Why was there a stalemate on the Western front?

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15th October 2003

Why Was There A Stalemate On The Western Front?

As the prospect of war drew closer, the people of Britain were confident that if war began, it would all be over by Christmas and they were looking forward to see their troops come back with a victory. The British were very self-assured of their naval supremacy and had not only the largest, most powerful and well-trained navy in the world but also the most experienced in warfare. Everyone thought that the Triple Entente, (consisting of Britain, France and Russia), would be too great for Germany and its allies Italy and Austria-Hungary. On the other hand, the Germans were so convinced about the effectiveness of the Schlieffen Plan, they failed to anticipate Britain entering the war in defence of “the scrap of paper” as the German Kaiser dismissively called the treaty that Britain had signed to defend Belgium’s neutrality.

Germany’s initial plan to move through Belgium for a quick and decisive victory over France was met with strong resistance from Belgium, and British troops, much to Germanys surprise, helped defend them. This gave Russia time to mobilize her troops and Germany, delayed by resistance and weakened by withdrawals decided to change their original plan, which was a big mistake. They chose to take a shorter route through the East of Paris instead of the West side. This change of plan gave the French and the British armies’ time to catch up with the Germans, and halt the attack on Paris at the . The German Army was forced to retreat 60kms where they dug trenches to protect themselves against the advancing Allies. Faced with an impenetrable German line the Allies themselves dug trenches.

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The Commanders of the opposing sides realised that the advantage now lay to the North; the Channel Coast. A race began to take control of this position. Without weakening their grip on the defensive line of trenches, each army tried to outflank the other to gain this advantage. The 'Race for the Sea' ended at the first battle of Ypres - the bloodiest battle, with 90,000 British casualties and 250,000 French and German casualties.

By the end of 1914 the  approach had been abandoned in favour of a defensive line of trenches that stretched along the Western Front from the ...

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