When a modern Russian person hears the words "blitzkrieg", "blitzkrieg", the first thing that comes to mind is the Great Patriotic War and Hitler's failed plans to instantly conquer the Soviet Union. However, this tactic was not used by Germany for the first time. At the beginning of the war, the German General A. Schlieffen, who was later called the blitzkrieg theorist, developed a plan for the "lightning" crushing of enemy forces. History has shown that the plan was unsuccessful, but the reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg plan are worth talking about in more detail.
World War I: causes, participants, goals
Before analyzing what are the reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg plan, you should first analyze the prerequisites for the outbreak of hostilities. The conflict was caused by the contradictions between the geopolitical interests of two political blocs: the Entente, which included Great Britain, France and the Russian Empire, andThe Triple Alliance, the participants of which were Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and later (since 1915) and Turkey. There was a need to redistribute the colonies, markets and spheres of influence.
The Balkans became a particular area of political tension in Europe, where many Slavic peoples lived, and the European great powers often took advantage of the numerous contradictions between them. The reason for the war was the assassination of the heir of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, in response to which Serbia received an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary, the terms of which practically deprived it of sovereignty. Despite Serbia's willingness to cooperate, on July 15 (July 28, New Style), 1914, Austria-Hungary launched a war against Serbia. Russia agreed to side with Serbia, which led to Germany's declaration of war on Russia and France. The last member of the Entente - England - entered the conflict on August 4.
General Schlieffen's plan
The idea of the plan, in fact, was to throw all your strength into winning the only decisive battle that the war would come down to. The enemy (French) army was planned to be surrounded from the right flank and destroyed, which would undoubtedly lead to the surrender of France. It was planned to strike the main blow in the only tactically convenient way - through the territory of Belgium. On the Eastern (Russian) front, it was supposed to leave a small barrier, based on the slow mobilization of Russian troops.
Such a strategy seemed well thought out, thoughrisky. But what are the reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg plan?
Moltke's Changes
The High Command, fearing the failure of the blitzkrieg plans, considered the Schlieffen plan too risky. Under pressure from dissatisfied military leaders, some changes were made to it. The author of the modifications, Chief of the German General Staff H. I. L. von Moltke, proposed to strengthen the left wing of the army to the detriment of the attacking grouping on the right flank. In addition, additional forces were sent to the Eastern Front.
Reasons for changes to the original plan
1. The German command was afraid to radically strengthen the right wing of the army, which was responsible for encircling the French. With a significant weakening of the forces of the left wing, combined with an active offensive by the enemy, the entire rear of the Germans was threatened.
2. Resistance of influential industrialists over the possible surrender of the Alsace-Lorraine region into the hands of the enemy.
3. The economic interests of the Prussian nobility (Junkers) made it necessary to divert a rather large group of troops to the defense of East Prussia.
4. The transport capabilities of Germany did not allow supplying the right wing of the army to the extent that Schlieffen intended.
1914 Campaign
In Europe, there was a war on the Western (France and Belgium) and Eastern (against Russia) fronts. Actions on the Eastern Front were calledEast Prussian operation. In its course, two Russian armies coming to the aid of allied France invaded East Prussia and defeated the Germans in the Gumbinnen-Goldap battle. In order to prevent the Russians from striking at Berlin, the German troops had to transfer part of the troops to East Prussia from the right wing of the Western Front, which ultimately became one of the reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg. Note, however, that on the Eastern Front this transfer brought success to the German troops - two Russian armies were surrounded, and about 100 thousand soldiers were captured.
On the Western Front, the timely assistance of Russia, which pulled the German troops back on itself, allowed the French to put up serious resistance and prevent the German blockade of Paris. The bloody battles on the banks of the Marne (September 3-10), in which approximately 2 million people participated on both sides, showed that the First World War turned from a lightning-fast one into a protracted one.
The 1914 campaign: summing up
By the end of the year, the advantage was on the side of the Entente. The Triple Alliance troops were defeated in most of the battlefields.
In November 1914, Japan occupied the German port of Jiaozhou in the Far East, as well as the Mariana, Caroline and Marshall Islands. The remaining Pacific colonies of Germany passed into the hands of the British. At that time, fighting was still going on in Africa, but it was clear that these colonies were lost for Germany.
The fighting of 1914 showed that Schlieffen's plan for a quick victory was notlived up to the expectations of the German command. What reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg plan have become apparent by this point will be discussed below. A war of attrition has begun.
Following the results of hostilities by the end of 1914, the German military command moved the main military operations to the east - in order to withdraw Russia from the war. Thus, by the beginning of 1915, Eastern Europe became the main theater of operations.
Reasons for the failure of the German blitzkrieg plan
So, as mentioned above, by the beginning of 1915 the war had entered a protracted stage. Let us finally consider what are the reasons for the failure of the blitzkrieg plan.
Let's note for a start that the German command tritely underestimated the strength of the Russian army (and the Entente as a whole) and its readiness for mobilization. In addition, following the lead of the industrial bourgeoisie and the nobility, the German army often made decisions that were not always tactically correct. Some researchers in this regard argue that it was Schlieffen's original plan, despite its riskiness, that had a chance of success. However, as mentioned above, the reasons for the failure of the lightning war plan, which were mainly the unpreparedness of the German army for a long war, as well as the dispersal of forces in connection with the demands of the Prussian junkers and industrialists, are largely due to the changes made to the plan by Moltke, or, as they often referred to as "Moltke errors".
