The plan also failed because it had too many changes to it. One being going through the Belgium bypass and dropping the idea of going through Holland.
Going through Belgium would automatically mean bringing in Britain into the war, because Britain had an agreement with Belgium since 1839. The Germans, however, did not think that Britain would get involved.
The plan was changed again when Moltke decided to take more attacking soldiers and placing them in the east defending Germany against Russia. This also meant that there were fewer soldiers against the first major attack against France. Attacking France would also mean the German troops would be weakened before going to war with Russia. The final plan was to attack France no matter what.
War was declared on Russia on the 1st August 1914 and two days later, Germany declared war on France.
It was difficult to get through Belgium quickly because the Germans had to use the Belgium bypass, a small railway. Using the railway to transport troops would take a long time and also cause suspicion. Before the Germans could use the bypass, they had to capture the great fort Liège. This of course stirred the Belgians and so they declared war on Germany, leading to Britain declaring war on Germany. The Belgians slowed down the Schlieffen plan by putting up an excellent resistance and also gave time for the British Expeditionary Force to mobilise.
All this, Russia was ready before expected and started to invade Germany. This lead to Germany having to send yet more troops back to the East. By now, the German forces were not strong enough to defeat rapidly.
The German campaign failed in the Western front in 1914 also because they did not think of the allied resistance. They did not think that Britain would help the Belgians. Britain also had an agreement since 1904 with France and another agreement with Russia since 1907.
Britain and France had also planned a small force together. It was called the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and it consisted of 150000 highly trained and well-equipped professional soldiers. The force was set up in secret and would fight alongside the French at short notice.
The BEF was a strong force that took Germany by shock, when the force met the advancing Germans at Mons. With all these joined forces and alliances, it made it extremely difficult for Germany to fight one country without bringing in another.
‘From now on matters went from bad to worse. Wherever I looked right or left, were dead or wounded, quivering in convulsions, groaning terribly. Blood oozing from flesh wounds…
We had to go back…A bad defeat, there could be no gainsaying it; in our first battle we had been beaten, and by the English.’
(Written by Walter Bloem, a German soldier, about the battle at Mons in Belgium. It was Walter Bloem’s first experience of fighting.)
From that quotation, we can see that just how bad the Germans were beaten at the Mons. It also shows us how strong the British Expeditionary Force was.
The Germans also had many troop difficulties in 1914. Such as Moltke having to pull out 100000 troops to fight in the east against the Russians. The German advanced so quickly that their supplies of food and ammunition could not keep up. By the time the Germans had reached France, the troops were underfed and exhausted, not to mention outnumbered.
The Germans also suffered from a counter attack by the French and British on 8th September, better known as the Battle of the Marne.
After being attacked by the British and Belgians, the German commander, Von Kluck, realised that he could not swing round Paris, as the original plan had stated, and so had to advance straight to Paris.
The French had spotted the change in plan and so transported their troops to block the Germans. The French used rail and even taxis to transport the troops in time. By now the German army was weary and over stretched. The French soldiers too were weary and tired, but were very determined as they were fighting to save their country.
The combined British and French forces were in time to stop the advancing Germans along the line of the River Marne. Here, they counter attacked and pushed the Germans back to the River Aisne. However, they could not push the Germans out of France entirely.
Both sides had to start to dig trenches to protect themselves from opposition’s snipers and shellfire.
It was the Battle of the Marne, which marked the failure of the Schlieffen plan. Germany was now fighting a two front war, one in the west against France and Britain and one in the east against Russia.
German generals realised that they could not break enemy lines. A new commander, Falkenhayn, now replaced Moltke. Falkenhayn decided to try to outflank the enemy’s lines. This marked the race to the sea; the charge began on 12th October 1914.
As the Germans charged west towards the sea, the British and French moved their troops to block them. They had to do this to make sure the Germans could not break through. Both sides moved troops quickly by using rail.
At the Battle of Ypres from 16th-22nd November 1914 a deadlock or stalemate was established. Either of the sides could break the other’s lines.
Troops had to dig trenches yet again to protect themselves; these soon turned into long networks and led to trench warfare.
This stalemate did not break until 1918, the end of the First World War.
The German campaign failed in the west in 1914 because of the failure of the Schlieffen plan. The failure lead to the trench warfare, stalemate and also the Battle of Marne and Ypres. However Germany also suffered from allied resistance, which did not necessarily come about because of the failure of the Schlieffen plan.