German general Alfred von Schlieffen devised the Schlieffen Plan in response to the threat of a joint attack on Germany by France and Russia. Schlieffen's plan anticipated a quick German victory through the use of a large flanking movement to crush the French, followed by a redeployment of troops toward Russia via railroad. As World War I opened in 1914, a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan was put into action, but French forces stalled the Germans at the Marne River, and the Russians mobilized faster than expected. Ultimately, the plan failed, and Germany was forced to fight enemies on both the Western Front and Eastern Front.

“dear sir: it is with great reluctance, i trouble you on a subject, which does not fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress, than i have felt, since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs. i mean the present dreadful situation of the army for want of provisions, and the miserable prospects before us, with respect to futurity. it is more alarming than you will probably conceive, for, to form a just idea, it were necessary to be on the spot. for some days past, there has been little less, than a famine in camp. a part of the army has been a week, without any kind of flesh, and the rest for three or four days. naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their sufferings, to a general mutiny or dispersion. strong symptoms, however, discontent have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most acitive efforts every where can long avert so shocking a catastrophe.” what’s the central idea?