What was the Schlieffen Plan? The Schlieffen Plan was created by General Count Alfred von Schlieffen. It was actually started in 1897 and was finished about nine years later. The plan was to first attack France assuming they were weak and could be defeated easily, trying to make France surrender to between France and Germany, so they could fight Russia separately. He thought this was possible because he thought it would take Russia about six weeks to mobilize their troops. When they retreated, they destroyed the train tracks used to transport the troops. Russia has also recovered from the war between Russia and Japan. The Germans did not think the Russians were armed well enough at the time because of the Russo Japan war. This really weakened the Schlieffen plan. Also, Britain declared war on Germany because of the treaty in 1839. Germany was not expecting …show more content…
The Schlieffen Plan failed because the Germans took too long in the battle with France. Also, They kept destroying the railroads, so the railroads had to be rebuilt. Then, they underestimated France and how fast Russia can mobilize their army.This actually weakened Germany because they were not prepared for Russia to attack them so quickly, so they did not have enough troops fighting the Russians.
Did it change the war? Yes, The Schlieffen Plan changed the war since it would not have been much different if Germany did not have a plan because they would most likely split their forces on both borders of Germany. This would also exclude The cross through Belgium thus keeping Great Britain from entering the war.
How did it change the war? This might have allowed Germany a better chance. If the Schlieffen Plan worked, Germany might have won in simply going against Russia only by excluding France and Great Britain. Once they would have defeated one country they could focus on the other with full force. This would offer more defense against Russia while the Germans were invading