The Schlieffen Plan did not work out as first expected, and the first factor of the stalemate happened. Germany managed to get through Belgium, but the Belgium army slowed them down so much, that by the time the German army were past Belgium, six weeks had already passed. Then, by the time the German army reached Mons, on the Belgium and French border, the British army had arrived and blocked their advance into France with ease. Also, while this was happening in the north in Belgium, the German army had taken over Alsace-Lorraine, but were again stopped by the French at the Battle of the Marne. This battle was another factor of
why a stalemate took place. Neither side could encircle each other, to entrap each other’s armies.
This stalemate on the Western Front was to be long and hard fought. This is because the two sides were so evenly matched, they both had constant supply route of guns, ammunition, and food to keep their armies going, these supplies were taken to the trenches via railway, on a train. Both side’s armies were very fastidious about their armies health and diet, in order to keep them strong and healthy. A total of 3,240,948 tons of food was sent from Britain to the soldiers fighting in France and Belgium during the . The employed 300,000 field workers to cook and supply the food. At the beginning of the war British soldiers were given 10 ounces of meat and 8 ounces of vegetables a day. As the size of the army grew and the German blockade became more effective, the army could not maintain these rations and by 1916 this had been cut to 6 ounces of meat a day. Later troops not in the front-line only received meat on nine out of every thirty days. The daily bread ration was also cut in April 1917. The British Army attempted to give the soldiers the 3,574 calories a day that dieticians said they needed. However, others argued that soldiers during wartime need much more than this.
