Europe Plunges into War

1. Europe Plunges into War Stalemate, Schlieffen Plan

2. Battle lines clearly drawn- both sides mobilized • Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire • Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Russia August 1914

3. Both sides convinced it would be a short war • Few could predict the horror that was about to ensue “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime” – Sir Edward Grey, Britain’s foreign minister. What is Sir Edward Grey predicting? “Home by Christmas”

4. Summer turns to fall- locked in a bloody stalemate • Making no real land gains, high numbers of casualties on both sides • What led to this? • Trench warfare • New technologies Stalemate on the Western Front

6. Two Front War

7. German General Von Schlieffen developed a six week plan to knock France out of the war before turning attention to the Russians The Schlieffen Plan

8. Schlieffen based his plan on the following assumptions: • Russia would take at least 6 weeks to mobilize • France would be easily defeated in 6 weeks • Belgium would not resist any German attack The Schlieffen Plan

9. The reality of the plan: • On August 2, 1914, the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium • Germans held up by Belgium army, backed up by British troops • Russia mobilized in just 10 days and Germany was forced to withdraw troops from the Schlieffen Plan to defend her eastern border • September 5th- Allies and Germans meet northeast of Paris at the Battle of the Marne, where the Germans were defeated The Schlieffen Plan

10. Much of the war's combat involved trench warfare, where hundreds often died for each meter of land gained. • Many of the deadliest battles in history occurred during the First World War. Trench Warfare

11. The First World War was a clash of 20th century technology with 19th century tactics. New Technologies