M-Model 35127 German Lancer 1914-1918

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 land armed forces in the German army in 1914 was cavalry. In turn, one of the most characteristic types of German cavalry were uhlans (German: Ulan). At the start of the Great War, the German army consisted of 26 Uhlan regiments, three of which belonged to the Guard units. German uhlans wore headgear referring - quite loosely - to Polish patterns from the early 19th century and distinguished themselves from other cavalry units with the rest of the uniform. The German uhlans used a lance approx. 320 cm long, made of steel sheet, weighing approx. 1.6 kg, with a pennant. The tip of the lance was approximately 30 centimeters long. A saber and a 7.92 mm Mauser cavalry rifle served as a sidearm. At the beginning of World War I, Uhlans were used primarily in the West in the course of the modernized Schlieffen plan. However, after 1914, some of the uhlan regiments were rushed and de facto transformed into infantry units, and some were sent to the eastern front, where they retained their cavalry character.