Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
The problem with adopting a defensive posture in the West and turning East was a matter of time/distance/logistics.

France would still have begun their "offensive a outrance" and would have been brought up short just as calamitously. Germany would have been unable to push forward through the heart of the French defenses. Stalemate.

In the East, however, 2 year to defeat Russia would have been way too omptimistic. AH forces were notoriously ineffective in the attack and under coordinated. Russian forces were incredibly numerous and surprisingly brave/resilient -- especially in defense. Russian logistics, production, and transport were all excreble and would have (did) led to their defeat in the field. But the same vast distances, huge numbers of men, and miserable transportation net would have made decisive action against Russia exceedingly slow. This was the original reason for the decision to attack France with the bulk of the German army in the first place.

Historically, Germany's defeat of Russia was more a product of Russia's internal dissolution than German success on the field. Germany did win most of the battles, but the numbers they faced were daunting and slowed any real forward progress despite the poor equippage and leadership. The Russia would break apart was nearly inevitable. The level of corruption under the last Romanov's was staggering and the whole society teetered on the brink. Even so, defeat from those causes took nearly 3 years.
Yes but you have to remember that the Germans were better trained, better armed, and IMHO had better commanders. With the Germans on the Defensive on the Western Front and never going through Belgium the British would have most likely not entered the war at all. If that would have happened then the Russian would have been worse off. Without the supplies given to the Russians by the rest of the Entente it would have went worse than it did.

I think all this would have led to the collapse of the Romanov's. Even more rapid then it already was. You have to remember that a major cause of the breakdown was because of the horrific loss of life on the Russian side. I don't know about you but I wouldn't have wanted to go over the top charging at the enemy with no weapon and told by my superiors to take one off one of my dead comrades or a German soldier. That wouldn't have made my morale any higher if anything it would have made me think my leadership was incompentent.