Active Learning The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan

1. Have people positioned by the tables (countries) with flags. Potential to identify key
places such as Paris, and the River Marne and Ypres.

2. Aims:

- what plans will they come up with?

o Britain want to protect Belgium
o France defend their border, attack through Alsace-Lorraine (PLAN 17)
o Russia slow to mobilise, defend their borders then attack when mobilised.
o Austria hate Russia
o Germany swift defeat of France in the west followed by turning attentions
to Russia in the east avoid a war on two fronts.

a) To the Germans:
- you are surrounded by the Triple Entente. Why is this alarming? What do you need
to avoid? How might you do this? (Introduce information of Russian weakness and
slow response, lack of respect for British see them as a joke, beat French in 1870)
- What is the most obvious direction for attack (French-German border)?
- This is heavily defended what problems might that cause?
- What do you expect the French to do?
- Why would Belgium be a good route?
- Why would it be a bad route? neutral in the war, will bring Britain into the war
(treaty with Belgium)

3. The actual plan The Schlieffen Plan

a) Move some German troops to Belgium.

a. Would you send everyone? encourage them to leave some troops to deal
with Russia and the French attack
b) Move the French troops towards the German border
a. How many will you send? remember you wouldnt expect an attack through
Belgium.

Can you see any problems with the plan?

 4. The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan:

i) What will Belgium do? imagine they actually put up a good fight (the
King of Belgium flooded part of the land). How will that help Britain
and France? [Use bottles of water German troops mime walking
through them slowly?]
ii) What will Britain do now? The BEF crosses the Channel and arrives in
Belgium
iii) What must the French do Plan 17 is a failure (lost 200,000 men in 12
days) French retreat (where to?) but leaving troops to defend the border
why is this actually a bad thing for the Germans?
iv) The arrival of the BEF: Battle of Mons British hugely outnumbered
slow Germans and retreat (where to? What needs defending?).

German account of Battle of Mons:

We had no sooner left the edge of the wood than a volley of bullets whistled past our noses
and cracked into the trees behind. Five or six cries near me, five or six of my grey lads
collapsed on the grass. Damn it! This was serious . . . ! Forward again at the double! We
crossed the track, jumped the broad ditch full of water, and then on across the squelching
meadow. More firing, closer now and tearing into our ranks, more lads falling . . . the 160
men that left the wood with me had shrunk to less than 100 . . .
From now on matters went from bad to worse. Wherever I looked, right or left, there
were dead or wounded, quivering in convulsions, groaning terribly, blood oozing from flesh
wounds . . .
We had to go back . . . A bad defeat, there could be no gainsaying it; in our first battle
we had been badly beaten, and by the English by the English we had so laughed at a few
hours before.

v) Allow the German army to cross the River Marne and get close to Paris
(60km) but then they meet the British and French armies.
vi) However Russia have mobilised their army quicker than expected
what will Germany do now (Moltke moved 100,000 troops)? German
army has advanced too far, their supplies (food and ammunition) has not
kept up how does this help the French and British.
vii) French bring more troops to defend Paris use taxis (one student giving
another a piggy back to another!)
viii) Briefly describe the Battle of the Marne stop German advance and just
about manage to push them back. what would you do to protect
yourselves? Germans dont want to lose ground and French and British
dont want them to advance dig trenches
ix) Trenches have been dug if you were Germany what would you do now
think about supplies
x) Railway battles moving up to the Channel trenches being dug at same
time.
xi) First Battle of Ypres (12 Oct -11 Nov) BEF lose around 50,000 men,
Germans probably 100,000 men. British hold the ground and protect the
ports