Triple Alliance's War Strategies
At the end of 1916, in November the Allied leaders gathered in Chantilly to plan out war strategies. Their original plan was, to revise their fighting strategies of the Somme(1916) and start an offensive in Flanders, Belgium to get the Germans off the Belgian coast. However, when General Joseph Joffre was replaced by Robert Nivelle, a General known for his military achievement in Verdun, the plans changed drastically. He intended to heavily bomb one spot on the front, and through persistence they would be able to break a hole into the barries, and pour their armies in, and onto new ground, a move called "rupture". Since with the Somme in the way, they would have to find a different place to start their attack. The Germans' change of plan would force the Allies to move back with the Germans, and build up their trench opposite of the "Hindenburg Line". Luckily this process, did not hinder their plans in any way.
Central Powers' War Strategies
The Germans however had different plans. General Paul von Hindenburg, and his chief lieutenant, General Erich Ludendorff began a re-entrenchment of the Somme in August 1916. They would reformat it into the "Hindenburg Line", making the trench more efficient with less soldiers, so the rest could be repositioned elsewhere. They Completed in it January1917, and would utilize the new laid back line in March1917.