Changing the Tide of the War

Having studied various strategies and tactics I'm just curious what others think regarding the Von Schlieffen plan. As predicted to end hostilities in a very short time had his plan been implemented would this have occurred knowing what we know now about WWI? How would aircraft development been impacted upon ending the war by Christmas 1914?

No. The plan bore little relation to what was logistically feasible at the time. A sweep to the west of Paris was impossible, to the East (as it turned out) a failure as German spearheads overextended & exhausted themselves.

Now a shorter hook with a mission of destroying the bulk of the French Army might have garnered more success, but was at odds with the "decisive victory" mentality of the times, along with the German imperative to defeat the French with 90 days or so.

[leo]

I would have to agree with Tim. The Schlieffen Plan was un realistic in the sense it did not take into consideration logistics and the limitations of the individual soldier. Perhaps Germany might have fought a holding war in the west and have tried to knock Russia out of the war first.

[stephen]

There is another school of thought on that, which admittedly may have some supply line troubles. The Germans kept siphoning off strength from the right wing, against vS's vehement intsructions, to support a front against the French further south. The result - or so goes the theory - was that the right wing bogged down and destroyed the Schleiffen plan entirely. Another one of those what-if thingies. May not be perfect, but there is some credibility to that theory.

[leo]

Russia's sudden and unexpected invasion of East Prussia also drew off, I believe, an army corps at a very critical point. The Russians were smashed at Tannenberg, but Germany suffered a more telling defeat at the Marne.

The Schlieffenplan was the only possible solution to the problem of a two front war waged by France and Russia against Germany. At a time where numbers meant more than technology, the German military was not willing to wait until Russia mobilized to its full war-strength.
A victory against Russia was not though possible for at least one or two years, if at all, and this with France out of the war.

As it was, some major factors changed between the concept and the realization of the plan. These include the air-reconaissance and the major fact that the (most greedy) king of Belgium had died and was replaced by his honorable son.

The political problem was that the Generals stated firmly that this would be the only solution to a two-front war, and thus it was accepted by the Politicians that in the time of a Russian mobilization war was inevitable. When Russia mobilized, the clock started to tick between either certain defeat or starting the war.

regards

Axel