In the Berlin Imperial Palace, Wilhelm II was holding a military conference. The course of the World War was becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Alliance.
Both the eastern and western fronts had fallen into a stalemate, an extremely unfavorable situation for the Germans. They had to break this deadlock as soon as possible.
Although Germany had performed remarkably well throughout this war, battering the French to the brink of collapse, something had gone wrong at the very last moment.
First, Bulgarian reinforcements had reached the Western Front and helped the French stabilize their defenses. That was still a minor issue; Wilhelm II believed that given a little more time, the French would still be finished.
But there was no stopping their allies from dragging them down! At the final moment, trouble broke out on the Eastern Front again, forcing him to halt the Western Front offensive and send troops east as reinforcements.
The Alliance's position was now exceedingly perilous. Even if they repelled this Russian offensive, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been gravely weakened and no longer had the strength to withstand military pressure from both Russia and Bulgaria.
There was even less need to mention the Italians. The Alliance was counting on them to embarrass themselves. Their greatest contribution was achieving a 1:1 exchange ratio on the Western Front!
Before the war broke out, the German General Staff had estimated that although the combined Austro-Hungarian and Italian navies in the Mediterranean Sea would still be inferior to the Entente, the gap should not have been too great.
At the very least, they should have been able to sever the Entente's maritime supply lines. Yet it was over before it had even begun.
What remained of the Italian Navy could only cower in port and lick its wounds. Naturally, the Austro-Hungarian