1. The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan Leads to Trench Warfare

2. The Schlieffen Plan __________________ to the Triple Entente alliance
Wanted to avoid a __________ war
Core belief: If France could be quickly defeated, Britain & Russia would _________ to keep fighting.
Use ______% of German forces to defeat France before engaging Russia on the Eastern Front
Attack through Belgium & Luxembourg to avoid French ___________ along German border
Dependent on limited resistance in Belgium and _______ mobilization in Russia
Created by German Army Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen to deal with the potential threat of a joint attack by the members of the Triple Entente
Schlieffen believed it would take Russia 6 weeks to mobilize an army to attack Germany and felt France could be defeated within that time

3. The Plan Fails
On Aug. 2, 1914, Germany invaded Belgium & was shocked by their small army’s strong _____________________
Russia quickly mobilized troops into East ___________
_______________ arrived in France & Belgium more quickly than expected
Germany defeated at the Battle of the Marne & pushed back into northern ______________
They dug ____________________ trenches & the Allies did the same
By Christmas 1914, Western Front was full of trenches stretching from the English _____________ to Switzerland
None of Schlieffen’s expectations were realized leading to the plans failure
The Germans made it to within 35 km of Paris, but were pushed back by fierce Allied resistance
Trenches resulted in a stalemate where no side had an advantage; it became a war of attrition where both sides kept fighting with the hopes of exhausting their enemy, similar to medieval siege warfare in that respect