The Von Schlieffen Plan

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There are many reason why the Germans did not succeed in the First World War. Most notably is the Von Schlieffen Plan, which had many flaws. Many historians believe that the use of this plan ultimately caused the defeat of Germany. Alfred von Schlieffen was the German chief of staff from 1891 to 1906. He was born February 28, 1833 in Berlin, Germany and died January 4, 1913 in Berlin, Germany. He joined the army in 1854, at the age of twenty-one and contributed many things towards the German army through the course of his life. Schlieffen is the father to the Von Schlieffen Plan, which was created in 1903. This plan was designed for war against Russia and France, so that the Germans could win a two war front in a small amount of time. Germany’s…show more content…
Helmuth Von Moltke was the new chief of staff and he made some changes to Schlieffen’s original plan. Moltke decided to only invade Belgium and not the Netherlands. He wanted to do so he could leave the Netherlands as a supply corridor as Germany itself might be blockaded. He also wanted to use more troops to be prepared for a fight against Russia. The Von Schlieffen plan did not work as was planned. There were many things which caused the execution of this plan do be doomed. Firstly, The Russians mobilized much quicker than the Germans expected them to. Additionally, the Allied forces could bring troops to the front lines by the use of the railway much faster than the Germans could arrange fresh supplies of food and reserve troops. Furthermore, the Belgians put up a fight when the Germans invaded them, which they did not expect. The Von Schlieffen Plan caused many other nations to declare war on Germany. The biggest one perhaps was Great Britain. After the Germans invaded the neutral country of Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany. The British did this because they had previously promised to defend Belgium, which was stated in the Treaty of London of 1839. When Britain officially joined the war on 4 August 1914, it put pressure on Canada to join in the fight as well, as they used to be a colony of Britain. Not too long after Britain declared war on Germany, Canada joined the
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