There were various practices and events that took place during World War 1 that had a great impact on the war. Some of which were the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, the Trench Warfare and the different changes that took place during the war such as weaponry developments, chemical warfare, the use of tanks and so on. Each event led to the other moving the war in a certain direction.
The idea of The Schlieffen Plan, created by the German General Count Alfred von Schlieffen in December 1905, was to capture Paris in 42 days and hopefully force France to surrender before Russia could finish mobilization and thus avoid a two frontal war. Von Schlieffen presumed Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilize which meant that Germany had 6 weeks …show more content…
In theory, trench warfare was an excellent defensive system. A new frontier would be dug deep enough to shelter a man and narrow enough for slight protection against plunging artillery fire. It was also kinked at intervals to diffuse blasts, splinters or shrapnel as well as prevent attackers who entered a trench from commanding more than a short stretch with rifle fire. That is, if an attacker could make it through into an enemy’s trench. Aircrafts could often warn of the buildup of enemy troops. Moreover with the muddy nature of the No Man’s Land during wet weather, long range artillery and barbed wires it was extremely hard for the troops to move and so soldiers’ dreaded going “over the top” as they could barely get past their own barbed wires. However, staying in trenches with corpses and filth lying around would greatly affect any human beings mental and physical health. It also happened that artillery fire was a daily event and there were times where soldiers were shelled by their own side either due to errors or defective shells. Either way, trench warfare was horrendous and as put by war veteran and writer Robert Graves the Western Front was “known among its …show more content…
The failure of the Schlieffen Plan prolonged the war due to the stalemate and led to trench warfare. The trench warfare and its horrors led to the development of various weapons that finally managed to pull the Western Front out of its stalemate and the countries could finally
The idea of The Schlieffen Plan, created by the German General Count Alfred von Schlieffen in December 1905, was to capture Paris in 42 days and hopefully force France to surrender before Russia could finish mobilization and thus avoid a two frontal war. Von Schlieffen presumed Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilize which meant that Germany had 6 weeks …show more content…
In theory, trench warfare was an excellent defensive system. A new frontier would be dug deep enough to shelter a man and narrow enough for slight protection against plunging artillery fire. It was also kinked at intervals to diffuse blasts, splinters or shrapnel as well as prevent attackers who entered a trench from commanding more than a short stretch with rifle fire. That is, if an attacker could make it through into an enemy’s trench. Aircrafts could often warn of the buildup of enemy troops. Moreover with the muddy nature of the No Man’s Land during wet weather, long range artillery and barbed wires it was extremely hard for the troops to move and so soldiers’ dreaded going “over the top” as they could barely get past their own barbed wires. However, staying in trenches with corpses and filth lying around would greatly affect any human beings mental and physical health. It also happened that artillery fire was a daily event and there were times where soldiers were shelled by their own side either due to errors or defective shells. Either way, trench warfare was horrendous and as put by war veteran and writer Robert Graves the Western Front was “known among its …show more content…
The failure of the Schlieffen Plan prolonged the war due to the stalemate and led to trench warfare. The trench warfare and its horrors led to the development of various weapons that finally managed to pull the Western Front out of its stalemate and the countries could finally