A Struggle for World Domination
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Transcript of A Struggle for World Domination
A Struggle for World Domination
The Schlieffen Plan
“Paris for lunch - St. Petersburg for dinner!”
The German Plan►A major offensive to capture Paris in
42 days►Avoid France’s fortifications by
sweeping west through neutral Belgium and then turning in an arc south into Paris
►The French army would be destroyed defending Paris
The Idea►If successful the French would be
forced to surrender►Germany could then shift forces to the
Eastern front to defeat the Russians before they could fully mobilize
►Like many others, the Germans thought the war would be short lived
Attempts to respond offensively
►As the German army moved through Belgium, France thinking it was a diversion sent most of there army northeast to attack Germany through Alsace and Lorraine
►The French lost 27,000 men due to the defensive power of “new” machine gun and long range rifle technology
Failure of the Schlieffen Plan►The Schlieffen Plan fell apart when the
Germans got too tired and too far ahead of their supply lines
►Part of their army got separated and vulnerable- the Germans had to retreat
►France tried to attack
►By this time the Germans were also fighting on the Eastern front
►With the German army divided, France was able to protect Paris
Quest for Victory►Immediately both sides tried to out-
flank each other to swing around the others’ defensives
►This was called the “Race to the Sea”►The result was a long line of trenches
that stretched from Switzerland to the English Channel