WW11+Stalemate

=The reasons for the stalemate on the Western Front=


 * Focus Questions **
 * ** What were aims of the Schlieffen Plan? **
 * ** What modifications to the plan were made by von Moltke? **
 * ** What was the impact of Belgian resistance? **
 * ** How was the plan changed during the invasion? **
 * ** Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail? **
 * ** Why did the stalemate on the Western Front develop? **

Formulated in 1905 by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff.
 * Schlieffen Plan**: anticipated a war on two fronts: Russia and France. Designed to achieve a quick victory against France in the West and then concentrate on Russia in the East.
 * Aim was to defeat France in six weeks, using the main German force with minimum defence against Russia, then to concentrate all force on Russia.
 * In the west, heaviest force on right wing – invade France through Low Countries, outflank French defences in Lorraine, minimal defence there, encircle Paris and force surrender.



Revised in **1911** by **Helmuth von Moltke**
 * Improve balance right and left, more defence against Lorraine.
 * Only invade Belgium, not Holland. Need Holland for Germany to breathe.
 * Schlieffen Plan hampered by growing concern in Austria about Serbia and the possibility of a war between them (would weaken Austria’s support for Germany against Russia in Poland).


 * The Schlieffen Plan in Action**
 * The German invasion began on 4 August. Over the next two weeks, the German army mobilised and entered Belgium through the narrow pass between the Dutch border and the Ardennes.
 * The Germans met resistance from the Belgian fortresses, especially at Liége and Namur, which were destroyed by the German heavy artillery. They continued their march through Belgium. Brussels was captured on 20 August.
 * The French put Plan XVII into action (offensive into Alsace and Lorraine), but after a defeat, and the realisation that the major German thrust was coming through Belgium into France, the plan was abandoned. French troops were hastily moved west to confront the Germans.
 * The BEF had arrived in France and met the Germans at Mons, slowing their progress. But the BEF was forced to retreat from the German advance.
 * The Schlieffen Plan was changed on 29 August when the German 1st Army under von Kluck wheeled to the east of Paris instead of the west. This was a fundamental departure from von Schlieffen’s plans of encircling Paris, and exposed the right flank of the Germans to attack.
 * **//The 1st battle of the Marne//**. The German advance was halted at the First Battle of the Marne (5-11 Sept.).




 * Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?[[image:Triumph_of_Culture_small.jpg width="301" height="395" align="right"]]**
 * The decision not to invade through Holland slowed the German mobilisation as they were forced to squeeze through a more narrow area between the Ardennes and the Dutch border. This allowed time for Belgian and French mobilisation and for Britain to move troops to Belgium.
 * Belgian resistance was stronger than anticipated by the Germans (Liege). The British slowed the German advance at Mons.
 * There were serious problems of transportation and supply for the Germans. Despite meeting more resistance from Belgium than expected, they were ahead of schedule and could not maintain supplies for their soldiers. This was particularly important at the Battle of the Marne.
 * The thrust of the swinging right flank (German first army under von Kluck) was weakened by von Moltke’s revision of the plan (1911) and by moving troops from the right flank to Lorraine, Antwerp and Russia during the invasion.
 * The French Plan XVII left the Franco-Belgian border largely undefended and contributed to the near success of the Schlieffen Plan. The French attacked in Lorraine but after a disaster (200,000 men lost) Plan XVII was abandoned and the troops were moved to defend against the German advance through Belgium.
 * Germany had problems with communications and intelligence. Von Kluck decided to move closer to the 2nd Army and swing east of Paris. This exposed the Germans’ right flank to attack from the BEF and the French 6th Army.


 * Results of the Battle of the Marne**
 * The Battle of the Marne saved France from defeat.
 * The Schlieffen Plan had failed.
 * The Germans retreated to the Aisne R. (14 Sept) and began to dig in.
 * von Moltke was replaced by von Falkenhayn.
 * Part of France was still occupied by Germans. This area included most of France’s iron ore and coal resources.
 * [[image:4039_invalides_Taxi_de_la_Marne.jpg width="362" height="248"]] || **Taxi de la Marne**

On 6 September, the order was given to assemble all the available taxis. At 8.00pm the first vehicles were assembled at the Invalides.

