and assumptions.But instead of taking six weeks Russia took ten days, and started fighting when they weren't ready. Which made
Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the Imperial German General Staff, created The Schlieffen Plan for war against France and Russia. It was designed to avoid a two front war. Seven eighths of german troops were sent to surround the strong french defenses by going through Belgium and the Netherlands while a third were ready at Germany and France’s border to attack. After the success of the attack on France, they planned to send the rest of the troops to Russia. Germany had no plan for dealing with Russia once the troops got there.
The Battle of the Marne, Plan 17 and the Race to the Sea and the defensiveness of
Reality quickly set in for the Germans that they were in a stalemate on the Western Front, so they decided to shift many of their fighting forces to the Eastern Front to try and finish off the Russians. This left them with an army along the Western Front that could hold the line, but would have a hard time gaining any ground.
First and Second armies formed the spoke of the wheel, while the hub was created by the Third and Fourth armies. This left Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh armies to hold the line against the aggressive French Plan XVII. Plan XVII called for a French frontal attack at Alsace-Lorraine with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) protecting the left flank. From 14 to 31 August, over eight battles raged between German and French soldiers with the Germans gaining ground and forcing the Entente powers to retreat back towards Paris, ending French Plan XVII. French Army Chief of Staff, Joseph Joffre, called an orderly retreat and restructured his
In the spring of 1918 the German army began an offensive to break through allied lines and ultimately end the war. The spring offensive was meant “to push the [British Expeditionary Force] off the continent and then deal with France separately before significant numbers of Americans could arrive in Europe and tip the manpower balance decisively in the Allies favor.” (Zebecki 43) In order to successfully accomplish this task Germany decided that it needed a diversion in the south in order to draw French reserves out of Flanders and weaken the Allies in the north. The original plan of the Germans was that of a limited attack of only 13 miles. The Germans “[were] certain that the French would panic and pull their reserves out of Flanders.” (Zebecki 43) When the Germans advanced 13 miles on May 27th, Pétain ordered 16 division to block
The Schlieffen Plan was a German battle plan to fight a two front war devised in 1905 by Alfred von Schlieffen as the Chief of the General Staff for Germany. The plan called for the German army to apply overwhelming force in France to capture the capital of Paris within six weeks before changing focus to Russia. The plan intended to achieve a quick and decisive victory by sweeping a line of armies through neutral Belgium and into France. In actuality, Helmuth von Moltke made significant changes to Schlieffen’s original plan before and during World War I. Ultimately, the plan ended in failure when the German advance halted at the First Battle of the Marne (Limbach, 2014).
General Falkenhayn replaced General Von Molke in 1914 because Von Molke’s offensive in France and
The Germans, wasting valuable time and causing large numbers of troops to be left behind to counter continuing Belgian resistance, could not quickly seize strong Belgian forts or crush the Belgian army. As half the German army was caught up in Belgium, France put its plan into action. French attacks got nowhere, however, and French were in fact pushed back across their own border and deep into France very quickly. By pushing the French attackers back into France the Germans were, in fact, forcing the French army out of the trap into which Schlieffen had intended them to fall. The German troops who had fought through Belgium were exhausted and short of supplies. Their numbers had been reduced by Belgian resistance, a battle with the BEF and part of their force being diverted to the fast developing Eastern front. When this was combined with the French troops who were being rushed to defend Paris, the German army no longer possessed the resources to successfully capture Paris. General Moltke, therefore, ordered the German first and second armies to swing East of Paris in an attempt to catch the retreating French army between the Germans swing back from the West and those who had repelled the French invaders in the East. General Joffre had, however, prepared the French for this kind of move and thanks to aerial reconnaissance he knew exactly where the German armies were. The culmination of this huge change of events
To this day, LeAnn Rimes continues to be well-known for her country/pop style music; sprouting a passion for music from as young as 5, with her career commencing at the early age of 11. LeAnn’s first album, “All That”, was recorded in 1994 and was instantly successful, rapidly collecting countless fans and turning her into a child star (Biography.com Editors, n.d.).
Germany sought to conduct a massive counter-offense to seize control of the Allied Forces’ main hub of Antwerp. The German Army intended to split
Leading into the Fall of 1914, tactics on both sides of the line involved the rapid mobilization, maneuver and envelopment of the opposing side.10 Pre-1914 doctrine took little into account the effects of emerging new technology and their impact on both defensive and offensive operations. This disconnect between doctrine and technology contributed to the failure of early offensive operations in the Fall of 1914 and resulted in staggering casualties.11 Both sides developed doctrine that took into effect the unique terrain and technology that had been developed prior and during World War I. However by the end of the war, a combination of flexibility, decentralized control, and counterattack at every echelon made the German defensive system the most effective.12 This “elastic defense” had three unique characteristics; dedicated counter-attack force at all levels, decentralized command and control, fluid defensive belts and integrated artillery support at the Division level. Under this new doctrine, Corps headquarters had the role sustaining subordinate units, but not directing their actions during battle.13 This defense-in-depth and the lessons learned during the Verdun battles of 1918 were so successful that British forces adopted many of the German tactics with a special emphasis on their counterattack capability.10 Utilizing the new doctrine, by August 1918, Germany had made substantial gains, however had
Gothic Literature Gothic elements are what identify pieces of literature as “gothic”. Gothic elements help create a mood of mystery, fear, and danger. Grotesqueness, the supernatural, and the presence of monsters are gothic elements that are prevalent in various short stories and in the novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Grotesqueness is a gothic element that is present in the short story “Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe and in Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
The Starry Night was made by Dutch post-impressionism painter, Vincent Van Gogh in 1889. It was madf5e when Van Gogh stayed in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, when he still feeling more depression. Before, he even cut his ears because too much depression that he had that caused by he broke up his friendship with Paul Gauguin. In my point of view, nobody gave him respect and believed that Van Gogh really become more crazy. When he stayed at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, they prohibited him to wandering alone.