Quantity vs Quality

Germany and its alliance were not the only nation preparing for war. In fact, the French had made substantial investments in machine guns over the years, especially since the Iron Division proved how effective they were in the trenches outside Saint Petersburg and Tsaritsyn. 

And while the level of technological progression had increased ever so slightly on the global stage due to Bruno's interference in the timeline, some things had actually veered off into a less desirable path, at least for the French. 

As previously mentioned, the French Army had a serious issue with machine guns leading up to the Great War in Bruno's past life. 

Aside from the paltry sum of such destructive devices actually employed in their army, they also did not create a machine gun that was remotely reliable enough to chew through the mud and blood of the trenches until the fabled Hotchkiss was adopted in 1914 shortly before the outbreak of the infamous global conflict.