On 7 September, 670 taxis departed for Villemomble and Gagny to pick up the 103rd and 104th infantry regiments of General de Trentinian’s 7th Division. The taxis transported four to five soldiers per vehicle, dropping them near the combat zone at Nanteuil-le-Haudoin and Silly-le-Long.

The tactical importance of the taxis was negligible given the size of the battle, but it became an important symbol.

(Musée de l'Armée) ||
 * The beginnings of the stalemate**
 * Defence was stronger than offense (barbed wire, machine gun, heavy artillery).
 * Each side began a series of manoeuvres to outflank the other. This is called the ‘race to the sea’. The aim was to gain control of the French Channel ports.
 * The First Battle of Ypres brought the first phase of the war to an end. This battle ended on 11 Nov. 1914. Casualties: British 56,000; French 50,000; German 130,000.
 * The Allies kept control of the Channel ports.
 * A line of trenches stretched from the English Channel to the Swiss border.
 * No longer a war of movement but a war of attrition.

//Read the following source and list the reasons for the stalemate//:

There was a technical reason, too, for this early conversion of what had been expected to be a war of rapid movement into one of immobility. Warfare had entered upon a phase when defence had caught up with offence. The machine gun and heavy artillery came into use, while motor transport and aviation were still in their infancy and the tank had not yet been invented... Masses of men entrenched even in open ground behind entanglements of barbed wire, and able to put up a defensive screen of rapid gunfire made possible by the machine gun, could now hold out against cavalry and bayonet charges. They could be driven back only after prolonged pounding by heavy siege howitzers. Troops advancing over ground ploughed up by such pounding were at every disadvantage. Behind the first entrenchments they found others, likewise strongly defended, and the process of heavy pounding had to begin all over again. For this reason the battles of the western front were all fought within a comparatively small area less than two hundred miles long, and the names of the same towns and rivers recur as the battle line swayed to and fro. Slight gains were made at immensely disproportionate costs. The productive capacities of the two sides were, until 1917, so equal that each could make and transport to the front quantities of guns and supplies large enough to keep the two forces locked in close battle. Mobility became possible again only with the tank and the aeroplane, and only in the final phases of the war was either used in large numbers. //**Europe Since Napoleon**//, David Thompson, pp.554-6


 * ==Source A==

|| ==Source B==

In the course of the advance the whole purpose of the plan was wrecked by Bülow. Without consulting headquarters, he persuaded the first and third armies to pass well to the east of Paris, for the hammer shaft was shortened in length as it swung. The French generals, Joffre and Gallieni, seized their opportunity to launch a ferocious offensive to the flank of the German armies, and in September, at the Battle of the Marne, they fought the most decisive action of the whole war.

David Thomson, //Europe Since Napoleon//, Pelican, 1966 ||
 * ==Source C==

The Germans dug in along the line Noyon-Rheims-Verdun, their opponents followed their example; and the two great armies faced each other in a double line of trenches, each protected by dense barbed-wire entanglements and cunningly disposed machine gun nests and mortar batteries, and backed by a support line and, further back, by heavy artillery. This elaborate underground system soon extended all the way from the Channel ports to the frontiers of Switzerland.

Gordon A. Craig, //Europe Since 1815//, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961 || ==Source D==

||

**Source Based Questions:** **1. Using Source A and Source B and your own knowledge, explain the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914.** **2. Using Sources C and D and your own knowledge, explain the reasons for the stalemate on the Western Front.** **3. Assess how useful Sources C and D would be for an historian studying the reasons for the stalemate on the Western Front.** **In your answer, consider the perspective provided by the TWO sources and the reliability of each source.**

Video: //**Trench Warfare Begins**// Part 1 media type="youtube" key="VC3S9RgDIDs?fs=1" height="385" width="480" Part 2 media type="youtube" key="fELflpkGsr4?fs=1" height="385" width="480"