Schlieffen Plan and Actual Troop Movements

Due to the political situation from the earliest years of the 20th century, Germany faced the possibility of attack from east (Russia) and west (France) simultaneously. Under the supervision of Count Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff, Germany drew up a plan whereby they would first concentrate their forces to the west against France before returning most of their troops by train to defend their eastern front against the Russians, whom they believed would take longer to mobilize their forces. Events sparked by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand meant that by the beginning of August 1914, the Germans had no choice but to put the Schlieffen Plan into action. Three German armies swept through Belgium, defeating the British Expeditionary Force at Mons, and moved on into France, crossing the River Marne and threatening Paris. However, German over-confidence led to the withdrawal of some forces and, supposedly because of an error in decoding an order, General Alexander von Kluck split his forces away from the other two supporting armies. The French rushed to counter-attack and transported troops to the exposed flank by whatever means were available, including in 600 taxicabs. At the Battle of the Marne, they successfully halted the German advance less than 48 km (30 mi) from the outskirts of Paris. A rapid defeat of France was thus prevented and four years of trench warfare resulted.

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Schlieffen Plan; World War I; Schlieffen, Alfred, Count von

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