Modern World History: Pages 16-19

The war on the Western Front reaches stalemate

The war began and immediately the Germans started to use their Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was simple but it was also risky – there was a good chance that it might not work. The idea of the Schlieffen Plan was this: Germany would send their soldiers through Belgium and quickly knock France out of the war. They thought that Russia would take a long time to mobilise. Russia wouldn't be able to help its ally, France, quickly enough. The Germans planned to get to Paris and beat France in just six weeks. Then they planned to send their troops to fight against Russia. However, the Belgians and the Russians did not do what the Germans expected them to do. (See page 16, Source 11 in 'Modern World History').

At first, it looked as though the German's Schlieffen Plan would work. The German army invaded Belgium on 4th August, 1914. The Belgian army fought very bravely but it could not stop the German army. Soon, huge numbers of German soldiers were moving closer and closer towards France. However, the Belgians fought back so well that it gave Britain and France time to mobilise their armies. Also, the Russians moved more quickly than the Germans had expected. The Germans had to move soldiers to the east to fight the Russians. This meant that the Germans were fighting a war on two fronts.

The British sent a small but well-trained group of soldiers to France. This group was called The British Expeditionary Force. Its leader was a man called Sir John French and it landed at Mons on 23rd August. This group gave the Germans a big shock. The soldiers at Mons were led by Lieutenant-General Douglas Haig. He was a man who would become very well-known in this war. The soldiers were using Lee Enfield 303 bolt-action rifles. These were guns which could fire quickly and accurately. The Germans were shocked at how effective these guns were.

The British were very successful at first, but this did not last long. They were outnumbered – there were far more German soldiers than British soldiers. They had to retreat. They did manage to slow the Germans down but only the French had enough soldiers to stop the Germans advancing. Unfortunately, the French had their own problems.

When the war started, the French used their Plan 17. This was a plan to charge deep into Germany and make them surrender. The French attacked Germany through the area of Alsace-Lorraine. However, on August 20th, 1914, the German army defeated the French soldiers in Alsace-Lorraine. 200,000 French soldiers died in 12 days. The French abandoned their Plan 17 and decided to send their soldiers to Paris to defend it against the Germans. (See page 17, Source 14, 'Modern World History').

The Battle of the Marne

See page 18, Source 16

It was true that they had beaten the French in the border area of Alsace-Lorraine, but by September 1914, things were not going very well for the Germans, either. The leader of the German army, Supreme Commander Moltke, had to take 100,000 troops (soldiers)

Away from defending Paris and send them to fight against the Russians. The Russians were moving much more quickly than expected and had already invaded Germany. This was a very good piece of luck for the British and the French.

The German army also had another problem. They had advanced very fast and their supply lines couldn't keep up with them. They couldn't get food, guns, etc. to the soldiers quickly enough. The German soldiers were hungry and very tired.

The German commander, von Gluck, had planned to go around Paris to try and capture it. However, he decided to go straight towards it. The Germans were advancing towards it on foot (walking) but the French sent their troops to Paris by train and then on to the Front. Some of the French soldiers were even sent there by taxi! The German army was tired and overstretched. The French were fighting to save their country.

The British and French soldiers were able to stop the Germans advancing along the line of the River Marne. They then attacked the Germans and pushed them back to the River Aisne. However, they could not drive them out of France completely.

By 8th September, neither the Germans nor the British and French troops could make any progress. They were stuck in their positions and they started digging trenches. They did this to protect themselves from snipers and shellfire. Soon after this, they added machine guns and barbed wire. Up to this point, it had been a war with a lot of movement, but this was the first sign that it would change. A stalemate would come.

The race to the sea

See page 19, Source 18

The Battle of the Marne was a turning point in the war. The Schlieffen Plan had failed. The Germans were fighting a war on two Fronts. The German generals realized that they could not break through the enemy lines. Moltke lost his position as Supreme Commander of the German Army. The new Supreme Commander was a man called Falkenhayn. Falkenhayn decided to outflank the enemy lines. The charge began on 12th October. This charge was known as 'the race to the sea.'

Every time the Germans charged west towards the sea, the British and French moved soldiers to block them. These were called 'the Railway Battles of Northern France.' This was because both armies moved their troops by rail.

The first battle of Ypres in Belgium

The most important battle in this race to the sea was the first Battle of Ypres (there were two more later in the war). This first one lasted from 12th October to 11th November 1914. The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) lost around 50,000 men. The Germans lost about 100,000. However, the British still kept control of this important area. They were led by Lt. General Haig in this area. The British kept control of the English Channel ports, so they could get equipment and reinforcements.

By November 1914 it was a deadlock. Neither side was moving much at all. The BEF had been almost destroyed. In just ten weeks, 1 million French soldiers were either dead or had been wounded. The French army tried to break through the German lines in Artois and in Champagne in December but they failed and lots more soldiers died. At the end of 1914 the fighting had reached a stalemate (= deadlock). This situation stayed the same until 1918. Millions of soldiers were stuck in a line of trenches. These trenches stretched from the sea in the west to the Alps in the east. This line was called the 'Western Front.'