History tells us that a general can move and feed an army as efficiently as he likes but the real litmus test is the battlefield.
All the energy he expends getting his men to the front line fit and healthy counts for nothing if they don't have the right equipment.
What they need, above all, is sufficient ammunition - yet there were moments during the war when a shortage of artillery shells meant the guns almost fell silent.
Given the unprecedented scale of the conflict, it was bound to take time for each side's peacetime armaments industry to adjust.
Each of the major combatants, moreover, had its own limits to production.
Germany lacked the necessary raw materials to make cordite (the vital propellant for bullets and shells) and explosives.
Austria-Hungary was hampered by a lack of rail transport and rail infrastructure.
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