The administration and command of the army is exercised through the great general staff, a most powerful and efficient organization, by which the work of the army is prepared for in peace and molded in war. It is at once a close and yet flexible organization, which permeates the whole structure of the army, consisting for Prussia of about 200 officers. Nearly 100 of these are detached on service with the staffs of corps or divisions, while the remainder constitute the great general staff in Berlin. There is constant interchange between regimental work and staff work, and between the latter locally and with the headquarters staff in Berlin. Scarcely any regimental officer rises high in his corps without having been called to staff service; so that the ideas of the staff are based upon practical experience, and react upon the whole army, to which they come as a kind of tradition of duty and policy, sharpening and directing the life and work of the army. Recently the inspection of the cavalry and artillery has been improved.

The forces are organized in 22 army corps, and comprise 625 battalions of infantry, 482 squadrons of cavalry, 754 batteries of artillery, 38 battalions of foot artillery, 25 battalions of pioneers, 11 battalions of Army Service troops, and 23 battalions of train, with a peace strength of 495,500 rank and file, exclusive of one-year volunteers. The establishment is given as 620,918. The contingent annually embodied approaches 275,000 men. The service in the standing army is of six years, two of these with the colors in the infantry and three in the cavalry and horse artillery, and the rest in the reserve. After quitting the reserve of the Active Army the soldier passes five years in the Landwehr and seven in its reserve. The recruiting service of the Guard, consisting of the tallest and finest-looking men, is carried out by a committee, consisting of officers specially nominated for the purpose. Under the system of recruiting there are always more men than are necessary to keep up the army strength, the surplus constituting the Ersatz Reserve.

The strength upon mobilization is estimated at 2,310,000 infantry, 151,000 cavalry, 329,000 artillery, 78,000 technical troops, 168,000 other formations, making a total of 3,036,000 trained men.