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World War I and the Russian Revolution

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The Schlieffen Plan

Political geography, a subdivision of human geography, examines the connection and interactions between geography and politics. Geopolitics concerns the foreign policies of individual states that are determined by each state’s location, natural resources, and physical attributes. Geographers use both of these concepts to study international conflicts, such as World War I. The Schlieffen Plan was a military strategy that the Germans implemented at the outset of World War I.

As the conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary broadened to include other European nations, Germany, located in Central Europe, found itself facing rivals to its west (France) and its east (Russia). The Schlieffen Plan was named after Count Alfred von Schlieffen, former chief of the German general staff, who formulated it years before the outbreak of World War I. By the time he retired in 1905, Schlieffen had developed the plan that would be used when war broke out in 1914.

In creating his plan, Schlieffen considered the political geography of Europe. Instead of first concentrating on a strike against Russia before fighting France, Schlieffen suggested invading northern France with a large force by marching through Belgium, a neutral country, and then sweeping around to the south to crush the French armies with a smaller German force. Germany’s coastline was blocked from the Atlantic Ocean by the breakwater of the British Isles, so the invasion would have to be over land.

Why did Schlieffen think Germany could delay conflict with Russia and attack France first? Schlieffen considered Russia’s location, resources, and physical attributes. He knew that in the event of a war, Russia would need time to mobilize and assemble its forces, given the immense size of the country, its sparse rail system, and the inefficiency of its government. Because of this, Schlieffen suggested using a minimal number of defensive troops (just one-eighth of total troops available) to face Russia on the Eastern Front while concentrating most of its troops (the other seven-eighths) on the Western Front against France. A quick victory in France would then free those German troops to concentrate on the Russian menace once Russian troops had mobilized in the east. The plan might have worked, but it was modified by Helmuth von Moltke, who used a smaller attacking army than Schlieffen had recommended and was later blamed for Germany’s failure to achieve a fast victory.

Geography and History Activity

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World War I and the Russian Revolution

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Directions: Answer the questions below in the space provided.

Understanding Concepts

1. Interpreting How did the political geography and geopolitics of 1914 Europe influence the development and implementation of the Schlieffen Plan?

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2. Explaining Explain why Germany’s location in Europe contributed to its being involved in a two-front war.

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Geography and History Activity Cont.

The Schlieffen planinvolved a two-frontattack by Germany

against France.

FRANCE

LUX.

BELGIUM

NETHERLANDS

UNITEDKINGDOM

GERMANY

NorthSea

6°E2°E

50°N

Paris

Brussels

0 100 km

100 miles0

N

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EW

The Schlieffen Plan

Caption: The Schlieffen Plan involved a two-front attack by Germany against France.

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World War I and the Russian Revolution

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The M

cGraw

-Hill C

om

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ies, Inc. Perm

ission is g

ranted

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roduce fo

r classroom

use.

3. Making Connections German troops could have entered France by going through Switzerland. Use what you know about both political and physical geography to explain why it made more sense for them to go through Belgium.

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Applying Concepts

4. Calculating Within one week of the declaration of war in 1914, the German reserves were called up and 3.8 million men were in the German Army. Divide the circle below into a circle graph that shows the number of men that would have fought on Germany’s Western Front in France and how many would have been ready to face the Russian army on the Eastern Front, according to the Schlieffen Plan. Then label each circle section.

5. Drawing Conclusions Notice that neutral Belgium is located between Germany and France. How do you think Belgium and the rest of the world regarded Germany’s violation of Belgium’s neutrality?

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Geography and History Activity Cont.