It is 1914.

You are a Chief of Staff in the German Army.

Germany needs a war plan Germany needs a war plan. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, war with Russia is extremely likely.

If you go to war with Russia, you also face war with France; Russia’s ally.

That would mean a war on two fronts, which you know you cannot win.

It is up to you to come up with a plan that avoids having to fight on two fronts. What will you do?

Where will you put your soldiers and where will you move them to? You will initially be thinking about fighting and beating Russia and France, however, bear in mind that those countries have allies! THE RULES: Russia is very large and you can pretty much attack her anywhere you like. France cannot be attacked on her eastern border (Alsace-Lorraine). She is too well defended there and anyway that is exactly where she would expect you to attack. You cannot fight Russia and France at the same time so you will have to be imaginative.

The Schlieffen Plan Schlieffen’s plan was to attack France and defeat her in two weeks. Schlieffen believed Russia would need at least two weeks to mobilise, so after the French were defeated the German army could turn around and deal with the Russians. Schlieffen planned to march the German army through Belgium to attack France. He assumed the British, Belgium’s ally, would not get involved.

The Schlieffen Plan FAILED! On 2nd August 1914 the German army marched through Belgium in order to attack France. But Schlieffen’s assumptions were wrong. He had not anticipated that the Belgians would fight back so successfully, or that the British Expeditionary Force would help them. Schlieffen was also wrong about how long the Russians needed to mobilise; they were ready in only ten days. So the German army had to split in two in order to face the Russian threat. The French fought back at the Battle of the Marne and there was a stalemate. Germany was fighting a war on two fronts and many knew she had already lost. Both sides dug into trenches.