The plan looked like succeeding until the one thing Schlieffen had relied on not happening, happened. Russia had mobilized quickly. The German Supreme Commander Moltke had to move 100,000 men out of the west to defend in the east. The fuel for the wheel had faltered. Logistics for the army could not keep up and left men underfed and tired. Von Kluck, the German commander of the First Army decided he could not swing round Paris so he advanced straight towards it. This left the British and French the chance they needed to counter-attack.
The combined force of the British and French attacked the gap left by Von Kluck’s movement at the Battle of Marne. They then forced the Germans back to the River Aisne. The wheel had been stopped. Germany’s Schlieffen Plan had failed. By September the 8th neither side could progress and started to dig in to avoid sniper and shellfire. Following this barbed wire and machine gun emplacements were added. As said in GCSE Modern World History written by Ben Walsh, “Until now, it had been a war of movement, but these were the first signs of the stalemate to come.”
Both sides realised that they were not going to break through the enemies lines and both sides started to try to outflank one another. The charge started on the 12th of October. It became known as “the race to the sea”. As the Germans charged west Allied troops were moved accordingly by rail to any point where it looked like the Germans might break through. An observer at the time called these “the Railway Battles of Northern France” due to the fact both sides moved by rail.
A key battle during this “race” was the first Battle of Ypres from October the 12th to the 11th of November 1914. During this battle the BEF lost 50,000 men and the Germans twice that amount, losing 100,000. Though the British lost so many men they still held the all important ground allowing them to keep control of the English Channel ports meaning they could be supplied with equipment and reinforcements.
By November it was a deadlock. Both sides had suffered great casualties. Neither side had managed to break through. The Germans were not prepared to leave so they dug in, and the French and British were not going to give up. Millions of troops were dug into lines that stretched from the north of France to the east. The war had reached stalemate and would last for a lot longer than any sides generals had anticipated.
By Nathan Flye
