> at minimum German military leaders and related politicians did predicted longer war
Hmm, perhaps this was an unpopular opinion, because the entire German military strategy depended on an extraordinarily fast decisive victory in France [1]. Of course, there were contingencies based on whether Russia was allied with France, or netural. Once the Schlieffen Plan fell apart, then the Germans knew it would be a long two-front war, but they didn't seem to suspect that in the first several weeks, from what I've read
Though I'll have to check out the book you mentioned, Pandora's Box.
Hmm, perhaps this was an unpopular opinion, because the entire German military strategy depended on an extraordinarily fast decisive victory in France [1]. Of course, there were contingencies based on whether Russia was allied with France, or netural. Once the Schlieffen Plan fell apart, then the Germans knew it would be a long two-front war, but they didn't seem to suspect that in the first several weeks, from what I've read
Though I'll have to check out the book you mentioned, Pandora's Box.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieffen_Plan