William and the Schlieffen Plan

By reversing Bismark’s carefully planned out policies towards Britain and Russia and dismissing Bismark from chancellor, William’s foreign policies were one of the main causes of WWI. After becoming Kaiser of Germany in 1888, William II quickly dismissed Bismark from the position of chancellor in 1890. William took this as an opportunity to reverse Bismark’s meticulously planned policies towards Britain and Russia. One of these policies included the Reinsurance Treaty signed in 1887, which formed an alliance between Germany and Russia. This policy stated that Germany was to remain neutral if Austria attacked Russia and that Russia would remain neutral if France attacked Germany. William allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse, which provided for neutrality if either Russia of Germany were to become involved in a defensive war.

Because of the unstableness of William’s foreign policies, Count Alfred von Schlieffen, army chief of staff, developed a plan to fight a two from war against France and Russia. After France and Russia formed a Dual Alliance, Schlieffen formulated a plan in case Russia was to mobilize against Germany. The key element of Schlieffen’s plan was time. Schlieffen believed that it would take at least six weeks for Russia to ready their troops and mobilize. If his prediction were correct, this would leave Schlieffen enough time to defeat France. His method to defeat the French was to have the German Army move through Belgium, circle behind Paris, and destroy the unsuspecting French armies. Post defeat, Germany would then attack Russia. This plan was tediously thought out until WWI.

The Schlieffen Plan was a crucial factor in causing a war between Austria and Serbia to become a world war because the plan had implications on all countries involved with Aust

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