How Did Germany Differ Before World War I?

The German Command, in planning for a short and swift war, found themselves in a bind when the war started to prolong itself. From the very beginning, their plan started to fall apart, as Belgium, who they assumed would just let them march through to France, took up arms in resisting their approaches (Hull, 2005). The war would get longer and longer and seemed farther away from its conclusion as the months grew colder. As a result of this as well as their Prussian roots, they resorted to dangerously risky and destructive tactics, trying to bring the war to a quicker end while putting more of their resources in jeopardy, a move that eventually did not pay off and ended up leading to the German Empire’s demise (Hull, 2005).

The Schlieffen Plan was created by Alfred von Schlieffen, and he created it to avoid fighting both France and Russia at the same time. The problem was that France and Russia were on opposite sides of Europe. Which meant they would have to split their army in half. The Schlieffen Plan stated that Germany would defeat France while Russia would be mobilizing itś army. They assumed that Russia would take six weeks to mobilize,and that France was weak and Russia was strong. They didn´t think that GB would be fighting for France because of the treaty signed seventy - five years ago. The Schlieffen Plan had many flaws and assumptions.But instead of taking six weeks Russia took ten days, and started fighting when they weren't ready. Which made

In the big picture, Germany desired to expand their empire as well as their navy, which was incompatible with Great Britain's survival. The Germans' most formidable naval weapon was the U-boat, a sophisticated submarine that Germany used in its unrestricted submarine warfare declared at the area around the British Isles. Moreover, on 4 August 1914 Germany began their invasion of Belgium, despite the fact that the Belgian government had announced that if war came, it would uphold its historic neutrality. Accordingly, there were raised questions about the motives of Germany joining the war. Many claims that Germans used the alliance with Austria-Hungary as an excuse to execute their Schlieffen Plan, and eventually attack France. In all cases, having pursued an abusive and offensive war policy, Germans brought a calamity onto

It was to be “a lightning forty-day wheel through Belgium and northern France ending in a victorious entry march into Paris, followed by a redeployment of German armies to the east to halt the Russian steamroller.” Germany began the war on 3 August occupying the whole of France’s eastern border from Switzerland up to Luxembourg with Seventh, Sixth, Fifth, and Fourth armies. Third Army then proceeded to occupy Luxembourg, without resistance, before fighting through Belgium’s extensive fortifications beginning on 6 August and culminating on 16 August with the fall of Liège, Belgium’s most significant fortification. Afterwards, the German Army began to push First and Second armies, which combined made up over two-thirds of Germany’s Western forces, into northern France. Refer to Figure 1, Map of the First Battle of the Marne, 1914.

The Schlieffen Plan was a German battle plan to fight a two front war devised in 1905 by Alfred von Schlieffen as the Chief of the General Staff for Germany. The plan called for the German army to apply overwhelming force in France to capture the capital of Paris within six weeks before changing focus to Russia. The plan intended to achieve a quick and decisive victory by sweeping a line of armies through neutral Belgium and into France. In actuality, Helmuth von Moltke made significant changes to Schlieffen’s original plan before and during World War I. Ultimately, the plan ended in failure when the German advance halted at the First Battle of the Marne (Limbach, 2014).

Army lead by General Hasso von Manteuffel. There objective was to take the middle attack route and capture Brussels. The third army was the Seventh army. There job was to protect the flank. Being made up of only four infantries they barely made progress in the attack. The last army was the Fifteenth army under General Gustav-Adolf von Zangen. They regrouped after Operation Market Garden. They would take advantage of poor weather since the Allies wouldn’t be able to get Ammo from the Air Force.

Leading up to the First World War (WWI) was a series of crises -- Serbian unification efforts, the Ten-Point Ultimatum from Austria to Serbia, the Kruger Telegram, the Dreadnought Race, the Moroccan Crises of 1905 and of 1911, the Balkan Wars, and the Bosnian Crisis -- that generated significant conflict and division among the countries of Europe, all of which seemed to lay the foundation for the start of WWI. With concern for its own power and security in a rapidly changing Europe, Germany set out to undermine the power of as well as the alliances between other European countries. In his book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914, Christopher Clark points out that, while ‘not one of the great powers has escaped the

Germany sought to conduct a massive counter-offense to seize control of the Allied Forces’ main hub of Antwerp. The German Army intended to split

In the actual history of World War One, Germany allowed their troops to wreak havoc in Belgium while in our simulation we used troops to suppress uprisings and secure our supply lines. The difference in decisions would have effected Germany differently during the war. In history they are depicted as Huns and barbarians due to their actions in Belgium, while in our game the Germans would not have been called Huns and barbaric. By choosing to suppress the Belgian civilians who rebelled without the use of extreme force, we might have prevented the character assassinations of the Germans. Therefore, by not having the Rape of Belgium occur, this action would prevent the haunting propaganda images and the Hun comparisons from rallying countries against

The Germans intended to make this specific attack in Verdun. Verdun had many historical meanings, it had sixty forts enclosing it. Forty small ones and twenty major ones. It defended the eastward edge of France. The Germans thought that the French would not let those forts fall, they would defend the forts with all the men they had, and they would lose so many men that it would shift the course of the war.

