Initially the Schlieffen Plan worked extremely well. The army entered Belgium on 4th August 1914 but unexpectedly, the Belgians offered strong resistance. They wisely destroyed railway lines to delay German advance and they held Liege for twelve days which gave Britain time to mobilise her army (BEF) of about 100,000 men and send them across the channel. Perhaps the reason the Belgians fought so well was to do with the fact of morale, as Germany was attempting to conquer a foreign country, whereas the Belgians were defending their home. Also, much of the German army consisted of men who had been conscripted, which wouldn’t have made them as enthusiastic to fight well.
They were also many other reasons why the Schlieffen Plan wasn’t successful. One of the main reasons was that the plan depended on the right wing of the German forces attacking France through Belgium and Holland. (About 90% of the troops were originally going to be sent to do this). This would leave only a few troops to hold the French attack on Germany in Alsace and Lorraine. However, the plan was changed in 1914 by General Moltke; he decided to only send about 60% of his army up to the north consequently attacking through Belgium with less men and strengthening the forces in Alsace and Lorraine at the expense of the right wing. This was definitely a bad idea as if most of the German army had been sent to Belgium then the Schlieffen Plan probably would have succeeded. This was due to the fact that if 90% of the troops had been sent to invade France through Holland then Paris would have been captured and then the French would have surrendered.
Also, the Russians had mobilised their troops in half the expected time that the Germans thought they would. By six weeks their army was ready whereas the Germans had anticipated that they would have taken at least twelve. This meant that Moltke was forced to send a further 100,000 troops over to the Eastern Front to fend off the Russians. This again weakened the force of the attack through Belgium.
Another reason for the failure of the Schlieffen Plan was that the Germans had failed to foresee the effect that the invasion of Belgium would have on Britain, or perhaps they felt that the British army was too weak to cause them any problems. However, the BEF was unusually strong and when the Kaiser ordered General von Kluck, “It is my Royal and Imperial command that you address all your skill and all the valour of my soldiers to exterminate the treacherous English and walk over General French’s contemptible little army,” the British responded by nicknaming themselves ‘The Old Contemptibles.’ Also, they didn’t realise how strong the motives were for Britain to be angry and worried about the invasion of Belgium. The Belgium ports were very important to the British as the coastline their was the shortest crossing across the channel to Britain. Britain knew that if Belgium were to be captured, then Germany would immediately focus their attention on the United Kingdom.
A main factor of the Schlieffen Plan was that the Germans had to cover at least 35km of land a day. However, they advanced much too quickly so the logistics simply couldn’t work. Their supplies couldn’t keep up and the troops became exhausted. Then, when the German’s were just 60km from Paris, the French and British counter-attacked along the River Marne.
The Battle of the Marne was a disaster for the Germans. General Joffre of the French army rallied French forces to the defence of Paris by appealing to them not to allow the Germans to occupy it again as they had done in 1871. He rushed all possible forces to the Marne- it was France’s last chance to defend themselves. People were rushed there by taxis and bicycles, the situation was so desperate.
The Battle of the Marne was fought with much bloodshed. It started on 6th September and it didn’t finish until the 9th. At the end of it the Germans fell back to the line of the River Aisne, 40 miles behind the Marne. Thus trench warfare began and the Schlieffen Plan failed.
The failure of the Schlieffen Plan prolonged the war because if it had succeeded, then the Germans would have very quickly conquered Belgium, Holland, France, Russia and Britain. The whole of the idea of the plan was to make it as quick as possible so that enemy forces wouldn’t have time to come to the aid of their allies. However, as this didn’t succeed, the war had to be carried out for even longer. Therefore, one of the main reasons why the First World War wasn’t over by Christmas 1914 was the fact that the Schlieffen Plan did not succeed.
However, there were other reasons as to why the war was prolonged; Stalemate. Stalemate was when the Germans had been forced back to the River Aisne, where both sides dug in and the pattern of the war was set. It would be a war fought from trenches. This style of warfare was chosen simply because it was a new idea, it was very good for defence and the Germans didn’t need to advance any further so trenches suited them very well. The British and French then of course found themselves needing to dig themselves trenches as well. Gradually, both sides dug a series of trenches that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border- 700km. The Western front moved little over the next four years. The land around it scarred the face of France and Belgium.
Both sides dug trenches during the winter of 1914. However, as trench warfare didn’t involve much attacking, the war was seriously prolonged as neither side was advancing. Also, the type of battles that they were now fighting was what neither side had expected. For instance, cavalry was no longer useful but aircraft were becoming steadily more advanced. They could be used to fly over no-man’s land and to spy on the other side for instance. (Although this idea wasn’t really put into action until towards the end of the war).
Trenches were very difficult to capture since a trench system consisted of at least three lines of trenches. The front-line trench was backed up by the support trench (where the men slept) and behind that was the reserve trench. Communication trenches connected these trenches to each other. Each trench was protected by rows of barbed wire up to 30 metres deep and each section of trench would have a fire-step from which a soldier could fire or briefly observe the enemy trenches. Trenches were usually zigzagged so that if the enemy captured one they would not be able to fire straight down it and murder lots of soldiers. This shape also restricted the impact of explosions in the trenches themselves.
Trench warfare was much better for the German side as they were not trying to advance so they didn’t have to worry about moving all of their supplies and men constantly. This meant that trench warfare lasted for a long time as neither side could advance, as if they had risen above ground level then they would have unmistakably been shot. Also, this meant that the Germans had a much more superior trench network system and underground mines because they didn’t have to build other trenches elsewhere, as they weren’t advancing or trying to advance.
The conditions in trenches were appalling. Soldiers had to sleep on the ground or even standing up slumped against a wall somewhere and it was had to get any sleep anyway as there was so much shooting going on. Also, the men had to work in shifts so to dispose of their waste, as it was incredibly unhygienic to leave it near the water or food supply. (Lethal diseases could have developed like cholera). Also, wooden planks had to be put on the ground called ‘duck-boards’ as otherwise soldiers developed a horrible infection known as ‘trench-foot’.
Also, trench warfare was incredibly dangerous. Soldiers couldn’t risk even slightly raising their head above the ground level, as expert snipers (who used periscopes to see over the walls) would almost certainly pick them off. Also, bullets were being shot at the men most of the time as well as shells. Often there would be huge piles on each side of empty bullet cases and shell fragments.
All in all, I conclude that trench warfare was both incredibly slow and incredibly dangerous. The situation of stalemate therefore played a large part in the reasons as to why the First World War wasn’t over by Christmas 1914.
These two reasons which I have stated, the Schlieffen Plan and the situation of stalemate are both reasons as to why the Great War wasn’t over by Christmas 1914. However, I think that even if these events hadn’t occurred, then the war still would have gone on longer than this as the concept of such a great war is so huge that nothing could shorten it down.
