1914

 The great war began exactly according to plan.  A million German troops are loaded into 6,480 railways trains and headed towards Belgium. (Scheliefen Plan)

 The French begin to execute Plan 17.  Sending three great armies to invade the province of Lorraine.

 The British ships loaded with 125,000 men land in French ports and begin to move east.

 It only takes 3 weeks before the war plans go wrong.  The Germans were slowed down by the Belgium armies. (10 days)  Then the B.E.F. also slows the Germans down.

 French armies were being torn to pieces in Lorraine.  300,000 French soldiers were killed in 2 weeks. (machine- gun post)

 The Russian armies start attacking Germany faster then predicted.  German commander Moltke, must send troops from the western front to fight the Russians. (2 Fronts)

 The German 1 st army has a long way to go to get to Paris. (50km a day)  The German armies in the south run into unexpected French armies that were marching back from Lorraine to cut the Germans off. (Pan 17 armies)

 By September 4 th the German armies reach the Marne River. (some could see Eiffel Tower)  Things looked good for the Germans, until one fatal mistake. The German armies did not surround Paris as planned. The French could now save themselves.

 The Germans push south.  The French now can attack from the North, south (17), and by “taxi” from the west.  This lasted one week (Sept.5 – 11), one of the biggest battles ever.  Germans retreat 60km to the Aisne and dug in. (Trench)  Schlieffen Movie Schlieffen Movie

 The Germans, French, and B.E.F all head north to try and outflank each other before they reach the English Channel.  One of the worst Battles took place in the city of Ypres. (Belgium) The B.E.F. lose 11,000 of its 12,000 soldiers.  Both sides started to dig trenches from Belgium to Switzerland. Nobody can move = Stalemate