The Schlieffen Plan

[dshl]

The book I'm reading on WW1 says The Schlieffen Plan meant the majority of German forces were immediately sent West at the start of the war as it would take the Russians about six weeks to get to the border. So basically the idea was to knock out the French quicktime, while the Russians made their way to the border, then redirect most divisions to the East.

The bit I starred above is the problem as the book also says Prussia's Eastern border was where Lithuania is now. But Lithuania almost borders Russia so why would it take six weeks for the Russians to get virtually next door?


Comments appreciated, thanks.

 

[DaveCinzano]

The book I'm reading on WW1 says The Schlieffen Plan meant the majority of German forces were immediately sent West at the start of the war as it would take the Russians about six weeks to get to the border. So basically the idea was to knock out the French quicktime, while the Russians made their way to the border, then redirect most divisions to the East.

The bit I starred above is the problem as the book also says Prussia's Eastern border was where Lithuania is now. But Lithuania almost borders Russia so why would it take six weeks for the Russians to get virtually next door?


Comments appreciated, thanks.

Because of the time it took to fully mobilise (and then transport) an army from across a vast, barely industrialised country.

 

[danny la rouge]

The book I'm reading on WW1 says The Schlieffen Plan meant the majority of German forces were immediately sent West at the start of the war as it would take the Russians about six weeks to get to the border. So basically the idea was to knock out the French quicktime, while the Russians made their way to the border, then redirect most divisions to the East.

The bit I starred above is the problem as the book also says Prussia's Eastern border was where Lithuania is now. But Lithuania almost borders Russia so why would it take six weeks for the Russians to get virtually next door?


Comments appreciated, thanks.

The Russian army wasn’t sitting in wait at the border.

 

[dshl]

Because of the time it took to fully mobilise an army from across a vast, barely industrialised country.

Thanks, so the facts above (from the book) are correct and The Schlieffen Plan was about the time it would take for Russians to move within their own country. Strange as, at least in those days, don't you place your armies at the border anyway, even during peacetime?

 

[DaveCinzano]

Strange as, at least in those days, don't you place your armies at the border anyway, even during peacetime?

No, the Imperial Army was principally used to put down internal protests throughout Russia. The army was conscript-based and administered through a system of local military districts, and so distributed throughout the empire rather than garrisoned solely on its European border.

Whilst big - well over a million men under arms at the start of the war - the threat the Russian army posed to Germany was the large pool of reservists which could be drawn upon, which would triple or quadruple the size of the Imperial forces. That is what was at the core of the Schlieffen Plan - swiftly and expeditiously dealing with the French before Russia could fully mobilise its army to Germany's east.

 

[Hollis]

I'm kind of saving the First World War for my retirement!

But there are loads of probably high quality lectures here - some covering the Schlieffen Plan

https://www.youtube.com/@WesternFrontAssoc