WW1 military executions versus armies' reputations for discipline?

I'm not an expert on military history, but I have taken several college level World War I cles & my prof mentioned this. He told us that the German army was more progressive than the other armies. German NCOs in the field could make decisions based on what was happening to them at the moment. They didn't have to wait for orders to travel down from the top. I got the impression that officers in the German army didn't treat their subordinates as bad as in the French army. Also, the French army did not rotate soldiers off the front lines as often as the Germans did. If you were stuck in the trenches with no sight in end, you'd probably desert, as well.