It was obvious to Russian planners that should Germany not attack Belgium that she would attack Russia.
As such with the British declarations of neutrality should Belgian neutrality be respected the odds that Germany would invade east and defend west was considered all but certain.
It is for this reason that Russia implemented plan G. The active portions of the Russian army would retreat, the last out portions of the army disabling infrastructure as Russia fell back.
The Russian war plan called for one army in Saint Petersburg to offer defence from naval landings. Another three army retreating through Poland and Lithuania although possibly further east to defensible positions where they would be reinforced by mobilised reserve and two armies deployed south against Austria Hungary.
Russia knew that Austria and Germany would have the forces available on the Eastern front but felt that differing rail gauge systems meant that a German army in Russia had as much hope of surviving the winter as Napoleon’s French armies a year earlier.
At sea the Black Sea was irrelevant as there were no belligerents to fight with. The Baltic Sea however saw a massive Russian disadvantage compared with the German fleet. Germany would for all intents and purposes be able to act in the Baltic at will. While Russia had eight capital ships for the Baltic Sea being built, four battleships in the process of being fitted out and four battlecruisers still on the slips it would still see the Russian Fleet being out numbered significantly. The best option for Russia would be to maintain its Fleet as a Fleet in Being and hope that the British Empire would be drawn into the war. At that point the Russian Baltic Fleet would be able to deal with the rump of the German navy that would remain.
To compound Russian problems on Land it would take significantly longer for Russia to mobilise compared to her German and Austrian neighbours. This meant that despite mobilising first the Russian army would take two weeks more for its troops to reach the front line. Or rather two weeks more for its newly mobilised troops to reach the pre-war borders. Should the front line be to the east of “Congress Poland” then Russian reservists should reach the front line before German reservists.
The German Russian first plan was supplemented by an Austrian Plan RE, as opposed the plan S and plan R that was previously debated. Plan B (for Balkans) called for three armies invading Serbia and a further three defending against Russia. Plan R (for Russia) called for four armies defending the Russian border and two armies invading Serbia. Plan RE (for Russia expanded) was aligned with the German Von Molkte Plan. The combined plan was to knock Russia out of the war early so that the armies could go West later. This meant that five Austrian armies were invading Russia while a single army served attack Serbia.
Short update looking at Russian and Austrian war plans. Russia are implementing plan G (while historically they implemented plan A) while Austria are implementing plan RE which was not on the table historically. Historically Austria split their attentions more between the Russia and Serbia where as here there is a concentrated effort by the central powers to knock Russia out first.
As such with the British declarations of neutrality should Belgian neutrality be respected the odds that Germany would invade east and defend west was considered all but certain.
It is for this reason that Russia implemented plan G. The active portions of the Russian army would retreat, the last out portions of the army disabling infrastructure as Russia fell back.
The Russian war plan called for one army in Saint Petersburg to offer defence from naval landings. Another three army retreating through Poland and Lithuania although possibly further east to defensible positions where they would be reinforced by mobilised reserve and two armies deployed south against Austria Hungary.
Russia knew that Austria and Germany would have the forces available on the Eastern front but felt that differing rail gauge systems meant that a German army in Russia had as much hope of surviving the winter as Napoleon’s French armies a year earlier.
At sea the Black Sea was irrelevant as there were no belligerents to fight with. The Baltic Sea however saw a massive Russian disadvantage compared with the German fleet. Germany would for all intents and purposes be able to act in the Baltic at will. While Russia had eight capital ships for the Baltic Sea being built, four battleships in the process of being fitted out and four battlecruisers still on the slips it would still see the Russian Fleet being out numbered significantly. The best option for Russia would be to maintain its Fleet as a Fleet in Being and hope that the British Empire would be drawn into the war. At that point the Russian Baltic Fleet would be able to deal with the rump of the German navy that would remain.
To compound Russian problems on Land it would take significantly longer for Russia to mobilise compared to her German and Austrian neighbours. This meant that despite mobilising first the Russian army would take two weeks more for its troops to reach the front line. Or rather two weeks more for its newly mobilised troops to reach the pre-war borders. Should the front line be to the east of “Congress Poland” then Russian reservists should reach the front line before German reservists.
The German Russian first plan was supplemented by an Austrian Plan RE, as opposed the plan S and plan R that was previously debated. Plan B (for Balkans) called for three armies invading Serbia and a further three defending against Russia. Plan R (for Russia) called for four armies defending the Russian border and two armies invading Serbia. Plan RE (for Russia expanded) was aligned with the German Von Molkte Plan. The combined plan was to knock Russia out of the war early so that the armies could go West later. This meant that five Austrian armies were invading Russia while a single army served attack Serbia.
Short update looking at Russian and Austrian war plans. Russia are implementing plan G (while historically they implemented plan A) while Austria are implementing plan RE which was not on the table historically. Historically Austria split their attentions more between the Russia and Serbia where as here there is a concentrated effort by the central powers to knock Russia out first.
