The Kaiser assured troops leaving for the Western Front when the war began that they would "be home before the leaves fall", and that was essentially the plan. The Germans would concentrate the bulk of their strength in the west, crush the French, then send their forces east to face the Russians.

If the Russians didn't capitulate right then and there, the war would have probably continued on into 1915.

Of course, all these hopes were dashed by the Marne and First Ypres coupled with Britain's entry into the war. The Austro-Hungarian debacles at Cer Mountain and Lemberg certainly didn't help either.