In the first weeks of the outbreak of the First World War, the outdated Schlieffen PlanSchlieffen Plan Full Description Germany’s pre-war strategic plan to fight a two-front war against France and Russia. Devised by Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen, it called for a rapid knock-out blow against France through neutral Belgium, before turning east to deal with the slower-mobilising Russian army. The plan required the violation of Belgian neutrality, which brought Britain into the war, and its modification by Moltke the Younger in 1914 contributed to its failure at the Marne. Critical Perspective The Schlieffen Plan has been used to argue that the First World War was “inevitable” once mobilisation began — a war caused by timetables rather than decisions. Historian John Keiger and others have challenged this fatalism, arguing that political decisions rather than military logic determined events at every step. The myth of the unstoppable plan served postwar German politicians who wished to escape responsibility for the decision to go to war. required the German Army to rapidly cross Belgium to attack northern France. Instead of the anticipated 6-8,000 troops, the Belgians fielded 32,000 men and defended the fortress town of Liege vigorously. German atrocities in Liege afterwards were the product of an imagined belief in guerrilla fighters amongst the civilian population.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also