Page 20 - History of War - Issue 01-14

THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN

Outside German HQ in Brussels, 1914.
German actions in Belgium would help to
alienate neutral nations, including the US

beloved right-fl ank position in 1914. To the the Allies had discussed many possible options
south, Karl von Bülow, nominally von Kluck’s for the BEF, in the end it had been decided to
superior, commanded the German Second add the force to the extreme northern section of
Army. These two forces would have to achieve the French line, near the Belgian city of Mons.
King Albert a seamless co-ordination of attack to bring the Here, the British would be placated – and clear
Schlieffen Plan to a successful conclusion.
of any major action – as the French Army rolled
The advancing Germans fi rst had to overcome
After Germany invaded the tiny nation of Belgium, King the Belgian fortress city of Liege. Military to victory in the south. As the BEF began to
reach its assigned position, expecting to occupy
Albert assumed command of his nation’s small but planners in Belgium and France saw Liege and something of a quiet part of the line, von Kluck
spirited army. He and his Commanders hoped to make
a gallant stand at the fortress city of Liege, but the other Belgian fortresses as a trump card. It and von Bülow made a fateful decision. In
speed of the German advance and the sheer weight of was calculated that, as one of the strongest an effort to narrow a gap that had developed
its firepower forced the Belgians to retreat to, and take fortifi cations in the world, Liege would halt any between their forces, von Bülow instructed

refuge within, the fortifications of the port of Antwerp German advance for a great length of time. von Kluck to veer south. This meant that the
within days. During the “Race to the Sea”, when the However, the Germans brought up massive powerful German First Army would advance
two opposing forces continually attempted to outflank 420mm siege howitzers to pound the fortress, through Mons and was on a collision course

each other through north-eastern France, German forces crushing the morale of the defenders. Mighty with the BEF. To make matters worse for the
once again pummelled the outmatched Belgians, forcing Liege held out for only one day. By 13 August, British, the French forces to their south, under
them to relinquish Antwerp and retreat further down the German forces had broken through all of Lanrezac, had retreated in the face of the
the coast. Finally, after almost all of Belgium had fallen,
in late October 1914 Albert’s forces held firm at the Belgium’s defences and into the open land German advance, leaving the BEF alone and

Battle of the Yser, stemming the German advance partly beyond. The defeated Belgians retreated north in danger of being surrounded and annihilated.

by flooding the low-lying countryside and making it to Antwerp, while the Germans swept into France. On 23 August, the 170,000-strong German
impassible to German troops. Belgian forces, led by their First Army slammed headlong into the 70,000-
King, tenaciously held on to a tiny corner of their nation Dire peril man BEF. In an epic battle, the tiny British
for the remainder of the war. The French had expected a German attack in the force defeated attack after attack, holding
Although Albert remained tied to the British and north, and had located powerful defensive forces the Germans at bay. Some British soldiers
the French, relations between the erstwhile Allies were in Metz to counter any such action. In reality, the contended that only divine intervention kept
often strained. The King distanced himself from most focus of the German advance lay further to the destruction at arm’s length. However, it was the
Allied war aims, maintaining that he and his forces north, shattering the French defensive scheme. discipline and marksmanship of the individual

were fighting only for the freedom and independence Only the French Fifth Army, under General British soldier that won the day. Though small
of Belgium. Indeed, King Albert was often quite keen
to pursue the notion of a compromise peace with the Charles Lanrezac, stood in the way of the in numbers, the BEF ranked among the world’s
Germans, and his forces did not participate in many of main German advance. As early as 14 August, elite forces in terms of training. The Germans
the great Allied offensives in the west. By 1918, though, Lanrezac informed Joffre that he believed the had not expected a battle of this type at Mons,

his position had modified and Albert personally led his main German advance would be on his front. and for that reason their attacks on 23 August

army forward in the final Allied offensives that won the Joffre, though, remained fi xated on Plan 17. were poorly co-ordinated. Even so, the BEF
war. Albert died in a mountaineering accident in 1934. While the Germans advanced through found itself in dire peril. One British soldier later
Belgium, the BEF disembarked in France. Though recalled his fi rst taste of the terror of combat:

I had been straining my eyes, so, for a moment,

German soldiers advance through a field I could not believe them. A great, grey mass
towards a clash with the BEF at Mons of humanity was charging, running for all God
would let them, straight onto us not 50 yards
off. As I fi red my rifl e, the rest all went off almost
simultaneously. One saw the great mass of
Germans quiver. Some fell, some fell over them,
and others came on. Then the whole lot came on
again. Twenty yards more and they would have
been over us in their thousands, but our rifl e fi re
must have been fearful. Just for one short minute
or two, we poured the ammunition into them in
boxfuls. My rifl es were red-hot at the fi nish.
The BEF had fought bravely, but General John
French knew that he could not persevere against
such odds with two exposed fl anks; such a
course would doom the entire British force. As
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