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WWI Book Template PLP 9
2020
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The Schlieffen Plan
By: Grace Leishman
Map depicting how the Schlieffen Plan would play out.
The planning and strategy of an army in war can be just as important as the actual movements and battles. But even though these strategies are usually meant to either prevent or help win a war, The Schlieffen Plan ended up doing the exact opposite.
In this chapter you will learn about how and why The Schlieffen Plan came to be, what the plan entailed and how it was actually executed, why it didn’t work, and how it ended up harming the Germans more than helping. So sit back, relax, and get ready to understand the craziness that was the Schlieffen Plan.
In this chapter you will learn about how and why The Schlieffen Plan came to be, what the plan entailed and how it was actually executed, why it didn’t work, and how it ended up harming the Germans more than helping. So sit back, relax, and get ready to understand the craziness that was the Schlieffen Plan.
How The Schlieffen Plan Should Have Played Out
The Ideal Schlieffen Plan:
Step 1: Once Russia begins to mobilize their forces against Germany, part of the German army will draw the French into a fight along the Franco-German border that would use a lot of the French’s heavier artillery. They believed this would be fairly easy since the French were still mad about their loss in the Franco-Prussian war and wanted the territory called Alsace-Lorraine back which happened to be right on the border.
Step 2: Once the French army is busy with trying to take their land back the rest of the German army will take the railroads through Luxembourg, Belgium, and The Netherlands into France. Taking whatever they could and finally attacking the French army from behind and essentially decommissioning the whole army in one blow. Hopefully also scaring England enough to stay out of the war.
Step 3: That whole part of the plan would take less than six weeks which is what the estimated time it would take the Russian Army to get to the German-Russian border. Once France was defeated they would turn their attention towards the Russians.
Step 1: Once Russia begins to mobilize their forces against Germany, part of the German army will draw the French into a fight along the Franco-German border that would use a lot of the French’s heavier artillery. They believed this would be fairly easy since the French were still mad about their loss in the Franco-Prussian war and wanted the territory called Alsace-Lorraine back which happened to be right on the border.
Step 2: Once the French army is busy with trying to take their land back the rest of the German army will take the railroads through Luxembourg, Belgium, and The Netherlands into France. Taking whatever they could and finally attacking the French army from behind and essentially decommissioning the whole army in one blow. Hopefully also scaring England enough to stay out of the war.
Step 3: That whole part of the plan would take less than six weeks which is what the estimated time it would take the Russian Army to get to the German-Russian border. Once France was defeated they would turn their attention towards the Russians.
Activity: Before reading the next page on how The Schlieffen Plan actually went, try and figure out what might go wrong with the plan.
How It Actually Went:
Step 1: This part of the plan actually went better than expected because once Germany declared war on France the German army didn’t even really have to pull the French army into conflict on the border. Instead, the French already had a whole plan called Plan XVII to get that territory back and went to the border almost right away.
Step 2: This is where the plan started to go sideways, The Schlieffen plan had counted on there being very little resistance in Belgium when they started their advance but were surprised by how much resistance there was. This as well as all the railways the army was going to take being destroyed made their advance much slower. Still, they managed to make it fairly close to Paris without too many problems. This part of the plan had also been changed from the original plan and had fewer troops in the advance in general. This meant that when the German army made the mistake of leaving their right flank open to Paris instead of encircling it the French took that chance to cut them off from the other part of the army and heavily bombard them, stopping them in their tracks.
Step 3: Because of this resistance the army had no choice but to turn back and retreat past the Aisne River and created a long line of trenches across France with the French army doing the same just across from them. These lines of trenches would stay the same for almost the whole war.
Step 1: This part of the plan actually went better than expected because once Germany declared war on France the German army didn’t even really have to pull the French army into conflict on the border. Instead, the French already had a whole plan called Plan XVII to get that territory back and went to the border almost right away.
Step 2: This is where the plan started to go sideways, The Schlieffen plan had counted on there being very little resistance in Belgium when they started their advance but were surprised by how much resistance there was. This as well as all the railways the army was going to take being destroyed made their advance much slower. Still, they managed to make it fairly close to Paris without too many problems. This part of the plan had also been changed from the original plan and had fewer troops in the advance in general. This meant that when the German army made the mistake of leaving their right flank open to Paris instead of encircling it the French took that chance to cut them off from the other part of the army and heavily bombard them, stopping them in their tracks.
Step 3: Because of this resistance the army had no choice but to turn back and retreat past the Aisne River and created a long line of trenches across France with the French army doing the same just across from them. These lines of trenches would stay the same for almost the whole war.
How It Actually Played Out
How It Actually Went:
Step 1: This part of the plan actually went better than expected because once Germany declared war on France the German army didn’t even really have to pull the French army into conflict on the border. Instead, the French already had a whole plan called Plan XVII to get that territory back and went to the border almost right away.
