What was the preparedness program of World War 1?

Answer 1

The American had...nothing. It was sad.

The German Empire had the Schlieffen Plan, which was incredibly detailed and methodical (in typical German fashion). It helped the Germans win many early victories in the War, and gain a lot of enemy territory very quickly.

The Russian Empire had..less than nothing. It took them weeks and months to organize and mobilize their troops to face the German/Austro-Hungarian onslaught.

The French were very much wanting a fight with the Germans, as the Germans beat the French badly at the Battle of Sedan in 1871 (which led to the formation of the German Empire). However they were pretty disorganized and relied on outdated battle plans that were decades old.

The British Empire was in better shape than the Americans or the Russians or the French in terms of preparedness, but it took them a good bit of time as well to get organized and start fighting.

Often in 20th century wars you had something called "the false war," or "the quiet war," which was the period after war was formally declared but before the real fighting began. The nations needed this time to mobilize, organize, train, and outfit their soldiers. This was true in World War One and World War Two.