Title: It is 1914.
1It is 1914.
2You are a Chief of Staff in the German Army.
3Germany needs a war plan. After the assassination
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, war with Russia is
extremely likely.
4If you go to war with Russia, you also face war
with France Russias ally.
5That would mean a war on two fronts, which you
know you cannot win.
6It is up to you to come up with a plan that
avoids having to fight on two fronts. What will
you do?
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8Where will you put your soldiers and where will
you move them to? You will initially be thinking
about fighting and beating Russia and France,
however, bear in mind that those countries have
allies! THE RULES Russia is very large and you
can pretty much attack her anywhere you
like. France cannot be attacked on her eastern
border (Alsace-Lorraine). She is too well
defended there and anyway that is exactly where
she would expect you to attack. You cannot fight
Russia and France at the same time so you will
have to be imaginative.
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11The Schlieffen Plan Schlieffens plan was to
attack France and defeat her in two weeks.
Schlieffen believed Russia would need at least
two weeks to mobilise, so after the French were
defeated the German army could turn around and
deal with the Russians. Schlieffen planned to
march the German army through Belgium to attack
France. He assumed the British, Belgiums ally,
would not get involved.
12The Schlieffen Plan FAILED! On 2nd August 1914
the German army marched through Belgium in order
to attack France. But Schlieffens assumptions
were wrong. He had not anticipated that the
Belgians would fight back so successfully, or
that the British Expeditionary Force would help
them. Schlieffen was also wrong about how long
the Russians needed to mobilise they were ready
in only ten days. So the German army had to split
in two in order to face the Russian threat. The
French fought back at the Battle of the Marne and
there was a stalemate. Germany was fighting a war
on two fronts and many knew she had already lost.
Both sides dug into trenches.