A Conversation for The Schlieffen Plan

Peer Review: A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 1

Bluebottle

Entry: The Schlieffen Plan - A87842028
Author: Bullet To Be - U43530

A Flea Market Rescue of:
Article: A3463003 The Schlieffen Plan
Author: U1225542 Mightyluke
Halloween seems an appropriate time for an article about the Great War.

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A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 2

Gnomon - time to move on

A particular challenge of writing in British English is the correct spelling of manoeuvre and manoeuvring. smiley - smiley


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 3

Gnomon - time to move on

Please swap the following two sentences around. The text makes more sense that way:

In 1893 Russia entered into a defensive pact with France called the Dual Alliance treaty. France too was strongly anti-German, having lost the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1).


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 4

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor

This is just brilliant! smiley - biggrin As someone who has spent too many fruitless hours trying to describe the world wars in plain English, I appreciate the clarity of this account. smiley - winkeye

And it's right on time for the centenary.

A request, and I know it's my OCD kicking in. Could you possibly smiley - grovel change the phrase 'to quickly defeat the French' to 'to defeat the French quickly'? My ears would stop twitching. And yeah, I know language changes and rules don't count, etc, but heck, it sounds better...


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 5

Bluebottle

As you asked so nicely, okay thensmiley - winkeye

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A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 6

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor

You're a kind soul. smiley - hug


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 7

the_jon_m - bluesman of the parish

cool, I liked this.

As a question, was part of the Schlieffen Plan the construction of the huge station at Metz, with each track having two platforms, on different levels, as so to allow quick and easy disembarking of both German troops and equipment?


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 8

Bluebottle

Germany did indeed prepare major civil engineering works in preparation for the war, including railway building as the Franco-Prussian War had taught them the vital importance of being able to move troops quickly. Quadruple-track railways were built across Germany to allow troops to get across the country from the French to Russian borders, with stations designed for the swift movement of troops.

At the same time in France, the Ecole Superieure de Guerre was preparing French officers for war by teaching them that French courage was the best defence against German machine-guns.smiley - erm

You're probably right that it deserves a mention - but I'll have to avoid the temptation of getting too detailed about Germany's pre-war railway preparations...

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A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 9

minorvogonpoet

This is good: clear and informative.

One question - is there any chance of a map to go with this?

One nitpick smiley - biro in the section 'The Plan in Action', the sentence beginning 'Though Von Schliefen had conceived of five vast German armies' gets a bit convoluted. Can you split it?


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 10

minorvogonpoet

Another question has just occurred to me. What were the Austro-Hungarians doing at this point?


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 11

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor

Drinking coffee and eating Linsertorte, as usual. smiley - winkeye


A87842028 - The Schlieffen Plan

Post 12

Bluebottle

Thanks for your excellent comments – a map would be really, really good, just don't ask me to draw one. I certainly hope that, what with the events having happened over a century ago now, we can find an out-of-copyright illustration to go with it, full of useful town names and arrows.

As for Austro-Hungary, although von Schlieffen's predecessor von Moltke the Elder had planned a close-co-operation with the Austrian army, von Schlieffen seemed prejudiced against Austria. As far as he was concerned, the 1897 Dual Alliance was a mistake because Germany was allied against Russia's enemy, distracting Germany from the true enemy of France. He even seemed to remain hopeful that if Germany did not advance against Russia directly, after defeating France a peace could be arranged.
Von Schlieffen broke off relationships with Austrian generals and was convinced that Austrian armies were incapable of attack or deployment. Through the 1890s he wrote notes like 'we cannot let ourselves be beaten by the French on the 15th or 17th day of mobilisation while the Austrians are happily completing their deployment' and even 'We already know that the Austrians' transport for deployment is inefficient, that the Austrian troops cannot be very highly rated, and that the Austrian advance… will be very hesitant'.

So basically Schlieffen planned to leave Austria to face Russia alone on the Eastern front. But the Eastern Front and the Italian Front are subjects for other articles (I'm not volunteeringsmiley - winkeye) – I want to keep this one confined to the opening stages of the war in the West, before Trenches, Floods, Ypres and the March to the Sea.

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Post 13

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Post 14

Bluebottle

smiley - applauseWell done Mightyluke.

If anyone has a handy public domain map that shows the areas concerned, possibly with little arrows on, please let me know!

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Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 15

bobstafford

Excellent smiley - applause


Congratulations - Your Entry has been Recommended for the Edited Guide!

Post 16

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor

smiley - applause


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