Why did stalemate develop on the western front?

Have a little read: ... Why did stalemate develop on the western front? Stalemate developed on the western front because of many factors, which contributed to various degrees. Starting with the failure of the Schlieffen plan which contributed to stalemate because if it hadn't have failed stalemate probably wouldn't have developed. The battle of the Marne, which followed, was key because it caused the two forces to be facing each other in a field with exhausted troops and artillery and no military supremacy gained. This (and the trains) also contributed to the outflanking movement's failure, which in turn contributed to the development of stalemate because the two forces were still equally matched. The outflanking movement also known as 'the race to the sea' followed on from the Marne and helped develop stalemate because it was the last resort for the generals trying to fend off stalemate.The idea was to get around your enemy to attack from the weaker areas (the side and behind). The problem was the fast way of getting troops around the enemy using trains was available to the enemy as well because the gages on the trains were the same for both sides. This contributed a lot to stalemate because every time you transported your troops towards the sea to try and get around the enemy they were blocked by forces, which had used trains to get there as well. The defeat less Marne also contributed to the failure of the outflanking movement, which in turn helped develop stalemate because the fact that no one won or gained from it meant the to sides were equally matched when racing to the sea. Because they were equally matched every time the enemy blocked their outflanking attempt they could not breakthrough this blockage and vice versa. When both sides reached the sea, which was at the same time of course, they dug trenches, which stretched for miles. Trenches had become very sophisticated and were extremely defensive it was virtually impossible to break through one and if you did troops transported by train would plug the gap this was a major factor contributing towards stalemate. They were zigzag shaped so a shell's blast was contained and caused minimal damage. They had dug outs for soldiers to hide in if they heard a shell flying over they also had barbed wire fences to slow down an attacker. Technology also contributed to stalemate any new weapon technology tended to help