In April 1917, Russia was in uproar. Although the Tsar had been overthrown by a liberal revolution, chaos reigned, the provisional Russian government continued to fight the first world war, forcing Imperial Germany to continue fighting on two fronts.

The Americans had just declared war on Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II’s key generals – Ludendorff and Hindenburg – knew that once the Americans arrived, Germany would be overwhelmed unless she could achieve victory beforehand.