WWI and stalemate

Question 1

Why did the Germans have the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 1

• Germany sandwiched between F+R
• Franco-Russian alliance (1892)
• Germany wanted to avoid a war ‘on two fronts’
• Believed they could win in 6 weeks by using the plan

Question 2

What was the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 2

• Defeat France first, as they would mobilise a lot quicker
• Then turn to the East (Russia)
• It was assumed Russia would take a lot longer due to lack of roads/railway

Question 3

Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?

Answer 3

• Expected that Russia would take at least 6 weeks to prep; couldn’t guarantee
• Wanted to invade Belgium first to get to Paris, but didn’t want to pull Britain into war yet and make ‘two fronts’ more likely
• Wasn’t guaranteed that France would get involved, but wanted to attack regardless

Question 4

How did the Schlieffen Plan lead to war?

Answer 4

• All of the risky problems actually happened
• This pulled both France and Britain into war

Question 5

What role did Belgium play in the failure of the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 5

• Managed to slow down and delay Germans; gave BEF time to arrive
• Germany had to use heavy guns to break defences down
• Took until October for Antwerp to surrender their forces

Question 6

What role did Britain play in the failure of the Schlieffen Plan?

Answer 6

• British arrive in France quicker than Germans expected
• Germany had to transfer German troops
  to Western Front to fight BEF
• BEF outnumbered against 160,000 men
• Used rifles; BEF so effective Germany thought they were up against machine guns
• Held up German advance before being forced to retreat