At the start of World War I, in August 1914, the army of imperial Germany was considered the best and most efficient in the Old Continent. Such a conviction resulted mainly from the fame of the victories won in the course of the wars with Austria in 1866 and with France in the years 1870–1871. Also, many organizational solutions used at that time in the Prussian army and later in the German army (e.g., strategic railway lines or mobilization techniques) were copied in other European countries. As in the French or Russian armies, one of the three types of armed forces in the German army in 1914 was cavalry. At the peace level, the German armed forces had 110 cavalry regiments, formed into 55 brigades, the lion's share of which was assigned to infantry divisions. The four brigades formed the Guard Cavalry Division (Ger. Garde-Kavallerie Division), in which a single regiment of hussars was located. There was also a brigade of Hussars of the Guard. At the time of mobilization, the number of cavalry units, including hussars, increased significantly. It is worth adding that most of the "time of peace" hussar units had 4 squadrons each with a strength of 724 people, while a significant part of the mobilized units had only 3 squadrons in total, 538 people. It is worth adding that at the time of the outbreak of World War I, German hussars most often kept their embroidered uniforms, modeled on the hussar uniforms from the 18th and early 19th centuries. It is worth adding that the parade uniforms of the German hussar units also clearly differed in the colors of the dolmans, which also referred to the Friarian and Napoleonic eras.
At the outbreak of World War I, the British cavalry consisted of 31 cavalry regiments of approximately 15,000 men. The British cavalry doctrine at that time was largely based on the experiences of the Second Boer War (1899–1902), emphasizing the use of cavalry primarily for reconnaissance and emphasizing its firepower, but not excluding classic cavalry charges. It is worth adding that in the period 1902–1914, the necessity of attacking one's own cavalry with the support of artillery fire and machine guns was emphasized. Already during World War I, cavalry divisions were formed, consisting of a staff, four cavalry brigades, four artillery batteries, and other support units, including sappers. In total, the British cavalry division numbered about 9,300 men and about 9,500 horses. Due to the nature of the fighting on the Western Front during World War I, British cavalry was used in this theater of war on a relatively small scale.