Stalemate

• Why Stalemate set in?
• Reason 1:Failure of the Schiefflan Plan
• -The Schiefflan Plan was based on the key assumptions that Belgium could be defeated easily and that Russia would take six weeks to mobilise
• • In reality the Belgian troops delayed the German advance into France by four to five days and the Russians were able to mobilise in only ten days. They were held up by the Belgians in Mons and by the British in Liege
• Reason: Germany’s were faced with a war on two fronts and had failed to take Paris within the timetabled 40 days. They therefore had to resort to defensive tactics
• Reason two: German Defensive
• • After The Battle of Marne in which there were half a million casualties, the Germans were forced to retreat to the Aisne river then chose to dig trenches on the most defensible ground in northern France
• • Between 1914-1918 they would launch one major offensive on the Western Front. They would develop a formidable defensive line on Western Front known as the Hindenburg Line
• Reason: Germany decided that the only way to win the war was to hold their ground and fight a ‘War of Attrition.’
• Reason three: New technology and tactics
• • Rifles and machine guns were used, the latter of which could fire 500 rounds a minute. Artillery was also deadly and 70% of casualties during the war came from this weapon
• • To protect themselves soldiers dig trenches which put an end to a war of movement. Over 350,000 French soldiers died by the end of August 1914 due a reliance on headlong bayonet attacks
• • Both sides also tied to outflank each other in the ‘Race to the Sea‘- which resulted in 450 miles of trenches on the Western
• Reason: In response to these new weapons, both sides dig trenches to defend themselves. This led to stalemate