With Bruno now officially holding the highest rank in the German Army, he was given operational command over the Balkan Theater. At the same time, August von Mackensen was redeployed to the Western Front to hold the line until Serbia, Montenegro, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire could be knocked out of the war entirely.
With the Ottomans choosing to get involved in the conflict, both Austria-Hungary and Russia deployed additional field armies along the Russian border with the Turkish Caliphate, seeking to dismantle them as a power once and for all now that there was no longer a reason to keep them around.
In doing so, the three European nations of the Imperial Powers each split their forces across at least three theaters. The Germans held the western line by themselves, while also sending men into Italy and the Balkans.
