Essay about The Schlieffen Plan by Alfred Von Schlieffen

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).

The First World War raged through the world from 1914 to 1918. Germany and Austria-Hungary fought the allies consisting of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States. The war led to massive destruction and many deaths on both sides. All the European powers had to move millions of men so that they could be at their positions and be ready for war. One of the most famous war plans in First World War was the Schlieffen Plan. The plan was created by the chief of the German general staff Alfred von Schlieffen from 1891 to 1905. The plan's main purpose was to avoid a two-front war with France and Russia but it had major issues. The plan took big risks and was very inflexible. The plan depended on that France would be quickly beaten, and that Russia would be slow to mobilize and was therefore based on assumptions. The Schlieffen Plan had strengths but the weaknesses were too big for the plan to be successful.

The Schlieffen Plan is commonly – though misleadingy – identified with the German western offensive at the start of the First World War in August 1914, which began as a campaign of rapid movement but ended in deadlock and trench warfare. The plan is generally seen as a desperate gamble almost certain to fail, and its recklessness is counted as part of Germany’s war guilt – the plan held out the false promise of a quick victory, and so it underpinned the “short war illusion” that led Germany into a long war of attrition, ending with her defeat and collapse in 1918. This analysis confuses two quite different moments in history. The Schlieffen Plan was not designed to meet the strategic challenge Germany faced in 1914,

The Battle of the Marne, Plan 17 and the Race to the Sea and the defensiveness of

When Germany declared war on Russia in 1914, they also had their own military plan, which called for a two front war with France and Russia. It was called The Schlieffen Plan and was developed by General Alfred von Schlieffen in 1903 but was revised in December of 1905. At this time, he was chief of the German General Staff, and Europe was separated into the Triple Alliance, which consisted of Germany, Austria, and Italy, on one side and the Triple Entente, which consisted of Great Britain, France, and Russia, on the other. Schlieffen was sought out by the Kaiser in order to construct an arrangement that would allow Germany to

Although critical for the German war plan, the Schlieffen-Moltke plan was kept a secret to the public, and even staff members of the German Imperial Army. Moltke kept the Schlieffen Plan a secret throughout his service in the army. Even close staff members, such as General Gerog Graf von Waldersee, admitted they had never actually seen the blueprints for the plan. (Ehlert, 90, PPed). A reason that Moltke wished to keep the Schlieffen-Moltke plan a secret was for the reason of altering it if needed without objection from his staff members. Other commander’s opinions may have helped find a better strategy, as well as counter-arguments to flawed areas of the plan. Surprisingly, Moltke did not tell Schlieffen about the changes he had made to his plan. However, Schlieffen found out about his changes and questioned Moltke’s leadership out of spite. (Ehlert, 97, pped).

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

Back in Germany, the Chief of General Staff had crafted a plan of attack in the event that there would emerge a two-front war in the country emerged the Scliphen plan.

He also assumed that Belgium would not resist and would let Germany through as well as surprise the French and prevent them from mobilising and defending themselves. The plan also assumes that the mobilization of the Germany army would discourage Britain from getting involved and it assumes that Paris would fall within a week or two.

Schlieffen had decided that the German forces were to advance into France via the undefended plains of neutral Belgium. Captain B. Morgan (2001, Pg.6), researcher at the USA Naval War Collage stated that if France were to attack Germany at Alsace-Lorraine Germany would have 48 divisions positioned at the border to hold the French off. While the remaining two thirds of the army, also know as the right flank entered France via Belgium. Then swing northwest around Paris and fold back upon the rear of the French forces, enveloping and crushing them against the forces of the German left flank. The key to the plan’s success and its primary strength was its sheer boldness in its swiftness and the quick defeat of France. Ken Webb (2012, pg.5), author of World War I From Sarajevo to Versailles commented that Schlieffen believed that the swing through Belgium had to be massive and rapid for the plan to be able to achieve such swiftness if the planned needed to be complete in forty-two days before Russian Mobilization.

The right wing of the attack had to be extremely strong. This was something he had said in his last words “Remember, keep the right wing strong”. That’s why Schlieffen had ordered 90% of the troops to go there. Also, the the Germans needed to retreat the troops at the Franco-German border, so that the French army would walk into the trap, not be able to save Paris or realize what was going on.

As have been said that Germany shouldn’t have been involved in WWI, on the other side they have too. Because Germany is one of the most powerful countries in Europe and if there was a problem/war, they have to be there as having the most power authority. Germany has to be in WWI as it’s, because they have to aid’s their alliance/partnership Austria-Hungary.                      As have Germany has been there in WWI, we are gonna discuss about the Germans military plan, troops, and trenches.  The chief of the German General Staff was Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, he is the one who has planned the whole war for Germany.  German soldiers have been told from the beginning that, if they lost the war, they should reward everything back to the government's.

The Schlieffen Plan was devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, the Chief of the General Staff in the German army in 1905. There were a number of different aspects to the Schlieffen Plan, and all were aimed at defeating France as quickly as possible, preferably in under 6 weeks. The Germans believed this was possible because they had defeated France in Alsace and Lorraine in the 1871. The main aim of the Schlieffen Plan was to knock out and capture France and then attack Russia in order to avoid fighting a war on two fronts at the same time.

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 Schlieffen Plan was a plan intended to ensure German victory over a Franco-Russian alliance by holding off Russia with a minimal strength force and swiftly defeating France by a massive flanking movement through the Low Countries. Unable to fully understand and visualize the reasoning that a temporary sacrifice of territory would not interfere with the right wing offensive, Moltke chose to reinforce the left wing at the expense of the right wing . His modification of the plan significantly contributed to the halt of the German offensive on the Marne and the frustration of the German efforts for a rapid, decisive victory