Part 13/14:
This week encapsulated the crumbling unity of the Central Powers. Hungary’s independence movement and soldiers’ desertions signaled the end of Austria-Hungary’s cohesion. Germany, battered and demoralized, grappled with declining military effectiveness and internal unrest. The Kaiser’s limited options included the risk of a naval showdown or continued internal turmoil.
Simultaneously, revolutionary activities and political upheaval in Germany, the collapse of military command, and the unraveling of alliances indicated that the war’s conclusion was imminent, driven by military exhaustion, political instability, and the unstoppable march of the Allied forces.