ABSTRACT
It was assumed during this year's General Staff ride that great numbers of Russian cavalry had fallen on the Prussian provinces east of the Vistula on the first mobilization day and that they had done considerable damage at various places to the railways there.3 While the mass of this Russian cavalry was thrown back over the border again by the I and XVII Army Corps and by the rapidly transferred German cavalry divisions, the condition of the railways made their effective use impossible for a long period. Therefore, the Germans believed that they had to forgo offensive action in the east and restrict themselves to the defensive. They employed the greater portion of their armed forces against France, directing only three additional corps and three reserve divisions to the Vistula to support the I and XVII Army Corps.
