2008 October | History Wars Weapons

Oct 31 2008

The Schlieffen Plan

Devised by German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, The Schlieffen Plan was the German early 20th century strategic plan for victory both on the Western Front against France and against Russia in the east, taking advantage of expected differences in the three countries’ speed in preparing for war. In modified form, it was executed to near victory in the first month of World War I. But the modifications to the original plan, a French counterattack, and speedy Russian offensives, ended the German offensive and resulted in years of trench warfare.

The Schlieffen Plan strategy was to win a two-front war by quickly beating France first in the west, as had been done before in the Franco-Russian War of 1870-1871, then concentrate all the military resources to defeat Russia in the east. To win a fast victory over France, the Schlieffen Plan involved a Germany invasion of Belgium and a right-wing flanking movement through Holland and then southwards, to cut off Paris from the sea; a scythe-like sweeping attack through these countries to surround Paris.

Military Tactics | Thor | Comments (4)

Oct 31 2008

Alfred von Schlieffen

Alfred von Schlieffen was a German field marshal that served as Chief of General Staff in Germany between 1891 and 1905. He was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1833. He joined the army in 1854 at the age of twenty. Between 1858 and 1861, Alfred von Schlieffen attended the Berlin War Academy, and he was a staff officer during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.

In 1884 Schlieffen became head of the military history section of the general staff, and in 1891 he replaced Alfred Graf von Waldersee as Chief of General Staff. In 1905, Alfred von Schlieffen presented the Schlieffen Plan, which would stipulate that fighting a two-front war should be avoided by first defeating France in a lightning campaign and then throwing its full weight against Russia. The rest of Schlieffen’s career was spent inculcating the operational ideas required to make this strategy work.

After fifty two years of service, Alfred von Schlieffen retired as Chief of General Staff of the German Army in 1906 and died in 1913, one year before the outbreak of World War I. Schlieffen was perhaps the best known contemporary strategist of his time. Schlieffen’s operational theories were to have a profound impact on the development of maneuver warfare in the twentieth century.

Biographies | Thor | Comments (3)

Oct 30 2008

The Battle of Liege

The Battle of Liege was a World War I battle fought between Belgium and Germany from August 5 until August 16, 1914, when the last Belgian fort finally surrendered. The Battle of Liege was not only the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, but it was also the first land battle of the Great War.

As Germany wanted to avoid a two-front war that would sap and divide the strength of its army, the Schlieffen plan was conceived to strike quickly in the west to defeat France first, as had been done successfully in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, then deal with Russia in the east. In order to do this, neutral Belgium had to be attacked and crossed within a few days. But there were two problems with this plan; 1) the violation of the neutrality of Belgium would possibly make the United Kingdom enter the war on France’s side; 2) also, the highly fortified city of Liege was in the path of the German forces.

On August 4, 1914, as the Germans made their way into Belgium following the Schliefen plan, six infantry brigades and two cavalry divisions, under the command of General Otto von Emmich, detached from the German 2nd Army to smash quickly through the defences of Liege. The city of Liege was the gateway into the country, lying between Limburg and the Ardennes. It was defended by a ring of twelve heavily armed fortifications built on high ground, six on each side of the Meuse River, each 3 kilometers apart. The strongholds had a total of 400 retractable guns, up to 210mm in size. To some extent these forts offset the relatively small force of 70,000 men under the command of General Gerard Leman.

In the early hours of August 5, the Germans attacked against Fort Barchon, sustaining heavy losses and making little progress. Instead of keeping attacking the forts, Otto von Emmich’s staff officer Erich Ludendorff called in the use of zeppelins to drop bomb into the citadels. Then he personally led a brigade through two forts and into the city, forcing a garrison to surrender on August 7. However, the Germans could not continue their advance through Belgium without first taking all the other forts. In order to accomplish this mission, the Germans introduced a weapon which until that point remained unknown to the Allies, Austrian-built 17-inch howitzers. With the significant aid of the howitzers and the 420mm Big Bertha howitzer the strongholds were finally captured on August 16, 1914.

On August 17, the German Second Army, along with First and Third, began a wide sweeping movement through Belgium, forcing the Belgian army back to Antwerp. Brussels itself was captured without resistance by General Alexander von Kluck, commander-in-chief of the First Army on August 20, 1914.

