Battle plans/Christmas Truce
Battle Plans
Map of the Schlieffen Plan
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Germany didn’t want to fight both Russia and France, since they were on different sides of Europe, so they decided to take action with their Schlieffen Plan, created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen. The Schlieffen Plan consisted of the idea that if the Germans placed soldiers in the east, most of their soldiers and supplies would be conveniently placed for a quick attack in the west.
While Germany executed their Schlieffen Plan, France had a plan of their own called "Plan XVII". ·
In Plan XVII, four French armies advanced to German-occupied fortresses in response to a German attack through Belgium. The war continued on until Christmas Day, when soldiers stopped fighting to celebrate, and participated in the Christmas Truce.
Germany didn’t want to fight both Russia and France, since they were on different sides of Europe, so they decided to take action with their Schlieffen Plan, created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen. The Schlieffen Plan consisted of the idea that if the Germans placed soldiers in the east, most of their soldiers and supplies would be conveniently placed for a quick attack in the west.
While Germany executed their Schlieffen Plan, France had a plan of their own called "Plan XVII". ·
In Plan XVII, four French armies advanced to German-occupied fortresses in response to a German attack through Belgium. The war continued on until Christmas Day, when soldiers stopped fighting to celebrate, and participated in the Christmas Truce.
Christmas truce
Soldiers gathering to celebrate Christmas
For just one day, on December 25th, 1914, everyone stopped fighting in order to celebrate Christmas. Soldiers set aside their weapons and joined in harmony to celebrate the holy day of Christmas. Not a single shot was
fired; enemy troops were even singing Christmas carols together.It was a break from the continuous fighting and overall misery of the war. History.com states: “beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers' essential humanity endured.”
fired; enemy troops were even singing Christmas carols together.It was a break from the continuous fighting and overall misery of the war. History.com states: “beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers' essential humanity endured.”