During the war, there were two factions within the Prussian General Staff regarding the direction of the war.
The Western faction was influenced by the late Schlieffen, while the Eastern faction was influenced by the late Moltke the Elder. The Western faction advocated a preemptive attack on the French Republic, while the Eastern faction advocated a preemptive attack on the Russian Empire.
Westerners
Aufmasch I West: All troops sent to the Western Front, if Russia remained neutral
Aufmarsch II West: West: East ratio 8:2, after defeating the French army, West: East ratio 6:4
Eastern faction
Aufmasch I Ost: West:East ratio 6:4, after defeating the Russian army, West:East ratio 8:2
Aufmarsch II Ost - West: East = 6:4, no movement of troops
With Nicholas II effectively deciding not to enter the war, the Eastern faction put forward the opinion that "Shouldn't we just strengthen our defenses on the Western Front and launch a major offensive on the Eastern Front?"
"Now that the Russian Empire is not fully mobilized, is it not an opportunity to defeat them easily?"
"The plan to launch a preemptive attack on France was based on an invasion of Belgium, which would have led to Britain's entry into the war. A preemptive attack on Russia would avoid making Britain an enemy for the time being."
If defeating each enemy individually was the basis of warfare, the Easterners' opinions would seem to have been quite persuasive. However, Chief of the General Staff Moltke was adamant in his focus on the West and dismissed the Easterners' opinions.
"With the current supply situation, we will end up repeating Napoleon's fate."
Like Schlieffen, Moltke saw an early peace with Russia as impossible due to logistical rather than strategic reasons.
Schlieffen based the plan that bore his name on the fact that "Russia's transportation infrastructure, such as railways, was weak, and full mobilization would take time," but the vulnerability of the transportation infrastructure in former Polish territory was true not only of the Russian Empire, but also of the German Empire.
In fact, for the sake of defense, the roads near the border between Germany and Russia were almost unpaved in both countries, with only a few roads built on sand. The same was true for the railways, and because Russian railways used broad gauge, diesel railcars and freight cars could not enter directly from Germany.
The poor transportation infrastructure would have been a hindrance to the advance of a large army, so in the end only about 40% of the army could be deployed to the east. If the Russian army, although limited, had finished mobilizing and was on the defensive, it would be difficult to reach Petrograd by autumn. And when winter came, the same winter that had repelled Napoleon would stand in the way of the German Empire.
Fortunately, Russia had effectively abandoned the Triple Entente and had decided not to join the war against Germany, so Moltke adopted the Aufmaschine I West, which directed all of his forces against France.
"Our army will now activate Aufmasch I West! All forces, advance with all our might towards Paris!!"
**
At this time, the German army had nine armies, each of which was composed of the following (though the 9th Army was still in the process of being formed):
1st Army: 4 infantry corps (8 divisions) + 3 reserve infantry corps (6 divisions) + 2 cavalry divisions + headquarters, approximately 200,000
2nd Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 3 reserve infantry corps (6 divisions) + 1 cavalry division + headquarters, approximately 150,000
3rd Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 1 reserve infantry corps (2 divisions) + 2 cavalry divisions + headquarters, approximately 120,000
4th Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 2 reserve infantry corps (4 divisions) + 1 cavalry division + headquarters, approximately 130,000
5th Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 2 reserve infantry corps (4 divisions) + 1 cavalry division + headquarters, approximately 130,000
6th Army: 4 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 3 reserve infantry corps (6 divisions) + 3 cavalry divisions + headquarters, approximately 160,000
7th Army: 2 infantry corps (4 divisions) + 1 reserve infantry corps (2 divisions) + headquarters, approximately 70,000
8th Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 1 reserve infantry corps (2 divisions) + 1 cavalry division + headquarters, approximately 110,000
9th Army: 3 infantry corps (6 divisions) + 2 reserve infantry corps (4 divisions) + 1 cavalry division + headquarters, approximately 130,000
The Prussian General Staff deployed the 1st to 8th Armies on the Western Front (1st and 2nd Armies in Belgium, 3rd and 4th Armies in the Ardennes, and 5th and 6th Armies in Alsace-Lorraine), and the 9th Army, which was still being formed, on the Eastern Front.
As an aside, there was no such thing as the General Staff of the German Empire. Each of the German Empire's states, such as the Prussian Army, the Bavarian Army, the Saxon Army, and the Württemberg Army, had their own army and general staff, and they all appeared to fight together under the German Emperor.
In particular, the 3rd Army had three corps from the Royal Army of Saxony, the 5th Army had one corps from the Royal Army of Württemberg, and the 6th Army had four corps from the Royal Army of Bavaria, with one more provided by other Imperial states.
Furthermore, many vestiges of the feudal era remained, such as the commander of the 3rd Army being Max von Hausen, Minister of War of the Kingdom of Saxony, the commander of the 4th Army being Crown Prince Albrecht of the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the commander of the 6th Army being Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria.
Unlike in real life, the German army committed all of its forces to the Western Front, and the French army's response was also different from that of real life.
In real life, the attack plan known as "Plan 17" was a counter-plan to the German Schlieffen Plan, which called for an attack from the north via Belgium in a counter-clockwise direction, while the French Plan 17 was a counter-plan to pressure the Germans from the south via Alsace-Lorraine.
However, with the Germans now enjoying a numerical advantage by avoiding a war on two fronts, Marshal Joffre drastically changed his plans to a defensive operation, placing the 1st and 2nd Armies in Alsace-Lorraine, the 3rd Army in the Ardennes Forest, the 4th and 5th Armies in Belgium, and the 6th and 9th Armies in strategic reserve, in order to resist to the end.
"At this rate... it's going to be a frontal battle."
Wilhelm II looked worried.
"Rumor has it that an expeditionary force sent from England has already joined the French army and is building multiple lines of defense around Paris."
Although Britain did not have conscription, it had some combat experience from colonial conflicts such as the Boer War, and had a small but well-trained army that was said to be able to "fire 15 rounds a minute."
"Chief of Staff, can we win?"
"Our forces are already encircling the enemy, and we still have superior military strength. There will likely be some delays and increased losses, but it won't have an impact on the overall outcome."
"...I see."
Wilhelm II nodded slightly at Moltke's words.
To avoid any more unnecessary bloodshed, he was about to say that he should urge them to surrender, but he remembered the long-standing feud between the two countries and swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
(First of all, this war is what the people of both countries wanted. The direct cause may lie with the military and diplomats, but the mood of not accepting peace or disarmament had been floating around the country for some time.)
In an era when imperialism was the norm, it was considered natural for nations to expand their territories through war.
Darwin's idea of "survival of the fittest" has been applied to sociology, and there is even a tendency among the public to welcome the survival of the fittest. In other words, the nation that survives the struggle for survival is superior, and the role of the government is thought to be to win wars and expand territory and colonies.
(I am the Emperor of Germany. If that is what the people want, then let it be.)