The Low Countries were called the "Cockpit of Europe" for all the wars fought there. Traditionally it was the invasion route into northern France (and vice versa); for example Marlborough systemtically conducting sieges working his way into France. The flat terrain and wealth made it an ideal invasion route. This explains why the whole area was marked with fortresses and why the Dutch as part of the treaty to end the War of Spanish Succession demanded the right to fortresses on the Belgium (Spanish then Austrian Netherlands)-French frontier as a first line of defense against a French invasion of the Netherlands. The only reason Prussia did not use this route in 1870 was Belgian neutrality guaranteed by the Great Powers; Bismarck was smart enough not to piss off the English. The Schlieffen plan was an update of what happened in history taking into account modern warfare. Even if there was no World War I I think the Allies would of perceived the main thrust as through the Low Countries given its terrain was much better suited to offensive operations than trying to go through the Ardennes forest.
Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing. The maneuver itself is as old as warfare. It is based on the encirclement battle at Cannae in 216 B.C. In that case Hannibal used his infantry as the collapsible force in the center and as the infantry fell back the cavalry made the encircling move on the Roman’s right flank. The same thing happened in the 1870 battle you mentioned when Moltke successfully performed the same maneuver on the French at the Battle of Sedan. So I agree that the significance on the Schlieffen Plan we see in many of these articles and in the Life Magazine as well is only an example that the generals and the press were still fighting the last war. Unfortunately, the Germans were fighting an entirely new one.