Why Did the German Plan Fail?

In reality, the German plan was too ambitious. The fear of a two front-war drove the German General Staff to explore any possible solution. The plan developed by Von Schlieffen was probably one of the best. Yet, Von Schlieffen himself predicted that his plan would fail. In essence, it attempted to do too much, too quickly.

At the beginning of August, over one million German soldiers pushed towards France. Most of these men marched thirty to forty-five km a day (30-45 km). The men were following a very precise and detailed plan. As in all wars, perfectly laid plans rarely work. The front line troops who started so well inside of Germany soon became tired and confused. Communications between military units were limited or did not exist at all. Messages were sent by horseback or on motorcycles to headquarters. Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of movement, messengers would also become confused or lost while returning to their units.

By the end of August, most German commanders had lost touch with their headquarters and with each other. Many units also out marched their supporting units like artillery and even their food supplies. In all history, no general, on either side of the battle, had commanded so many troops. This produced tremendous confusion at all levels of command.

General Von Moltke, who was command of the entire invasion of France, spent days on end not knowing where his armies were located. Moltke also panicked because of events on the Eastern Front. He was unsure if German forces would be able to keep the massive Russian army from invading Germany. Therefore, at a critical point in the invasion of France, he took one of the assigned armies and moved it to the Eastern Front. This had the effect of weakening the German invasion of France, dooming the western attack.

While Moltke was insecure about the plan, another of his generals was taking matters into his own hands. General Von Kluck made several decisions to change Von Schlieffen's plan. He never really trusted the plan to begin with, and felt that his army was vulnerable on the outer wing. Deciding that he was too far from other advancing columns, he decided to shorten his own lines so that he would not have his force destroyed. This meant that the plan to encircle Paris, and surround French forces, could no longer occur.

The lack of confidence by German generals, combined with the growing resistance of the British and French armies, changed the outcome of the war. Large-scale mobility of the various armies was disappearing and the battle lines were solidifying. Furthermore, the German General Staff become dejected. As the weeks slipped away, the generals believed that the plan had failed. They now faced what they had fear for years, a two-front war.

In addition to the efforts of the Belgian Army to stop the German advance, the French and British armies also began operations. The French were not prepared for the direction of the German attack, but attempted to counter attack along the inside shoulder of the German advance. The British had finally arrived and had taken up positions in Northern France by 7 September. Here the British were to bear the brunt of the German Armies moving through Belgium.