Why did a stalemate develop on the Western Front? Stalemate during war is when no action can be taken or progress made. The Stalemate on the Western front, a line of trenches stretching from the Swiss Alps all the way across France to Nieuwpoort in Belgium, was a dilemma that was not foreseen by either the allies or Germany. Originally it had been predicted that the war would be over after a quick and decisive battle, this perception was quickly diminished once the war had begun. No one reason explains why the situation on the western front developed into a stalemate but many factors can be considered.
The developments in weaponry have been said to have contributed to the Stalemate. In the early twentieth century many new and effective weapons were being developed. Long range heavy artillery had been proved much more effective than the mounted rifle wielding soldiers of previous centuries. The allies and Germany were both caught up in this weaponry boom. This “race” for new technology led to the two sides being approximately evenly matched, because of this neither side could make much head way. Also, the Generals in charge of the troops were mostly aged officers whose knowledge of modern weapons was limited.
The fast moving nature of modern warfare had taken them by and led to rather outdated methods being used. So even though new weapons were evadible if they were not used effectively they were useless. The problem with advanced warfare and having similar types of weapons was that it was really machine against machine thus getting an upper hand was virtually impossible. Problems in communications also contributed towards the stalemate because the connections between the front line, the artillery and the Commanders were very poor.
The Essay on The reasons for stalemate on the Western Front
... high mobility, but degenerated into an astonishingly protracted war of static battle lines. The Western Front was the name given to the line ... enemy advances. The absence of super weapons such as the tank and bomber were not yet developed and thus failed to counter ... from conflict. A poverty of strategic thought led to the stalemate. Both the British and French commanders were afflicted by the ...
Most of the Generals were stationed several miles away from the front line, due to this they could not get a clear idea of what was going on amongst the troops. This delay and confusion on the battlefield made it hard to get an objective perspective on the battle. Sometimes the different nationalities such as the French and British found it hard communicating with one another this made it difficult to co-ordinate and pass on orders. As a result of all this the messages taken from the commanders to the front line were often out of date by the time they reached the trenches.
The failure of the Schlieffen plan played one of the most important roles in bringing about the stalemate on the western front. Firstly, Russian forces had mobilised much faster than previously supposed they would, this miscalculation meant that Germany had to redeploy troops to the eastern front when they still needed the force to defeat France. Due to this Germanys forces were stretched and did not have the man power to break the French lines, all they could do to stop themselves from being pushed back through the Franco-German border was entrench.
This resulted in the two forces entering a state of static warfare, fighting in this way makes it virtually impossible to gain any land. Secondly, the Germany army was slowed down by Belgium. The Germans had assumed that the Belgians would not put up a fight because their country was neutral. This was not the case as Belgium decided to fight, poorly equipped as they were. This did not stop the Germans but it did give the French troops time to prepare, thus losing the German troops the element of surprise.
Lastly, because the German troops had advanced so fast through Belgium their supply trains had found it hard to keep up with the troops this resulted in them being under equipped and poorly prepared. The outcome of the battle of the Marne was one of the most important causes of the stalemate. As the French effort to attack across the border failed they resorted to a retreat to defend Paris. As a result of this the German forces were obliged to quit their arcing motion to meet the French at the river Marne.
The Essay on World War German Blitzkrieg Forces
World War II spawned the creation of many new inventions, inventions that were greatly needed in order for whole countries to survive the war, and one such creation was introduced by the Germans, the Blitzkrieg. The word 'Blitzkrieg' is German for 'lightning war,' and it describes the military tactic used by the Germans and was coined by Western newspapermen in 1939 to convey the immense speed and ...
The relatively well equipped French were fighting on their own land and the Germans, as explained above were poorly prepared and had a severe shortage of men. When a gap was spotted between the German Second and First Armies by reconnaissance planes the French and British forces took advantage of the situation by launching a night time attack which served to separate the two armies even further. When it looked like the Germany would be almost entirely encircled and destroyed, they retreated, pursued by the French and British, to just north of the river Aisne where they built trenches that were to last for several years.
This act effectively destroyed the Schlieffen plan and ended the so called war of movement. After the First Battle of the Marne, both Allied and German forces began a series of outflanking manoeuvres to try to get behind the enemy. As each manoeuvre was blocked they moved further through France and eventually reached the coast. This later became known as the “Race to the sea”. As neither force could break the others lines the offensive came to a relative standstill. This would remain so for approximately the next four years.
This lack of progress obviously played a major part in the route to the development of a stalemate on the western front. I have come to realise that there is no single cause behind the Stalemate that began in 1914 on the Western Front but many which all contributed to the eventual outcome. The long term effects of the failure of the Schlieffen plan however lead me to believe that this is the most important reason the stalemate developed as it did. Bibliography History in Focus, GCSE Modern World History (second edition)
