The problem with invading Belgium first was that Belgium had a treaty with Britain signed in 1839, which meant that if Belgium was attacked, then Britain would have to support it against the attackers. Schlieffen knew of this treaty but did not believe that Britain would uphold it.
Schlieffen also believed that because France was so bitter about the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, the French troops would be sent there first which would leave the capital open and vulnerable to attack. Once the capital was taken, the troops would then move up behind the main French army and trap them.
Once France was defeated, the plan was to use Germany’s superior rail system to rapidly move over to the Eastern Front. Germany would then be ready to fight Russia by the time the Russian army was fully mobilised.
- Why did a stalemate develop on the Western Front?
The stalemate on the Western front developed for many reasons. Germany’s expectations of Belgium were seriously underestimated. The German army was expected to go through Belgium with no trouble at all. Instead, the Belgium army managed to hold up the German assault for 10 days. Unknown to the German’s, the Belgium army had built strong defences in Liège which the German’s had big trouble with.
Schlieffen’s expectation that Britain would not honour its alliance with Belgium was wrong. The BFE was sent to Mons where it helped to suspend the attack. The BFE was able to hold up the German army which cost the German’s valuable time, ammunition and man power.
Three weeks after the assault on France, the Russian army was ready to fight the German’s, three weeks before expected. The German’s were not expecting this and had to send two highly trained divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern Front to combat the Russian advance. These highly trained units had to be replaced by poorly trained student volunteers.
The German’s were hoping to wheel around and take Paris. The French troops had been called back from Alsace-Lorraine and ordered to protect the capital. Assisted by the BEF, the two combined army’s were able to drive the oncoming German assault back to the River Aisne where the German’s were forced to dig themselves into trenches in order to not louse any more land.
By this time, the Schlieffen plan had failed. The German army was split in two, half on the Western Front trying to break through the French and British army in order to conquer French. The other half was on the Eastern Front defending against the supposedly weaker Russian army. The German hope of rushing through Belgium, taking over Paris and then wiping out the French army had become impossible, due to the fact that the German army was half the original force it was, and that the French and British army had forced the German’s into a stalemate by using trenches. Once the Schlieffen plan had failed, the German’s were forced to use defensive tactics so that they were not forced out of France.
The style of trench warfare was new, and because of this, nether side was very experienced with what to do. Therefore, an overall defensive tactic was used, which made breakthroughs very difficult. Breaking through the opposite trench was made more difficult because of the conditions of the trenches. When trying to get through no-man’s land, the men were easy targets for the enemy’s shell and machine gun fire. The men’s ability to fight was further hampered by the barbed wire and the huge shell craters which they had to run through.
By trying to fight around the trenches, both sides extended their trenches down to Switzerland, which made the stalemate even more apparent, with both armies’ spread evenly across the trench system.
- The following were equally important reasons why the stalemate on the Western Front was finally broken:
New technology like the tank
The American entry into the war
The blockading of German ports
The German offensive in March 1918
Explain how far you agree with this statement
Throughout the war, new technology was constantly being developed. One of the most noticeable new technologies was the tank. Not very effective at the beginning of the war, the tanks were developed to go faster, be better protected and fire devastatingly powerful weapons with accuracy. The tanks played a vital role in the breaking through the stalemate of the Western Front and defeating the German’s.
Aeroplanes were also the type of technology that was developed throughout the war. Originally, planes were used for aerial surveillance so that the pilots could report any enemy activity to the mortar and shell firing units. By the end of the war, they had been developed further so that they could shoot down enemy soldiers who were moving across open ground.
U-boats were used by the German’s in an attempt to break the stalemate by sinking all the British food ships in the hope that the British people would starve and surrender. Although this very nearly worked, it was not totally successful. The U-boats sunk several American boats. America had said that it would stay out of the war and stay totally neutral. It was very profitable for America because it was able to sell supplies and also lend money to both sides. Then the German’s sunk the Lusitania. 124 men died on the ship and this swayed the American’s feelings towards the German’s. The USA warned the German’s that if that happened, it would not be able to stay neutral. On February 1917, the U-boats again started unrestricted attacks. On 1st March, Britain sent a copy of a telegram to the American press. The telegram was from the German Foreign Minister, Zimmerman to the German Embassy in Mexico. It said that if Mexico declared war on the USA, then Germany would give Mexico parts of Texas. On 6th April 1917, America entered the war, declaring war on Germany.
This was a big boost of moral to the French and British troops, as the American’s provided fresh troops, supplies and weapons.
The impact of the American troops was not immediate because the soldiers were not fully trained, the American army was not very big, and it took time for the soldiers to get the Western Front. In March 1918, the Germans launched one last offensive. The Germans became worried that if the Americans brought over a full army of fully trained soldiers, then they would be beaten. They were also becoming desperate for a swift finish because the German people were starving.
Because of the U-boat attacks, the American’s had joined the British fleet in blockading the German ports so that no food could get to the German people or the troops.
The Royal Navy placed mines and depth charges around the German ports so that no ships or U-boats could bring supplies in to Germany.
The blockades were very successful because the German people began to starve and the German soldiers began to become very short-tempered because of the poor conditions of the trenches and the lack of food. Unrest began to rise with both the civilians and the armed forces.
The German Generals were forced to do something. They were under extreme pressure to make something happen and make a breakthrough of some kind. To make things worse, the Russian army was also putting the Germans under much more pressure than originally thought it would and many German soldiers were dieing in Stalingrad because of the cold, lack of food and also because the Russian army was just so immense.
On March 1918 the German army made one last attempt to defeat the American, British and French combined army. The British tanks, the fresh American troops and weapons and the French army defeated the German army on the Western Front and forced the German’s to surrender.
To conclude, I would say that the statement is true and that all the factors stated were equally important to the defeat of the breaking of the stalemate on the Western Front. This said however, it is difficult to measure how important these things are. Whilst I consider them equally important, it is difficult to measure them against each other and say weather one is more important than the other. This is why I consider them equally important factors, as they all helped in different ways.