Battles | Thor | Comments (2)

Oct 30 2008

World War I Photo Gallery

Gavrilo Princip being detained by authorities after the assassination of Francis Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo; the spark that ignited the Great War.

British Expeditionary Army troops advance on the Western Front, 1918.

French “poilus” (infantry soldiers) from the 8th Army in a trench at Verdun.

Three German soldiers rescuing a wounded French soldier bogged down in the mud of Verdun, 1916.

The artillery-pockmarked landscape at the Somme by the end of 1916. The offensive that was halted despite the tremendous howitzer barrage.

A young soldier in a trench on the Western Front.

French soldiers in Reims waiting for lunch, 1917.

A British infantry soldier from the Royal Hampshire Regiment in a trench at the Somme after the failed offensive.

ANZAC soldiers in August 1916, during the Somme offensive.

Dead French infantry soldiers after a German assault at Verdun in 1916.

Canadian infantry soldiers from the Canadian Expeditionary Force fixing the bayonets on their rifles before an assault.

Death hangs over the battlefield on the Western Front.

Reims, France, subject to German barrage in 1917.

British soldiers from the Essex Regiment during the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918.

A German soldier throwing a stick grenade during an assault on a Verdun trench in 1916.

A dead French soldier sprawling over a barbed-wired barricade before an enemy trench.

French “poilus” in a trench at Verdun in 1916.

The rotting corpse of an infantry soldier in one of the trenches at the Somme.

A French infantry soldier taking a break on a cobbled street in Reims.

British Expeditionary Army soldiers charging at a German position at the Somme.

An Australian soldier from the ANZAC forces during a break after a German trench had been taken.

The war-stricken barren landscape of No Man’s Land.

An Austrialian regiment on their way to the Western Front.

ANZAC Expeditionary Force troops landing on Gallipoli beaches, Turkey, 1915.

German officers in a bunker at the Somme.

A photograph of Adolf Hitler during World War I. He was an infantry corporal and was wounded twice.

Adolf Hitler (sitting on the left) and two army comrades.

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Oct 29 2008

World War I Weapons

World War I was characterized by the use of new weapons that were the byproducts of the second industrial revolution. These new weapons forced army generals to change their traditional tactics and use new ones to overcome the new lethal weaponry and obstacles such as the barbed wire.

Machine Guns: The machine gun was the weapon that really made the difference in the Great War as it gave the infantry so high a rate of fire to the point that it rendered the horse and the cavalry useless in the battlefield. The machine gun was the initiator of the trench warfare.

The Germans used the Maschinengewehr 08, which fired 7.92mm ammunition from a 250-round fabric belt and it carried 2,150 meters effective range. The German Army deployed over 15,000 of these machine-guns on the Western Front during the first year of the war.

Invented in 1881 by the American Hiram Maxim, the Maxim Machine-Gun was adopted by the British Army with a different name, the Vicker (the producer name), which was the standard British machine gun during World War I. Using the energy of each bullet’s recoil force to eject the spent cartridge, it could fire 600 rounds per minute. This .303-caliber machine gun was water-cooled.

The Browning M1917 was the American standard machine gun during the war. Invented by the American gunsmith John Moses Browning, this .30-caliber(7.62mm) machine gun was water-cooled and used the bullet ignition gas for the recoil to eject the spent cartridge and reload. It could fire 600 rounds per minute, utilizing a 250-round belt. The Browning Machine Gun weighed 103 pounds (47kg) with tripod, water, and ammunition and had a barrel length of 24 inch.

Invented by the American-born Benjamin Hotchkiss, the French utilized the Hotchkiss 8mm M1914 machine gun throughout the war. This machine gun effective range was 3,600 meters and it could fire 600 rounds per minute using a 249-round belt. The French Army also used the Chauchat light machine gun; Fusil-Mitrailleur Mle 1915 CSRG, which was a good weapon except for the open-sided magazines that were defective, causing two thirds of all jams.

