The Schlieffen Plan - PowerPoint

							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