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In 1914 Germany was recognised as having the most efficient army in the world. Its structure included universal mass conscription for short-term military service followed by a longer period in reserve. The German Army placed great emphasis on high quality training and maintaining a large number of experienced senior officers.
Planning and operational control was conducted by the General Staff. The Kaiser Wilhelm II was the official Commander-in-Chief, but the Army chief of staff, Helmuth von Moltke was the effective leader in the field. Moltke was followed in this post by Erich von Falkenhayn (1914-16) and Paul von Hindenburg (1916-18).
The German Army in 1914 comprised 25
corps (700,000 men). There were eight army commands and a further
ten were created during the war. A cavalry regiment and other
support forces were attached to each 2 divisions.
Within a week of war being declared, the reserves had been called up and some 3.8 million men were in the German Army. By August 1916, about 2.85 soldiers were serving on the Western Front with another 1.7 million on the Eastern Front.
When the First World War came to an end in November 1918, the German Army had suffered an estimated 5 million casualties, including 1.75 dead. After the war the Treaty of Versailles restricted the German Army to 100,000 men.
