WW1 War Plans

War Plans

Schlieffen Plan, from USMA

1857-88 - Helmuth von Moltke the elder planned for a war with France in Alsace-Lorraine that would last a year, but victory should first be won in the east against Russia.
1888-91 - Alfred von Waldersee planned for a 2-front war with France and Russia
1891-1905 - Alfred von Schlieffen was optimistic, planned for an offensive against France across Belgium while defending in Alsace and in the East, using a large right wing at 7:1 ratio in size to the left, to swing through Belgium into France from the north avoiding the great fortresses that France had built in the south. His plan required 94 divisions, but Germany in 1905 had only 60 divisions. The German army was smaller than the French or Russian, had to move quickly by railroad to concentrate forces. To avoid a "wearing-out war" Germany must win in 42 days, but Schlieffen unable to find a way to get 8 corps to Paris at 12 miles per day
1906-14 - Helmuth von Moltke the younger was pessimistic, planned for a two-pronged attack against France, ready to shift forces where required, added 8 divisions to the German left and not the right, now at a ratio of only 3:1.

1877 - Gen. Sere de Rivieres built built 166 forts and 250 batteries at a cost of 660 million frances, and a railroad network that could move 15 corps to the German border in 14 days.
1910-11 - defensive plans of Victor Michel focused on stopping a German attack across the flat lands from the north a west in motorized vehicles, and emphasized a creation of a large reserve army, but neglected artillery and high explosive shells.
1911-14 - Joseph Joffre, chief of staff, emphasized the offensive, and by 1914 developed French Plan XVII to mobilize and deploy a large army. Joffre would attack on any front with a large army, no reserves. The plan put 10 corps in the south and 5 corps in the north, with 6 corps at Verdun ready to move north if needed. France had built 16 strategic railroads, more than Germany's 13 railroads.

Austria's problems - Ottomans, lost Venice to Italy in 1866, rise of Serbia and Romania, the Pig War in 1906, the annexation of Bosnia in 1908, Serbian crisis in 1909, Turkish-Italian War in 1911, the Balkan Wars in 1912.
Conrad von Hotzendorf divided army into 3 groups: Minimalgruppe Balkan against Serbia, Staffel-A against Russia, Stafel-B in reserve

1910 - Henry Wilson, director of military operations, fought against the Navy's priority to defend British shorelines and attack German shorelines. Instead, he planned a BEF of six divisions to land in France, while conscription raised a large main army

1910 - Schedule 19 developed by War Minister Sukhomlinov shifted plan from Austria to Germany as primary enemy, proposed immediate attack on East Prussia, and active defense by giving up most of Poland to an invading army. War Minister Sukhomlinov's "Great Programme" would pay for the buildup of the army and navy. However, he was opposed by Grand Duke Nicholas's General HQ, the Stavka, who favored traditional cavalry and traditional fortresses.
1912 - Russian Variants A and G to Schedule 19 - Chief of Staff Zhilinsky modified Sukhomlinov's plan to keep the attack on Austria (Variant A) and reduce the large army planned for Germany (Variant G)

Strachan, Hew. The First World War: To Arms. Vol 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 1180 p.