in the wider war time was not on their side. To capitalize on their victory over Russia, Ludendorff and Hindenburg were now planning a massive effort in the West. Given the timetable for what must surely be Germany’s final offensive, the High Command urgently needed to settle the situation in Russia. Furthermore, though Trotsky and the left of the Bolshevik Party exaggerated the prospect of a revolutionary overthrow, the solidity of the home front in both Germany and Austria was now seriously in question.
