The Schlieffen Plan - PowerPoint
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A Struggle for World
Domination
The Schlieffen Plan
“Paris for
lunch - St.
Petersburg
for dinner!”
The German Plan
►A major offensive to capture Paris in 42
days
► Avoid France’s fortifications by sweeping
west through neutral Belgium and then
turning in an arc south into Paris
► The French army would be destroyed
defending Paris
The Idea
► If successful the French would be forced to
surrender
► Germany could then shift forces to the
Eastern front to defeat the Russians before
they could fully mobilize
► Like many others, the Germans thought the
war would be short lived
Attempts to respond offensively
► As the German army moved through
Belgium, France thinking it was a diversion
sent most of there army northeast to attack
Germany through Alsace and Lorraine
► The French lost 27,000 men due to the
defensive power of “new” machine gun and
long range rifle technology
Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
► The Schlieffen Plan fell apart when the
Germans got too tired and too far ahead of
their supply lines
of their army got separated and
► Part
vulnerable- the Germans had to retreat
► France tried to attack
► By this time the Germans were also
fighting on the Eastern front
► Withthe German army divided, France
was able to protect Paris
Quest for Victory
► Immediately both sides tried to out-flank
each other to swing around the others’
defensives
► This was called the “Race to the Sea”
► The result was a long line of trenches that
stretched from Switzerland to the English
Channel
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