Germany Mobilizes for War Under the Schlieffen Plan
A prewar strategy meant to win a two-front war in six weeks instead drags Germany into four years of attrition
Quick facts
- Plan drafted
- 1905, by Alfred von Schlieffen
- War begins
- August 1914
- Modified by
- Helmuth von Moltke the Younger
- Goal
- Defeat France in about six weeks before Russia mobilized
What happened
Germany entered the First World War in August 1914 following a plan drafted in 1905 by Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, which called for a rapid, massive sweep through neutral Belgium and Luxembourg to knock France out of the war within about six weeks before Russia could fully mobilize on Germany's eastern front. Russia's mobilization on 28 July 1914 led Germany to declare war on Russia on 1 August and on France two days later; German forces began their advance into Belgium on 4 August. Schlieffen's successor, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, modified the plan by refusing to violate Dutch neutrality and narrowing the German attack's front, changes that slowed the advance and disrupted the tight logistics the original plan depended on.
Why it matters
The Schlieffen Plan's failure to deliver a quick victory locked Germany into the two-front war it was specifically designed to avoid, and the resulting stalemate on the Western Front set the course for four years of attritional warfare that would eventually collapse the German Empire itself. This site's dedicated World War I timeline covers the war's full course, including the trench stalemate, U.S. entry, and Germany's ultimate defeat.
How we know
The Schlieffen Plan's original text and Moltke's modifications are documented in German general staff records studied extensively by military historians, and the plan's failure is traced through the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, which stopped the German advance short of Paris.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Schlieffen Plan: Germany's WWI Plan to Invade France · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Imperial War Museums. The Schlieffen Plan · Reputable sourceiwm.org.uk · The domain "iwm.org.uk" is on our Reputable source registry.
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Related timelines
- World War I → · The full course of the First World War, from the July Crisis through the armistice and Germany's collapse