The problem of the offensive

[Nickuru]

This is from Robert Asprey: The German High Command at War. The entire Schlieffen plan was bungled from the start.

'The 58 year old Moltke possesed most of his uncle's shortcomings (what's the icon for tail? ) but none of his imagination and boldness'. Kaiser Bill did not help matters when he said to the Austro-Hungarian military attaché in Berlin: ¨You can look after what little work there is in peacetime, but in war I am my own chief of staff¨

[Johan Banér]

Originally Posted by Nickuru

The Schliefffen plan might have worked in the 1870s, but with rifles and artillery, frontal offensives were doomed. The British Army got shot pieces during the Boer war by individual marksmen, Majuba Hill anyone? The British learnt from this, the rest of Europe did not

Aaaand taking stock of my reaction to that assertion, I can conclude I have finally become completely inured to British military history self-aggrandisement.

[Full Monty]

Originally Posted by Johan Banér

Aaaand taking stock of my reaction to that assertion, I can conclude I have finally become completely inured to British military history self-aggrandisement.

Based on what happened at Neuve Chapelle, Loos and The Somme I don't believe that Nick's opinion is supportable. The big lesson, iirc, that the British drew from fighting the Boers was the need for improved marksmanship amongst the riflemen generally - that massed volley-fire was no longer effective, especially when facing a dispersed opponent.