schlieffen Plan

Strengths of schlieffen plan

Quick victory, France would Surrey 42 days after mobalization

Weakness of schlieffen plan

Feared a “wan on two fronts”, relying on Russia to mobalise, relying on France to surrender.

Biggest failures:

Underestimating Belgium forces, Britain entering war, Russian mobilisation faster, failure to capture Paris quickly

Underestimating Belgium =

They fought back, blew up railways, and delayed germanys advancement.

Britain joining war=

Germany thought that Britain wouldn’t go to war over a 70+ year old treaty but they did. = one of the world’s most powerful empires into the conflict who was stronger and had more resources. + further delayed German advancement in Belgium.

Russian mobilisation quicker than thought=

They only took 10 days to mobilise and then invaded the eastern border of Germany which only had 10% of its army meaning it was easier to attack as Germany had the rest go to attack France.

Failure to capture Paris/ abandoned Paris

They were re-routed to go to the east towards River Marne where they met French forces. A week of fighting occurred between 5-11 of sept where in the end they had to re-treat 60km.