![]() In 1915, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate with an amphibious invasion of Turkey, which had joined the Central Powers in October 1914, but after heavy bloodshed the Allies were forced to retreat in early 1916. READ MORE: Life in the Trenches of World War I On the western front-the battle line that stretched across northern France and Belgium-the combatants settled down in the trenches for a terrible war of attrition. ![]() By the end of 1914, well over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, and neither for the Allies nor the Central Powers was a final victory in sight. ![]() The Schlieffen Plan was nearly successful, but in early September the French rallied and halted the German advance at the bloody Battle of the Marne near Paris. Russia, slow to mobilize, was to be kept occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces while Germany attacked France. Of the initial belligerents, Germany was most prepared for the outbreak of hostilities, and its military leaders had formatted a sophisticated military strategy known as the “Schlieffen Plan,” which envisioned the conquest of France through a great arcing offensive through Belgium and into northern France. ![]() ![]() Most patriotically assumed that their country would be victorious within months. For the most part, the people of Europe greeted the outbreak of war with jubilation. ![]()
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