While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. – Jeremiah 34:1

Today's Scripture Reading (July 16, 2023): Jeremiah 34

At the beginning of World War I, the German Empire realized they could have a significant problem. Germany could be forced to fight a war on two fronts. To the west were the armies of France and Britain, and to the East was the army of Russia. If Germany were forced to fight on both their Eastern and Western flanks, it would mean a significant split of their army. And so, the German military developed the Schlieffen Plan. According to the plan, the Germans would quickly take Belgium and the Netherlands; the plan to take the Netherlands had to be abandoned because of their continued neutrality during the war, and then turn south, quickly gaining control of France. The idea was that if Paris fell, France would quickly follow. Britain would be left as a problem on the Western flank, but the English Channel separated Britain from the mainland, and a minimal military buildup could hold the mainland in German hands. After the defeat of France, German forces would turn east and attack Russia before it could mobilize. With the fight against Russia secure, Germany could finally turn its armies toward Britain.

The Schlieffen Plan failed because Germany was unable to complete the objectives. And the nation ended up having to fight a two-front war for much of the early part of the conflict. Who knows if the result would have been different if the Schlieffen Plan had been able to be executed as dreamed? Russia ended up pulling out of World War I in 1917 because of a civil war being executed in its territory. But by then, the Germans were already feeling the toll of the two-front war the  German forces were required to fight.

Jeremiah reminds his readers that Babylon was careful not to fight on two fronts. The reigning world empire brought all of its force against Israel. In reality, they fought on small fronts, often taking little bites out of the nation until it controlled everything but Jerusalem. The Babylonian plan was almost the reverse of Germany's strategy of hitting the French capital, Paris, and then watching the rest of France fall. Babylon strategically worked around the Judean countryside until the Empire controlled all of Israel except for Jerusalem. And with Jerusalem surrounded, they were able to lay siege to the city without fear of being attacked on a second front. And eventually, the city would fall, and then the Babylonian military would enter the city and tear it apart. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 35