The Western Front was the name applied to the fighting zone, where the British, French, Belgian and later American Armies confronted Germany military powers. The Western Front of World War I opened in 1914, with the German army invading first Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France, according to von Schlieffen proposal, which was a breathtaking plan that would defeat both of long-term enemies such as Russia and French. It was considered that Russia would be slow to mobilize it's armies, giving time for Germany to attack France so France would need to be quickly defeated, allowing Germany to pay it's attentions to the Russian forces. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 a series of major offensives took place along this front. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed wire, and other defenses repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers. As a result, no significant advances were made during these assaults. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front introduced new military technologies, including poison gas, tanks, and etc, but these military technologies were only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored. In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this fight would prove decisive. The advance of the Allied armies in 1918 persuaded the German commanders that defeat was unavoidable, and the government was forced to sue for conditions of surrender. Therefore, the realities of trench war contrasted sharply with ringing phrases of politicians and generals justifying the unrelenting