Now is when the second reason steps into account why the Schlieffen plan failed. Count Alfred von Schlieffen thought that the Russian army was slow in mobilising and would take so much time that by they are ready, France would have been invaded. But the Russian army got ready quickly then estimated which meant that valuable German troops had to go east to fight the Russians on the eastern front. This made the German advance on the western front even harder and slower because of the men reduced in numbers. This made the Schlieffen plan a shambles and caused it to fail. Also the German Generals at the time tampered with the original plan set by von Schlieffen himself which also caused it to fail.
Then the early battles of the war in the west saw two sides struggle for an advantage like in Mans the BEP the first British troops sent over, managed to slow down the German advance but did not stop it. Then in Marne the allied troops managed to save Paris, the main aim of the Schlieffen plan and forced the Germans to pull back to the river of Aisne which lasted 5 days and also in Ypres where both sides dashed to sea to stop the other side controlling the coastline. The allies managed to do it but with a terrible loss of life.
This meant that neither side could win the war so they dug trenches to stop the enemy advancing any further. By the end of 1914 the trench lines that were dug stretched all the way from the Belgian coast all the way to Switzerland. This is when the stalemate developed because neither side can break through the enemy lines so this also meant that neither side can win so they stayed and fought in the trenches.
This resulted in the change of warfare and therefore stalemate in the trenches. There were several reasons to why the war was different for the Generals and the soldiers. First of all nobody was used to trench warfare and no one could break the stalemate. Also new weapons that the army’s possessed were better for attacking for example the artillery guns. These were used to bombard the enemy front lines and such bombardments were supposed to destroy the trenches and allow for an easy crossing over no mans lane. As you see this was a good way of attacking the enemy and would not be very useful if the enemy attacked. Another thing is that the artillery bombardments were supposed to weaken the enemy lines but instead they just warned them and attack was coming.
Another weapon the army’s possessed during the war was a deadly new weapon called poison gas. Soon a variety of gases such as chlorine and mustard gas were being fired in shells to the enemy trenches. These gases produced death, blindness and also ate away their lungs and caused a slow and painful death. To protect themselves from these gases they first used to soak handkerchiefs in urine and later on gas masks were developed and became part of the standard equipment for soldiers. Sometime there masks were worn in their own trenches incase one of the gas shells being fires back fired back into their own trench.
The machine gun was another new weapon that the army’s used. These could fire up to 600 rounds (bullets) per minute. Now, if the enemy tried to rush out onto no mans land they could face a heavy loss of life because the machine gun would be put into operation and no matter how huge the attack was on no mans land, a few 100 machine guns could do more than enough damage to the enemy.
The aircraft was also used as well. These did come into some use because they were sent over the enemy lines to spy on what or what kind of attack was prepared next.
As I mentioned earlier before the aircraft helped more to do with getting prepared for attacks and hardly ever helped to attack the enemy lines.
Also both sides were well supplied, and could also bring and call up men and also new weapons. Advancing troops couldn’t hold on to the land which they had just won for more then 15 minutes because they were always pushed back. Also the conditions in the trenches were appalling at times. Sometimes it would be so wet and muddy which meant it would not be suitable for quick attacks at the enemy.
Both the allies and the Germans tried to break the deadlock by sending thousands of men across no mans land which then led on to huge slaughter of the infantry but, some battles did affect the whole war.
The major fear of most of the soldiers was being ordered to go over the top into a battle. This meant you had to climb out your trench, thread a way through the barbed wire and rush towards the enemy trenches which usually took place when you were under fire from the enemy trenches.
The battles which did affect the war were at Verden where the French army held the Germans back form the city. This victory boosted the French morale and also Verden became a symbol of French freedom and demoralised the Germans who were pretty sure it would fall.
The battle of the Somme was very important too. This is where the British used their new inventions, the tanks. These were designed by an army journalist who believed that an armoured vehicle would be able to crush barded wire, cross trenches and also destroy machine guns. The tank was one of the reasons why the stalemate was finally broken. In the battle of the Somme the British commander Marshall Haig. The battle was a bitter one and the British faced heavy casualties up to 57,000 men killed or wounded just on the first day alone. The battle went on till November but the army only gained around about 15 km of land in some places. In this battle the tanks which had just been invented were used. 50 ‘Mark l’ tanks were used but they even proved mechanically unreliable and most of them got stuck in mud. However at the battle of Cambrai almost 400 tanks broke through the German lines and pushed them back at least 8 kilometres. This shows one way of how the stalemate was broken because the British tanks broke through the German lines. There was only problem that occurred during this and that was that the infantry could not keep up. This shows that the tank was a jump in terms of warfare.
But 1917 was a major and vital year and also another reason to why the stalemate was broken. This was because the United States of America declared war on Germany. When the German Kaiser found out that the Americans were entering the war too he knew that the war would be as good as lost. This was because the Americans were fresh and ready to fight. They also bought along new weapons as well. Men between the ages of 21 to 30 and later on 18 to 45 had to join the U.S army too. Altogether U.S.A bought two million men to fight which all of them served on the western front. This was a huge advantage for the allies because of two reasons. One is that they had more men fighting on the western front and the other one is that these new soldiers were fresh and not tired which would boost up the attack force in terms of more men and more power. But when the revolution in Russia occurred it meant that the German army could pull back together again to fight with full force again on the western front.
Before the outbreak of war both side had spent large sums of money building up their navies so during the war they were reluctant to put their ships at risk by open conflict. There was some fighting at sea, but there were not any major battles. However this was another reason why the stalemate was broken. This was because the British navy had a vital role to play in the war. It helped protect the British merchant ships carrying supplies into Britain and to transport troops and military supplies to the main areas of conflicts. The navy set up a blockade around the German ports that were so effective it stopped German supplies. Not only did it stop their military supplies it also stopped food supplies too. This made the German population starve and then made the Germans to sign the armistice.
The German offensive ‘Operation Micheal’ also was a reason why the stalemate was finally broken. The operation was carried out in 1918 by General Ludendordiff. He attacked in France from where the allies were the weakest. However even though he attacked in force in the weakest parts of the allied camps but still the operation failed. The supplies of the German army ran out and then the allied army’s advanced. The Germans were pushed back and later on surrended because of the failure of the operation. The Germans surrended because this operation was the last straw of the war for them.
It was in 1918 in the last few months of the war the Germans fought a desperate regarded action. By September they had been pushed back across the Hindenburg line among the strongly for fitted German trenches. Also back at home the German population were starving. Then in March the revolutionists took control over the government and at then at the end of October the navy demilitarised and also some soldiers on the western front laid down their arms too. As Germany’s Allies surrended there was no more it could do apart from to give in themselves. Then at 11 a.m on the 11th of November, 1918 an armistice was signed ending the war.
I think that firstly if America never entered the war the Allies, Britain and France would have lost the war because the Russians dropped out anyway which meant that the German army would be together again in full force on the western front. Also if the tank was not bought in the war it would have been hard for the allies to break through the German lines. Blockading the German ports was also important because this meant Germany had no more fresh supplies of men or weapons. Overall I think all the reasons which I have mentioned are all equal to why the stalemate was finally broken.
