Why did a stalemate develop on the western front.

But it did not succeed for the following reasons.

• Moltke underestimated Belgium resistance, as the German army did not reach Paris for 6 weeks.
• The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were 125,000 well-trained men led by General French held the Germans up at Mons.  On 19th August the Russians had attacked the Germans even before they had met their destination to Paris. Germany had to abort now in order to protect it’s Eastern Front. There were more new methods of transport this helped the defensive troops to position themselves so that they could get ready for the attack. Germany did not plan for this to happen, once again the Schlieffen plan weakened. General Joffre used about 5000 trains to move troops. On 4th September Germans had reached the River Marne in France (almost near Paris). The French still had failed to take Alsace-Lorraine back, so the troops from Metz helped to defend Paris. 250 taxis were used to send in more new troops.
• German supplies were inadequate for a longer campaign. German soldiers were tired, hungry and they were starting to weaken.
• Germans thought BEF were using machine guns when in actual fact they were using the Lee Enfield Knife. (Weaponry).
• Mobilisation of the Russian front was far faster than the Germans had anticipated. 100,000 troops had to be withdrawn from Paris. They were now fighting on two fronts.
• The Battle of Marne. Combined the British and the French were able to withdraw the German army but crucially could not force the Germans to totally withdraw from France. They dug in to make shelter from Liège’s Artillery line and shells. This was the beginning of the stalemate and the beginning of the formation of Trenches. Until 8th September it had been a war of movement. The Schlieffen Plan had failed.
• As Germany was caught up fighting two fronts, German generals realised that no matter how hard they tried they could not break through the enemy lines. Falkenhayn replaced Moltke. Falkenhayn wanted to try to get around the end of his enemy’s lines. The attack began on 12th October. This was known as ‘The race to the sea.’ It was important to get access to ports. A block game began this was because the British and French moved troops to block the Germans whenever it seemed that they were going to break through.
• The 1st Battle of Ypres lasted from the 12th October to the 11nth of November. The British held important ground and the Germans lost more men (100,000) than the British Expeditionary Force (50,000). The British kept in control of the English Channel this meant that they could be supplied with reinforcements and equipment. As 1914 ended the battle had reached a stalemate which was going to last in 1918. Millions of troops dug into a line of trenches that stretched from the sea in the west to the Alps in the east. This was the start of the ‘Western Front’.  This was the full stalemate.