ABSTRACT
The First World War to begin with was highly popular, since most German people were sincerely convinced that Germany had been unjustly attacked. By the autumn of 1914 stocks of munitions were virtually exhausted, while supplies of essential raw materials were also running low. At the suggestion of the industrialist Rathenau, a War Raw Materials Office was set up within the Prussian War Ministry in August 1914. The final impetus towards effective military control of the German government was provided by the conflict between Bethmann Hollweg and the OHL over unrestricted submarine warfare. The period after the fall of Bethmann Hollweg saw the undisputed supremacy of the general staff and of military considerations in the formulation of policy. Germany's western war aims remained stillborn because of the failure to achieve victory, and attention increasingly turned towards the East. The final impetus towards revolution was provided by the navy.
