How Far Was The Shlieffen Plan To Be Successful?

The Schlieffen Plan was the German army's plan for war against France and Russia. It was made by the German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen in 1903 with the demand of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Although the Schlieffen plan had failed anyways, was there a way for the Schlieffen plan to be successful?

The Schlieffen plan took nine years to conclude, but it was based on the theory that Germany would be at war with France and Russia at the same time. They believed that if the country went to war, Germany would be faced on two-war fronts with Russia and France. The plan thought France could be easily beaten because it was not a strong army, but Russia was strong, so they would take longer to mobilize. But Russia mobilized its troops quicker than what the plan assumed. The plan then began to go wrong on 30 July 1914, when Russia mobilized its army, but France did not. Germany was forced to invent a pretext to declare war on France. Things got worse when Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 because, in a Treaty of 1839, Britain had promised to defend Belgium.

Because the Germans oddly did not think of the presence of the British Expeditionary forces and how well-trained they are, even if they considered it, there would still be a poor logistical plan, in an era before trucks and cargo aircraft were commonplace, it was a disaster. The German infantry and cavalry had to wait days for resupply of food, ammunition and fodder for their animals. Had the planning including preparations for this being a possibility, the Germans could have adapted. It didn’t and they couldn’t, in my opinion there was no way for the Schlieffen plan to work.

In conclusion, the Schlieffen plan failed mainly because the Belgians put up a fight, the Russians mobilized quicker than expected, and the plan was changed. As well as the fact that Germany 's army simply wasn't strong