World War One – Reasons for Stalemate
On August 3rd 1914, Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. Trying to follow the Schlieffen plan (which demanded victory in six weeks) the Germans ran into immediate difficulties which caused the stalemate. There are a few reasons why stalemate developed on the western front in 1914. Among these reasons are the roles the commanders had, communication problems, tactical and strategic problems, the failure of plan XVII and also the failure of the Schlieffen plan.
One of the reasons for stalemate was down to the role of commanders none of them really knew how to attack well most only knew how to defend which had less skill and a simple dependence on manpower. The role of commanders Haig and Smith-Dorrien also played a vital role in stopping the Germans and bringing in the stalemate. Also Jaffre’s confidence was a key factor in stemming the German tide and bringing stalemate into play. Other commanders such as Von Molthe also were not effective leaders and helped contribute to the stalemate of 1914. The commanders were often called “donkeys” and the soldiers “lions” because the commanders did not care for the soldiers at all. They sat in the trench while they sent the troops over the barbed wire to get pelted at by machine guns. The only reason the troops listened to them was because they’d get shot otherwise.
Problems in communications also contributed towards the stalemate because the communications between artillery was very poor. The delay and confusion of the battlefield made it hard to make an objective perspective of battle. The different nationalities such as the French and British allies found it hard translating one another. The messages taken from the commanders to the front line were often out of date by the time they reached the front line soldiers because of the messengers took too long and sometimes became casualties.
The tactical and strategic problems were another reason for stalemate because the advance was difficult in areas without trains and railways because the French roads were poor. The reliance on cavalry was outdated in this war because they could easily be shot with the new machine guns sometimes the cavalry slowed up the movement of the forces especially in the winter when it was muddy. The pace of the timetables set out was too tiring and often could not be met because the men were too mentally and physically exhausted. This meant the generals had to rest the soldiers so they were more effective in battle. Also the outdated reliance of morale and honour failed to equal modern technology with belief that crowding men together could concentrate their rifle fire and improve morale. The ability of machine guns and artillery to stop attacks was also greatly underestimated.
The failure of plan XVII was another key factor because the French underestimated the number of troops the Germans had which meant the French were unorganised and not strong enough. The French believed that they could cover 50 metres in a 20 second charge before the Germans could get out their rifles , this was a failure because the French were all shot with the new machine guns. The French also did not think that the Germans would march through Belgium which resulted in not enough allied troops on the French left wing and also resulted in a failure to co-ordinate effectively with British and Belgians in training. The Belgians however held back the German forces by destroying the railways used to move the German troops. Countless lives were lost in counter attacks because too much attention was paid to the offensive front. The level of officer training was also poor due to the failure to co-ordinate artillery to protect infantry against German attacks. Also the poor control and use of troops in battle and the tactics used by Napoleon were easily controlled by opposing modern warfare.
Also the failure of the Schlieffen plan contributed to the stalemate because things like the strict deadlines could not be met because of the strong resistance of allied forces and the poor French transport systems. Molthe and his commanders proved indecisive because they were just hungry for glory by going for major attacks the commanders also at a crucial time deployed their troops east of Paris and therefore not encircling the city and not forcing it to surrender. The city was not encircled because General Von Kluck thought he was losing contact with the German army to his left and swung south earlier then planned and he came east of Paris. The invasion of Belgium led to the involvement of Britain which helped slow down the Germans. The Germans reserve troops were badly prepared so did not have much idea about how to fight a war. Also some of the troops needed for the western front were taken back by the Germans to help with their eastern front against Prussia so they didn’t have as much troops as planned.
Bibliography –
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/modern_history/core_study/ww1/overview1914_18/page137.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
http://computasaur.tripod.com/ww1/id17.html
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/crane.htm