Flamethrowers:using liquid fuel, a flamethrower was a weapon designed to spew a long stream of fire. It was used mainly against pillbox, machine gun nestles, and other strong enemy positions. Hand-carried by infantry, or mounted on tanks, modern flamethrowers were first used during World War I to overcome the trench warfare conditions that made the war static. It was used for the first time during the Great War on February 26, 1916, by the Germans against French positions in the assault on Verdun.Then later in a surprise attack launched by the German Army on the British at Hooge, Flanders, on July 30, 1915. But to operate this weapon was extremely dangerous as the fuel in the small tank on the operator’s back was unstable, and the British and the French poured rifle fire into the area of attack where flamethrowers were used and their operators were treated without mercy when they were taken prisoners.

Hand grenades: Considered useful for siege and assault operations, the hand grenade was intensively used in World War I by both belligerent armies. At the outbreak of the war, the Germans were ahead of the rest in terms of grenade development with more than 80,000 hand grenades ready for use. The German stick handgrenade featured an explosive charge encased in metal can mounted on a wooded stick for throwing. At the start of the war, the British troops improvised their own hand grenade, the Jam Tin grenade, which was later replaced with manufactured versions such as the Mills bomb; a fragmentation grenade available to front-line troops. The Mills bomb was developed at the Mills Munitions Factory in Birmingham. The United States developed the M67, which was a fragmentation grenade with a smooth exterior. 75,000,000 hand grenades were made during the Great War.

Bolt-Action Rifles: The rifle was the number one infantry weapon during the war. All of the rifles used during the armed conflict were breech-loading, bolt-action rifles, which were improved versions of earlier models developed during the second half of the 19th century. The Germans used the 7.92mm-caliber Mauser M98 rifle, which was an effective and precise weapon. The British troops were issued with the .303 caliber Lee-Enfield M1907, with a bolt designed for rapid fire. The French used at the beginning the 8mm-caliber Lebel M1886 rifle, which was later replaced by the Berthier M1907, which had an improved bolt mechanism and sights. The American troops wielded the .30 caliber Springfield M1903 rifle whose performance was comparable to the British Lee-Enfield. The Austro-Hungarian troops used the Steyr-Mannlicher M95 rifle.

Tanks: The development of tanks in the Great War came about as a solution to the deadlock of trenchwarfare. Originally called "landships" by the British Army, the first Mark I Tank prototype was tested in September, 1915, and it was first used at the Battle of the Somme, in September, 1916. The French were not far behind and fielded their first tanks in 1917, the St.Chamond M.16, which saw action in April, 1917, during the Aisne offensive. As the clumsy St.chamond M.16 tank was a complete failure, the French decided to give impulse to the mass production of the new Renault FT-17, which was effectively used in mass attack during the Soisson counter-offensive. The first German tank was the A7V, which designed during the first months of 1917; it was produced by Daimler (mechanics), Steffens (chassis) and Noelle (armour), with first tank being delivered in December 1917 and, by the end of the war, only 20 had been produced.

Artillery: Artillery guns had a big impact in the World War I, playing an important role during great battles.

British 18 Pounder. The British used 18 pounder Mark II field gun, which could fire shells of high explosives of between 4.6 kg and 8.4 kg. Each 18-pounder gun weighed 1,279 kg. In August 1914, the British Army had 1,226 of them.

British 60-Pounder. It was one of the main gun of the British artillery. Designed in 1904, it was 5-inch caliber, weighed 4 tons, had a range of 11 kilometers, and fired a 60 pound shell. The 60-pounder was manufactured by the Elswick Ordnance Company.

British 9.2-inch Mark 1. It was a heavy siege howitzer which weighed 15 tons, fired a 131 kg shell of high explosives, and had a effective range of 9 kilometers. It was introduced in the war by October 1914.

French 75mm Field Gun. The main gun of the French artillery was the French 75 mm field gun. With a range of 9 km, the French 75mm fired a 5.2 kg high explosive shell and a 7.2 kg shrapnel shell. The French Army had 4000 of these guns.

Big Bertha. Among the many artillery pieces used by the Germans, the 420mm howitzer Big Bertha stands out in World War I. It weighed 43 tons, had a length of 5.88 meters and an effective range of 12 kilometers. The Big Bertha fired an 820 kg shell. It was manufactured by the German Krupp company.

French Tank Renault F.T.17