Schlieffen’s plan aimed to counter a joint attack and then later in the Great War the Schlieffen Plan was used as a strategy to ensure a swift victory and avoid fighting two-fronted war. In 1914 as war broke out the Schlieffen Plan was put into action but the results were not as hoped, instead the plan failed miserably. Many questioned why Schlieffen had opted to attack a powerful France first instead of a weaker, less mobile Russia which could have been defeated quickly before turning on the more threatening French army. The
Germany backing the Austrian punishment of the Serbs was a key mistake in angering Russia, prompting her to mobilize for war. A rising sense of Nationalism along with a history of hatred for Serbia was a contributing factor in Austria’s decision to punish the Serbs. Introduction: A political solution should have been sought between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in order to keep the Russians from mobilizing against
France thought the war would not only help by stopping Germany’s increase in power. It would also help Napoleon III to regain his popularity after some of his failures after the commencement of his dictatorship, such as the Mexican adventure of 1867. I will now go onto the short term reasons. Firstly, Spain needed a king and Bismarck saw his chance to send Prince Leopold to become king there. France protested because they thought that having German influence on both sides would be too much if conflict would have occured.
One of the main factors was the blank check that Germany gave Austria-Hungary. Allowing Austria-Hungary to go to war on Serbia, with Germany’s full support. Austria-Hungary wanted to go to war on Serbia because, a member of the Black Hand (a Serbian terrorist group) assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Austria-Hungary served a harsh ultimatum on Serbia, and if they didn’t agree they would declare war. They had known Serbia would reject the ultimatum.
This meant more power for their empire. This is why Britain backed France as they didn’t want Germany to gain land as they could potentially get more land and a bigger empire than Britain. In the long term this caused problems between Britain and Germany because they was both power hungry and the thought of another country having a bigger empire or navy made them angry. Wilhelm tested the Entente Cordiale again in 1911 when he demanded compensation
Lastly, If Germany did not attack Belgium, Britain and along and their allies, they would have not been included in the War. If Germany chose to support its own ally, Austria Hungary instead of declaring war with the other empire group involving Russia, then France would have not have attacked Germany. Therefore the scale of the war would have been much smaller. World War 1 Could have been
They clashed with the main powers of Europe over territory like morocco, which ultimately strengthened Franco-Anglo relationships. Weltpolitik was a huge political risk and in the end the risks outweighed the positive factors, which resulted in the failure of the plan and ultimately was a great cause of WW1 In 1893 the Franco-Russian alliance was formed which meant that it allowed the possibility of encirclement of Germany, which made them paranoid. The Kaiser at the time was Wilhelm II and he surrounded himself with military figures so had a very militaristic point of view. So his response to the possible encirclement was to come up with a new plan called the Schliffen Plan. This stated that if a possibility of a two front war with France and Russia was ever to arise they would mobilise their troops quickly and beat the French within six weeks and then march back in time to meet the Russian army.
From “War of Movement” to “Stalemate” The Schlieffen Plan: * Germans believed they could win the war quickly. 1905, General Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen planned a way of preventing Germany from fighting a war on two fronts. He believed that it was a priority to defeat France quickly, forcing them to surrender before Russia had a chance to mobilise her armed forces * Helmuth von Moltke revised/modified the plan, less prepared to take risks than Schlieffen – lacked faith in elements of the original plan. * Execution of Schlieffen Plan led to Britain declaring war on Germany and honouring alliance/agreement guaranteeing protection of Belgian neutrality and territory against invasion, 4th August 1914. * Moltke changed ratio of number of troops in right wing to left wing from 7:1 to 3:1 as he thought the left wing were too small and might be over-run and forced back by French forces; weakened the main strike force by diverting more German troops reinforcing Eastern Front from right wing to support Austria-Hungary * Right wing (main attack force) of the German army would mobilise in massive strength (north) and invade France through neutral Belgium * Smaller left wing (decoy/diversion) would hold French army on Rhine border against unexpected attack through Alsace-Lorraine * French Plan 17 went to German hands.
They put restrictions on the German military, to make Germany weak and a second-rate power. Germany had huge financial losses, which brought the rise of the ultra-nationalist Nazis. They had to take acceptance of responsibility for the damage in the war even though they weren’t the only ones in the war. Germany had absolutely no say in the requirements and matters of the treaty. The Treaty of Versailles would prove to be one of the most disastrous mistakes in history.
It is commonly accepted that Germany were eager for a war, however in 1914 they were only responding to events in Sarajevo by agreeing to back Austria, as opposed to starting a war with no origin. The Germans also felt cheated by this treaty, because virtually none of Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ had been included in it. On the 5th November 1918, Germany had accepted the Fourteen Points as the basis for peace and an armistice, however when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, the Fourteen Points had been largely forgotten. This shows Clemenceau’s’ and Frances’ determination to crush Germany as they were largely forced to accept charges that they knew would greatly weaken and inhibit them in the future as they tried to rebuild. Germany understood that they would have to ‘reduce weapon numbers’, however they did not expect to