A Struggle for World Domination The Schlieffen Plan Paris for lunch - St. Petersburg for dinner! The German Plan A major offensive to capture Paris in 42 days Avoid Frances fortifications by sweeping west through neutral Belgium and then turning in an arc south into Paris The French army would be destroyed defending Paris The Idea If successful the French would be forced to surrender Germany could then shift forces to the Eastern front to defeat the Russians before they could fully mobilize Like many others, the Germans thought the war would be short lived Attempts to respond offensively As the German army moved through Belgium, France thinking it was a diversion sent most of there army northeast to attack Germany through Alsace and Lorraine The French lost 27,000 men due to the defensive power of new machine gun and long range rifle technology Failure of the Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan fell apart when the Germans got too tired and too far ahead of their supply lines Part of their army got separated and vulnerable- the Germans had to retreat France tried to attack By this time the Germans were also fighting on the Eastern front With the German army divided, France was able to protect Paris Quest for Victory Immediately both sides tried to out-flank each other to swing around the others defensives This was called the Race to the Sea The result was a long line of trenches that stretched from Switzerland to the English Channel