Talk:Race to the Sea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Germany Portal

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Germany, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles related to Germany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please join the project and help with our open tasks.

Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.
(If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)

Additional information:

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status:

Referencing and citation: not checked
Coverage and accuracy: not checked
Structure: not checked
Grammar: not checked
Supporting materials: not checked

To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call:

|B-Class-1=yes/no

|B-Class-2=yes/no

|B-Class-3=yes/no

|B-Class-4=yes/no

|B-Class-5=yes/no

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and regional and topical task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.

Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.

Additional information and associated task forces:

	This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-Class status: Referencing and citation: not checked Coverage and accuracy: not checked Structure: not checked Grammar: not checked Supporting materials: not checked To fill out this checklist, please add the following to the template call: `<!-- B-Class-1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points have appropriate inline citations. -->` `\|B-Class-1=yes/no` `<!-- B-Class-2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. -->` `\|B-Class-2=yes/no` `<!-- B-Class-3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. -->` `\|B-Class-3=yes/no` `<!-- B-Class-4. It is free from major grammatical errors. -->` `\|B-Class-4=yes/no` `<!-- B-Class-5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. -->` `\|B-Class-5=yes/no`
Associated task forces (nations and regions):
	French military history task force
	German military history task force
Associated task forces (periods and conflicts):
	World War I task force

1 Clean Up
2 natural obstacle
3 North and South
4 Assessment

[edit] Clean Up

Somebody really needs to clean up this article. It has little to no structure and the information is clouded and it does not flow. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.168.19.196 (talk) 10:00, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] natural obstacle

Was the natural obstacle the sea or Antwerp? --Gbleem 14:35, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] North and South

Why did they go north and not south? --Gbleem 14:47, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

The OKW, German High Command, employed the Schlieffen Plan in its attack on France. Its aim was to come between the bulk of the French Army and the bulk of France so that French forces could not be supplied. This was done by attacking through Belgium and looked like working until the German advance stalled at the Marne. This stalling was partly due to an inability to keep the German supply system up with its army and partly to the weary state of its soldiers. Once stalled, its army's right flank was exposed, particularly to an attack from the relatively fresh, French garrison of Paris. This could have meant that the French Army had come between the German Army and its planned supplies. It would also have opened the German rear to attack. Each side therefore moved forces northwards to outflank the other and to avoid being outflanked

It was also essential that the Franco-Belgian-British forces should be in position in the North, in time to stop the taking of he Channel ports by German forces released by the breaking of Belgian opposition. This would have prevented the supply of the BEF.

On foot, it is a long way to go from the Marne to the North Sea coast, across seemingly endless chalk plateau but the 'race' was conducted with the help on the one side, of Entente marine forces in the extreme North and on the other, of German forces directly from Belgium. (RJP 17:24, 24 September 2006 (UTC))

The army couldn't move North because it had no supplies so it moved north?? --Gbleem 17:42, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

The German army did not move further South as it had been stopped by mainly French forces and fatigue. Once its momentum was lost, its enemies had time to move into the vacuum behind it, attack its rear and cut off some at least of its supply lines. It withdrew to the Aisne to reduce the length of its front and moved its right wing further northward to close the remaining gap. This closure process came to be called the 'Race to the Sea'. See First Battle of the Marne.

In a medieval war, an army could replenish its supplies by foraging and making more arrows and so on. In the seventeenth century it could make more bullets from the lead of someone's church roof. In the early twentieth century it needed ammunition to fit its own weapons and that needed an industrial infrastructure to produce it. Logistics had become more significant. (RJP 19:54, 24 September 2006 (UTC))