4. Having defeated France, Germany would then be able to concentrate her efforts on defeating the Russians in the east rather then having to fight on two fronts at once.<\/p>\n
Belgium, Britain and France responded to the launching of the Schlieffen Plan in different ways.<\/p>\n The Germans were not expecting any resistance from Belgium, but the Belgian army fought bravely and managed to delay the German advance. Members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrived to help, and the Germans were held up at Mons. The Belgians later prevented the Germans from taking the French channel ports by flooding their land.<\/p>\n Britain declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Belgium. Although the BEF consisted of only 125,000 men, they were well trained and equipped, and ready for action within less than one week. Having helped the Belgians hold the Germans up at Mons, the BEF then moved to support the French on the River Marne and prevent the Germans from reaching Paris. Losses were heavy and by December 1914 more than half of the original BEF were dead.<\/p>\n France responded quickly to the German attack by launching an invasion of Alsace and Lorraine, but this failed. They then switched troops to the defence of Paris in a desperate attempt to hold the Germans up, which involved transporting troops to the front line in fleets of taxis. The battle at the Marne was a turning-point; with the help of the remaining members of the BEF the German advance was not only halted but the Germans were also pushed back about 35 miles. The British and French then moved to secure the Channel ports.<\/p>\n The plan relied upon rapid movement. The resistance of the Belgians and the BEF prevented this. Both sides now had to secure the land that they held. Trenches were dug and machine-gun posts erected. The first exchanges of the war were over; from now until 1918, neither side would advance more than 10 miles forward or backwards from the positions they now held.<\/p>\n First World War<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Causes of the First World War<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Timeline of Causes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Forgotten Causes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Assassination of Franz Ferdinand<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Schlieffen Plan<\/a>\u00a0– Historiography of the Causes of the First World War<\/a><\/p>\n Outbreak of War<\/strong>\u00a0(Public reaction in Britain)<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The British Expeditionary Force in 1914<\/a><\/p>\n Trench Warfare<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Simulation: Would you make a good officer in the trenches?<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0British contribution to the Western Front<\/a><\/p>\n Battles of the First World War<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0First Battle of the Marne\u00a0<\/a>\u2013\u00a0The Gallipoli Campaign<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Battle of Verdun<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Battle of Jutland<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Brusilov Offensive<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Battle of the Somme<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Battle of Passchendaele<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Spring Offensive<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Battle of Amiens<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Victory on the Western Front?<\/a><\/p>\n The Home Front<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Revision exercise<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Changing role of Women<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Propaganda<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Censorship<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Conscientious Objectors<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Rationing and Recruitment<\/a><\/p>\n Personalities<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Douglas Haig and the Somme<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Charles Gass<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Billy Bishop<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Ludendorff<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Bradford Pals<\/a>\u00a0– Black History and the First World War<\/a><\/p>\n Technology and New Weapons<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>British Tanks<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Machine Guns<\/a><\/p>\n Medicine in the First World War<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Norman Conquest<\/a> – The Wars of the Roses<\/a> – The British and English Civil Wars<\/a> – The Second World War<\/a>\u00a0– Vietnam War<\/a> – Cold War<\/a><\/p>\n Battle of Hastings<\/a>\u00a0– Battle of Towton<\/a> – Battle of Bosworth<\/a> – D Day<\/a><\/p>\n The British Empire<\/a> – The Treaty of Versailles<\/a> – Impact of the War on Germany<\/a>\u00a0– Primary History<\/a> – History Teachers Resources<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Count Alfred von Schlieffen drew up the Schlieffen Plan in 1905 when he was German Chief of Staff. In a general European war, Germany would face France in the west and Russia in the east, and would need to defeat France within six weeks before Russia mobilised her troops. 1. As most of the French… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4696,"parent":144,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-836","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t![\"Schlieffen](\"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/400px-Schlieffen_Plan-300x232.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Schlieffen Plan in action, 1914<\/h2>\n
Why did the Schlieffen Plan fail?<\/h3>\n
\nRussia mobilised its troops quicker than expected. Within 10 days the Russians had invaded Germany, which meant that the Germans had to switch troops away from western Europe to hold up the Russian invasion.<\/p>\nOther wars:<\/h4>\n
Famous Battles:<\/h4>\n
Related Content:<\/h4>\n