Which WWI Commander of the German Military Did the Best Job?

[AdA]

If the French army collapses at any point, it has effectively been conquered. The rest of the country lacks the capacity to resist meaningfully. After that, why is Britain staying in the war? They've lost all power on the continent. They can blockade indefinitely, but how long will they have the will? This isn't WWII where Russia is a counter to German power. Germany owns the continent more thoroughly than any power since Rome once France falls. They can't conquer Britain, but with the continent at their disposal, they can't be defeated by Britain, either. No matter the previous costs, a negotiated peace is inevitable after a year or two at most. The US will not be joining in the war at this point, either, as it's obviously lost.

But, as was demonstrated in WW1, collapsing a major power army required revolution (Russia) or the threath of it (Germany).
The French Army would not surrender, there was no prospect of a French Lenin, and the Germans would run out of resources before they could crush the last remaining pockets of French resistance.
And that is within the assumption of the US diverging from their OTL conduct, which is an unpredictable variable.
Within predictable variables, and not assuming the USA to play for their team, there is no winning plan for Germany after failing at 1st Ypres.

 

[Garrison]

If the French army collapses at any point, it has effectively been conquered. The rest of the country lacks the capacity to resist meaningfully. After that, why is Britain staying in the war?

For the same reaon they got into it in the first place, because having the channel ports in hostile hands is unacceptable. The British didn't abandon their war when Napoleon had European hegemony a century earlier, they aren't going to when the Kaiser has it. Also given Imperial Germany's behaviour in places like the Ukraine Germany is likely to get bogged down in partisan warfare inspired by a Soviet Union that Britain may well bite the bullet and form an alliance with ala WWII.