The French - 17th Counter-Plan

The French General Staff also had spent time planning for the next war against Germany. The French were angry and insulted by their defeat during the Franco-Prussian war. In fact, they sought revenge and a return of the lands they had lost during the settlement of the Franco-Prussian War. As a result of her defeat, France was forced to give up the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, which they wanted back. Thus, the invasion and re-conquest of these areas were to be the priority of French planning.

The French army had developed a strong desire for its soldiers to always be on the offensive. If you are in doubt about a military situation, then you should just attack. Unfortunately, there are a number of rules that are applied in planning an attack. One standard rule requires a three-to-one superiority of men to launching an attack. In other words, you need to have three soldiers on your side to every one enemy soldier, if the attack is to be successful.

Unfortunately for France, she could only put 800,000 men in the field to fight. Even with the addition of her British allies, who were able to bring 150,000 men, the French could utilize fewer than one million soldiers. On the other hand, Germany was able to put 1.5 million men into the field for the opening stages of the war. France was not able to meet the 3:1 requirement to have a chance of success. To make the 17th Counter Plan work, France would require well over four million men.

Once the fighting began along the Western Front, the French began to implement the 17th Counter-Plan. It was doomed to failure, and actually helped the German plans as laid out by Von Schlieffen. The Verdun area of France was soon to witness some of the heaviest fighting of the war.

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