The Schlieffen Plan (named after its author, Alfred Graf von Schlieffen) was Germany's strategic blueprint for the beginning of World War I, in which it planned to deliver a knock-out blow to the French and then turn all of its resources on the more slowly mobilizing Russian army. The Germans, however, encountered unexpected resistance as they marched through Belgium to attack France from the North. This delay allowed British and French forces to mobilize sufficiently to halt the German advance on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne in September, 1914. In addition, the unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russian army forced Germany to fight a simultaneous war on two fronts. As a result, the Schlieffen Plan was abandoned.