Editing Schlieffen Plan (section)

====''Aufmarsch II West''====
{{lang|de|Aufmarsch II West}} anticipated a war between the Franco-Russian Entente and Germany, with Austria-Hungary supporting Germany and Britain perhaps joining the Entente. Italy was only expected to join Germany if Britain remained neutral. {{nowrap|80 per cent}} of the German army would operate in the west and {{nowrap|20 per cent}} in the east. France and Russia were expected to attack simultaneously, because they had the larger force. Germany would execute an "active defence", in at least the first operation/campaign of the war. German forces would mass against the French invasion force and defeat it in a counter-offensive, while conducting a conventional defence against the Russians. Rather than pursue the retreating French armies over the border, {{nowrap|25 per cent}} of the German force in the west ({{nowrap|20 per cent}} of the German army) would be transferred to the east, for a counter-offensive against the Russian army. {{lang|de|Aufmarsch II West}} became the main German deployment plan, as the French and Russians expanded their armies and the German strategic situation deteriorated, Germany and Austria-Hungary being unable to increase their military spending to match their rivals.{{sfn|Zuber|2010|pp=95–97, 132–133}}