Germany had created the Schlieffen plan, in anticipation of a war on two fronts.
The majority of German troops would attack France
Going through Belgium first rather than attacking the French boarder.
A small amount would head towards the Russian boarder, but Russia was anticipated to 6 weeks to mobilise.
Once France had been taken, all German troops would head towards Russia.
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Problems with the Schlieffen Plan
Belgium put up an unexpected fight, slowing Germany down
This gave time for Britain and France to mobilise
Secondly Russia took less time to mobilise
Germany was still fighting in France when they invaded
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France & Plan 17
The plan to directly attack Germany through Alsace-Lorraine
It didn’t work as many troops were cut down by machine gun fire, as they were still using old fashioned methods of attacking
They lost 200,000 men in 12days
This plan was abandoned so they could protect Paris
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The Race for the Sea
The Race for the Sea began in October, when German generals realised they couldn't break through allied lines
Both sides charged towards the sea, as the Allies had to stop the Germans outflanking them and advancing.
This was because the combined French and British forces were able to stop the German advance, at the River Marne but could not push them out of France entirely.
Both sides eventually had to dig trenches to protect themselves as neither were making any progress.
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Battle of Ypres + Extra info
Both sides lost large numbers of men at the first battle of Ypres in October 1914.
However Britain managed to keep control of the English Channel Ports, necessary for supplies.
By the end of 1914 the fighting had reached a stalemate, both sides has experienced large losses and weren’t moving anywhere fast.
Trenches ran from the English Channel to the Alps.
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