Why did Stalemate develop on the Western Front?

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Why did Stalemate develop on the Western Front?

Stalemate is when two countries are so evenly matched when they have a war that neither can defeat the other and the first time it began on the western front around 4th-5th August 1914 when the Germans dug their trenches because they were struggling because both sides were so evenly matched, the Schlieffen plan wasn’t going as expected and was failing miserably along with the Germans.  They also dug the trenches because the Germans were exhausted and needed somewhere to go and rest and the trenches stopped the troops from being exposed to the opposition.  These trenches were eventually to run from the channel in the north to Switzerland in the south, and were approximately 400 miles long.  

There were a number of reasons why this stalemate occurred and why the Schlieffen plan failed so dismally.  Firstly the valiant of the Belgians not only tired out the Germans, but also surprised them because the Germans didn’t expect Belgium to put up a fight and try to resist the German army going straight through their country.  

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Not only that, but the British signed a treaty in 1839 promising Belgium neutrality.  So they went over to Belgium and fought against the Germans, again this surprised the Germans because the Germans thought that the treaty was signed so long ago, that they just thought of it as a worthless bit of paper now.  So Germany assumed that the BEF would take no action, of course they were wrong and Britain stood by the Treaty and fought against Germany.  

Another incident that influenced the development of the stalemate is the speed of the Russian’s preparations for war because ...

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