The turn of the century set the stage for today’s world in a big way. Despite much technological and medical advancement that came as a result of the Great War it may have been avoidable. Germany was widely accused of starting the war and therefore paid drastically for it after it was over. Although Germany is accused of technically starting World War One, if they hadn’t been so involved and bound into the politics of the Austrian-Hungarian empire the war may have never happened. If I were to travel back to 1900 I would advise the leaders of Germany to rethink their alliances and their depth of involvement with the Austria-Hungarian empire. The leaders of this time need to understand the limits of nationalism and that world domination will never happen. I will be referencing: Speilvogel Western Civilization: A brief history, Volume II: Since 1500 unless otherwise cited.

First of all the Belgians put up unexpected resistance. Although the Belgian army was only a tenth the size of the German army, it still delayed the Germans for nearly a month, defending fortresses and cities. The Germans used their "Big Bertha" artillery to destroy Belgian forts in Liege, Namur and Antwerp, but the Belgians still fought back, creating a constant threat on German supply lines in the North. In addition, the German attack on neutral Belgium and reports and propaganda about German atrocities turned public opinion in many neutral countries against Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm.

The Schlieffen-Moltke Plan; which was originally drawn up by Alfred von Schlieffen and reshaped by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, failed to achieve its objectives in September 1914 was due to the changes of the original Schlieffen Plan implemented by Moltke the Younger, and his poor leadership shown throughout the execution of the plan The objective of the Schlieffen-Moltke plan; which was a planned offensive assault by the German Empire, was to advance through Belgium and enter France through the Northern border. Once Belgium was defeated, the Germans wished to quickly overtake the French and move quickly to fight the Russians before they could mobilize. However, the plan turned into a major disaster due to the alterations that Moltke made before the Schlieffen-Moltke Plan’s execution, as well as the revisions made during the offensive. His changes allowed the Allies to prepare for this assault, and counter the attack. An issue that Moltke and the German army encountered was that the Belgian army would not allow them to march through without resistance. Moltke attempted to persuade the Belgian King Albert to grant the German army access through their country prior to the invasion. The request, however, failed to succeed as the Belgian King Albert declined, and did not allow the Germans to flow freely through their country. This led to a pre-emptive attack on neutral Belgium, which effectively brought Great Britain into the war. The resistance that the Belgian’s showed in

The Schlieffen-Moltke Plan; which was originally created by Alfred von Schlieffen and executed by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, was an unexpected disaster for the German army during the First World War. The Schlieffen-Moltke plan failed to achieve its objectives in September 1914 due to the leadership of Moltke and the changes to the original Schlieffen Plan that were implemented by Moltke during 1914. The objective of the Schlieffen-Moltke plan; which was a planned offensive assault by the German Empire, was to advance through Belgium and enter France through the Northern border. Once the Belgian forces had been defeated, the Germans wished to quickly overtake the French and mobilize swiftly to fight the Russians before they could mobilize their own army. However, the plan turned into a major disaster due to the alterations that Moltke made before the Schlieffen-Moltke Plan’s execution, as well as the revisions made during the offensive. His changes allowed the Allies to prepare for this assault, and counter the attack. An issue that Moltke and the German army encountered in Belgium was that the Belgian army would not allow them to march through without resistance. Moltke attempted to persuade the Belgian King Albert to grant the German army access through their country prior to the launch of the invasion. The request, however, failed to succeed as the Belgian King Albert declined, and did not allow the Germans to flow freely through their country. This led to a

The Schlieffen-Moltke Plan; which was created by Alfred von Schlieffen and executed by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, was an unexpected disaster for the German army during the First World War. The Schlieffen-Moltke plan failed to achieve its objectives in September 1914 due to the leadership of Moltke and the changes to the original Schlieffen Plan that Moltke implemented during 1914. The objective of the Schlieffen-Moltke plan, which was a planned offensive assault by the German Empire, was to advance through Belgium and enter France through the Northern border. Once they marched through Belgium, the Germans wished to quickly overtake the French and mobilize swiftly to fight the Russians before they could mobilize their own army. However, the plan turned into a major disaster due to the alterations that Moltke made before the Schlieffen-Moltke Plan’s execution, as well as the revisions made during the offensive. His changes allowed the Allies to prepare for this assault, and counter the attack. An issue that Moltke and the German army met in Belgium was that the Belgian army would not allow them to march through without resistance. Moltke attempted to persuade the Belgian King Albert to grant the German army access through their country before the launch of the invasion. The ask, however, failed to succeed as the Belgian King Albert declined, and did not allow the Germans to flow freely through their country. This led to a pre-emptive attack on neutral Belgium, which