The Battle of the Marne came next, beginning in September 1914 and lasting just one week. The Russians mobilized a lot quicker than the Germans had expected and were already in Germany. Helmuth Von Moltke, the German supreme commander, had to withdraw 100,00 troops from the army heading towards Paris and bring them back to Germany. Now the Germans were stuck right in the middle of what they had been trying to avoid, a war on two fronts. The rest of the German army continued marching towards Paris but were driven back 60km to the River Aisne when the French and BEF arrived on the front along with new French troops ferried in by taxi and railway systems. British field marshal Sir John French wanted to withdraw all British troops from the front to rest reoraganise, but with help from Lord Kitchener French commander in chief Joseph Joffre managed to prevent this. Germany was losing land to the allies and so trench warfare began.
The first signs of a stalemate began to show by September 8th. Neither side could make progress and more trenches were dug for protection against heavy sniper and shell fire. Germany found that it was easier to defend than attack leading to a deadlock. Britain’s new weapons caused huge German casualties but these new technologies meant that it was much harder to attack a trench than it was to defend your own, neither side could take land off the other.
The Race to the Sea began on the12th of October following high troop losses on both sides thus making it even harder to defend. Germany introduced a new commander, Erich Von Falkenhayn. Each side attempted to outflank the other by use of the railway to the English Channel; the idea was that whichever side managed to control the English Channel would see a quick victory. There were great losses of life on both sides and neither side made progress causing another deadlock, once again the French and English nor the Germans could take land.
Battles were fought during this race, the battle of Ypres began on October 12th and lasted just under a month resulting in the loss of over 1 million French soldiers and the destruction of the BEF. France continued to attempt to break German lines to no avail, more men died. High power artillery had caused great damage to both trenches and forces meaning the stalemate progressed, there were not enough soldiers to make a forceful attack so neither side could take land from the other, again.
The stalemate lasted 4 years only finally ending in 1918. The Schlieffen Plan had completely failed along with later attempts due to inaccurate calculations and the disadvantages of new technology. There was a huge lack of soldiers following the Battle of The Marne and the Race to the Sea meaning there was little progress if any at all.