World War 1
The War to End All Wars
World War 1The War to End All Wars |
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World War 1 |
Soldiers wearing gas masks |
Train Blowing up |
Artillery |
More fighting |
The great war |
 Soldiers in trenches |
Flying Ace's Hangar |
 Japanese Soldiers |
 Battle Scene |
 Soldiers on a beach |
The war began when the archduke heir to the Austria-Hungary throne was assassinated by a Serbian. Austria declares war on Serbia. War with Austria meant war with Germany due to the triple alliance. War with Serbia meant war with Russia Serbia's ally. War with Russia meant war with France and England because of the Triple Entente. Soon more countries would join the war.
Long before the first shots were fired in World War I, plans were being made to win the war. In 1904, ten years before the battles began, France, Great Britain, and Russia decided to form an alliance. These countries had heard rumblings from Germany that frightened them. They felt threatened by the Germans. Germany was building up its army and hinting at the idea that they would like to take control of smaller countries in Eastern Europe. France and Great Britain made an agreement to help each other in the event of a German attack. They decided to include Russia in their agreement. That would mean that the western border with Germany would be protected by France and Great Britain. The eastern border with Germany would be protected by Russia.
When Germany heard about the agreements made by France, Great Britain, and Russia, they were afraid that they were going to be attacked by these forces. The German Army Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen, was given the task of coming up with a plan to protect Germany. He believed that if France was quickly and soundly defeated in a war that Great Britain was weak enough that it would drop out of the fight. He had seen the Russian army and knew that it would take them at least six weeks to prepare themselves for any kind of war. Because of these suppositions, he formed a plan that would defend his country in case of attack by the united forces.
Schlieffen's plan was fairly simple. 90% of the German army would be sent to attack France. There were French forts on their border with Germany. Schlieffen's plan was to bypass these forts and surprise the French from another direction. His plan sent German troops through Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Germany would take control of these small, weak countries in quick attacks. This would lead them to an unprotected section of France. From this point, they would be able to enter France and take control before the troops on the border had time to make their move. The other 10% of the German troops would be sent to the Russian border. The Germans believed that the Russians would take so long to respond to the Germans, that they would have plenty of time to take control of France and then reinforce their troops on the Russian border.
In reality, the German plan was too ambitious. The fear of a two front-war drove the German General Staff to explore any possible solution. The plan developed by Von Schlieffen was probably one of the best. Yet, Von Schlieffen himself predicted that his plan would fail. In essence, it attempted to do too much, too quickly.
At the beginning of August, over one million German soldiers pushed towards France. Most of these men marched thirty to forty-five km a day (30-45 km). The men were following a very precise and detailed plan. As in all wars, perfectly laid plans rarely work. The front line troops who started so well inside of Germany soon became tired and confused. Communications between military units were limited or did not exist at all. Messages were sent by horseback or on motorcycles to headquarters. Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of movement, messengers would also become confused or lost while returning to their units.
By the end of August, most German commanders had lost touch with their headquarters and with each other. Many units also out marched their supporting units like artillery and even their food supplies. In all history, no general, on either side of the battle, had commanded so many troops. This produced tremendous confusion at all levels of command.
General Von Moltke, who was command of the entire invasion of France, spent days on end not knowing where his armies were located. Moltke also panicked because of events on the Eastern Front. He was unsure if German forces would be able to keep the massive Russian army from invading Germany. Therefore, at a critical point in the invasion of France, he took one of the assigned armies and moved it to the Eastern Front. This had the effect of weakening the German invasion of France, dooming the western attack.
While Moltke was insecure about the plan, another of his generals was taking matters into his own hands. General Von Kluck made several decisions to change Von Schlieffen's plan. He never really trusted the plan to begin with, and felt that his army was vulnerable on the outer wing. Deciding that he was too far from other advancing columns, he decided to shorten his own lines so that he would not have his force destroyed. This meant that the plan to encircle Paris, and surround French forces, could no longer occur.
The lack of confidence by German generals, combined with the growing resistance of the British and French armies, changed the outcome of the war. Large-scale mobility of the various armies was disappearing and the battle lines were solidifying. Furthermore, the German General Staff becomes dejected. As the weeks slipped away, the generals believed that the plan had failed. They now faced what they had fear for years, a two-front war. In addition to the efforts of the Belgian Army to stop the German advance, the French and British armies also began operations. The French were not prepared for the direction of the German attack, but attempted to counter attack along the inside shoulder of the German advance. The British had finally arrived and had taken up positions in Northern France by 7 September. Here the British were to bear the brunt of the German Armies moving through Belgium.