Background
Following the defeat of the French armies during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the French military had to adapt to a new balance of power in Europe. The emergence of the German Empire on the other side of the Rhine, combined with the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, seriously weakened France's strategic position.
In 1898, the French General Staff adopted Plan XIV. Taking into account the numerical inferiority of the French Army, Plan XIV was an offensive strategy along the Franco-German border. Besides the increasing disparity in population (by the turn of the century France had a stagnant population of around forty million, compared to fifty million Germans) there was also the problem of reserves. The war of 1870-71 had demonstrated the ability of the German General Staff to make use of the German railroad network to deploy its armies and its capability to quickly mobilize its reservists into front-line units. While the French General Staff began to apply the lessons of the use of railways, the question of using reservists in frontline units was not resolved. Plan XIV didn't take reserves into account.
In 1903, Plan XIV gave way to Plan XV. While still defensive in character, Plan XV did consider using reserve formations, although in a subordinate role.
Plan XVI of March 1909 placed greater emphasis on the risk of a German attack through Belgium, and was modified in 1911 by Général Joseph Joffre.
Read more about this topic: Plan XVII
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