Throughout the history of great European wars, huge armies had traditionally swept into enemy territories hoping to overwhelm resistance through the speed and weight of their forces. This is exactly what the Schlieffen Plan called for the German army to do against Belgium and France. The plan had been worked out in such detail it even contained a precise schedule of when each invastion step should occur. A key element of the plan was for the right flank of the German army to sweep so far to the west that its last soldier could touch the sea. This naturally meant the Germans would have to advance far into Belgium.
On August 2, 1914, Germany sent its first troops into Luxembourg, which was so small and weak it scarcely counted in the war. Meanwhile, the government gave Belgium 12 hours to accept its demand for free passage through that country. The next day, as Germany declared war on France, Belgium rejected its demands and appealed to Great Britain for help. Britain immediately began to mobilize. On August 4, as German troops entered Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany.
Although the Belgians refused to give in, they knew as well as the Germans did that they had no chance of repelling the invasion. Their army put up a strong resistance, and even Belgian civilians shot at the advancing Germans. Civilian involvement in fighting went against accepted wartime practices. The Germans responed by executing many of the Beligum citizens - including women and children and burning whole towns to the ground. These actions aroused outside opinion against Germany and laid a basis for Allied propaganda denouncing Germans as barbaric " Huns."
The Germans greatly underestimated the Belgian resolve. (Very much like we are seeing with Russian and Ukraine today.) Strengthened by the courageous example of their king, Albert 1, Belgian troops were read to die rather than surrender. The German advance was also slowed by having to knock out a string of strong fortresses procteing the east Belgian city of Liege. The Germans used a zeppelin airship to drop bombs on Liege, the first use of an aircraft as a bombing weapon did little damage, but it did start a future trend in which aerial bombing would bring the horrors of war ever closer to civilian populations.
Meanwhile, Russia was advancing on Germany from the East much more quickly than had been anticipated. This forced Germany to divert troops from the west to the east much sooner than it had intended. After Belgium finally fell to the Germans, the invasion force turned its full strenght to the south against France on August 23. By that time, British army units were in position to suppport the French defense.
Read about first Battle of Marne here
After stopping the German advance, the Allies pushed the exhausted German troops nearly halfway back to the northern border. There the Germans dug long lines of trenches and settled in. Being closer to their supply lines to the north made it easier for them to maintain their position there. This would remain the main German position on the western front for nearly four years as the fighting became deadlocked. Germans and the Allies struggled to find ways to break the deadlock in which their armies had become stuck. During those four years, millions of bullets and millions of artillery shells were fired and millions of soldiers were wounded or killed, but the main battle lines barely budged.
Watch this video that shows the movement of the various armies along the Western Front in WW1.
In early 1915, Britain drew Italy into the Allied orbit. Although Italy had been one of the principal members of the prewar Triple Alliance, it had insisted on remaining neutral when Germany and Austria-Hungary went to war. By early 1915, the Italians sensed they could add to their territory by entering the war. They asked for Austria-Hungary to concede some of its southern territories in exchange for Italy's joining the Central Powers. After the Austirans declined their offer, the Italians turned to the British. The British offered Italy portions of Austria-Hungary, Albania, Turkey and even North Africa in return for joining the Allies. Britain controlled NONE of those territories, but had nothing to lose by making the offer.
Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary and launched an offensive against its northern neighbor through the rugged Tyrolean Alps. They waged fierce battles in mountainous terrain that were very different from the fighting on other sections of the war. Both sides suffered heavy losses and neither side made substantial gains. Just like the western front, it turned into a stalemate.
Look at the DK Eyewitness World War I book pages 6-17 and 46-47.
Read Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood pages 4-29
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