Schlieffen Plan

Schlieffen worked for the Prussian Army from 1853 to 1871 and fought the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871 during the Unification of Germany . He later worked for the Imperial German Army from 1871 to 1906 and was its chief from 1891 to 1906, when he retired

Made for the German Army in 1905, the plan was designed for a war between France against the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). The Triple Alliance would invade France through Belgium, instead of directly attacking it. With help from its allies, Germany would have just enough men to beat France in a few months.O'Neil W.D. 2014. The plan that broke the world: the "Schlieffen Plan" and World War I. 2nd ed, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Foley R.T. 2003. Alfred von Schlieffen's military writings. London: Frank Cass.  

World War I started in August 1914 in Germany, whose officers and tactic leaders dug up the plan that Schlieffen had made since they thought that the plan would work as in his hypothetical war. However, the plan failed because it was outdated, and things had greatly changed in the meantime.

Even though he did not have enough men to beat France, Schlieffen's replacement, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, still attacked France through Belgium because he thought that attacking was always better than defending. Moltke was sure that was proved by the Russo-Japanese War since because Japan always attacked and won the war against Russia.

Schlieffen believed that defending was usually better than attacking since he though that a defender's men can ride trains to a place faster than an attacker's men can walk there. That meant that the defender would always have enough men to stop the attacker. Schlieffen also thought that trenches, machine guns, and barbed wire would greatly help the defender. Schlieffen was right since during the war, defending was always better until an attacker used a lost of artillery to help its infantry.

A similar idea to the Schlieffen Plan was used by Adolf Hitler's generals Erich von Manstein and Heinz Guderian during World War II. Germany invaded France by attacking Belgium and the Netherlands. Because in the Schlieffen Plan, Germany had attacked mostly through northern Belgium, France thought that Germany would do the same again. France put most of its soldiers in northern Belgium, but Germany invaded mostly through southern The Belgium. German troops marched to the sea and trapped half of the French Army in northern Belgium. Because the trapped French troops were starving and could not get any more food, they surrendered. France tried to continue fighting but was too weak to resist and signed an armistice.
 References 

Category:World War I