Step 2: This is where the plan started to go sideways, The Schlieffen plan had counted on there being very little resistance in Belgium when they started their advance but were surprised by how much resistance there was. This as well as all the railways the army was going to take being destroyed made their advance much slower. Still, they managed to make it fairly close to Paris without too many problems. This part of the plan had also been changed from the original plan and had fewer troops in the advance in general. This meant that when the German army made the mistake of leaving their right flank open to Paris instead of encircling it the French took that chance to cut them off from the other part of the army and heavily bombard them, stopping them in their tracks.
Step 3: Because of this resistance the army had no choice but to turn back and retreat past the Aisne River and created a long line of trenches across France with the French army doing the same just across from them. These lines of trenches would stay the same for almost the whole war.
Step 1: This part of the plan actually went better than expected because once Germany declared war on France the German army didn’t even really have to pull the French army into conflict on the border. Instead, the French already had a whole plan called Plan XVII to get that territory back and went to the border almost right away.
Step 2: This is where the plan started to go sideways, The Schlieffen plan had counted on there being very little resistance in Belgium when they started their advance but were surprised by how much resistance there was. This as well as all the railways the army was going to take being destroyed made their advance much slower. Still, they managed to make it fairly close to Paris without too many problems. This part of the plan had also been changed from the original plan and had fewer troops in the advance in general. This meant that when the German army made the mistake of leaving their right flank open to Paris instead of encircling it the French took that chance to cut them off from the other part of the army and heavily bombard them, stopping them in their tracks.
Step 3: Because of this resistance the army had no choice but to turn back and retreat past the Aisne River and created a long line of trenches across France with the French army doing the same just across from them. These lines of trenches would stay the same for almost the whole war.
William Holt Wilson
Although the attack was successful at stopping the Germans from breaking through the front lines it had disastrous consequences for the 4th battalion. During the attack William had been shot in the shoulder as well as the upper arm and had been struck with shrapnel in his right eye, many others had been severely wounded in this battle as well. But they would have been the lucky ones, close to half of the whole battalion, 500 men, were killed in this attack alone.
William Holt Wilson had lived in England his whole life, he was a true English fellow through and through. Even when he moved to Canada in September 1913, he knew his place as an Englishman, the same was true when WWI broke out. Because of his heritage and social customs at the time William decided to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force to help in the war efforts. It was the least he could do for the country he had grown up in.
William was soon shipped to England in October 1914 for training in the wet and muddy English winter. But after half a year of training they were deemed ready for the battle field and sent off to France to fight. William was part of the 4th Battalion at the time of his first bit of action in the war but it would also be his last.
On April 23rd. 1915, the 1st and 4th battalions were helping in a counterattack against the Germans in what would be known as the Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge, the first battle in the Second Battle of Ypres. The day before the Germans had sent chlorine gas towards the French area in the trenches leaving that whole area open for the Germans to advance through and possibly take Ypres for themselves. To make sure this wouldn’t happen the Canadians hastily created a plan of attack to stop the Germans advancing and maybe even gain land for themselves. The remaining French infantry were also informed of the attack but due to a previous shrapnel attack from the Germans there was no direct forms of communication and the objective was never made that clear.
On April 23rd. 1915, the 1st and 4th battalions were helping in a counterattack against the Germans in what would be known as the Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge, the first battle in the Second Battle of Ypres. The day before the Germans had sent chlorine gas towards the French area in the trenches leaving that whole area open for the Germans to advance through and possibly take Ypres for themselves. To make sure this wouldn’t happen the Canadians hastily created a plan of attack to stop the Germans advancing and maybe even gain land for themselves. The remaining French infantry were also informed of the attack but due to a previous shrapnel attack from the Germans there was no direct forms of communication and the objective was never made that clear.
This was the first and last time William had fought in the war, his injuries were too severe to let him back into the line of duty. However, the physical wounds weren’t the only wounds he had, he was also severely mentally wounded, as many men were in the First World War. During his time in the hospital he was so out of it he wrote 1914 instead of 1915 on the letters and postcards he sent to his family in England. Even after he was discharged from the hospital and relived of his duty to the Canadian Expeditionary Force he never really recover from the horrors he had seen at war. It’s likely that he suffered from PTSD for the rest of his life but never got any help for it since it wasn’t recognized as a mental illness at the time. He was apparently never the same after his time at war.
William went on to marry a lady by the name of Silbella Margaret Sayer in June 1918 and had a daughter with her named Vera. Sadly she died in 1927 and he remarried to Jean Margaret Miner on May 22, 1937, and had another child with her named Peter. William lived until the age of 75 and died in 1964.
William went on to marry a lady by the name of Silbella Margaret Sayer in June 1918 and had a daughter with her named Vera. Sadly she died in 1927 and he remarried to Jean Margaret Miner on May 22, 1937, and had another child with her named Peter. William lived until the age of 75 and died in 1964.