Chapter 6. Examines impact of war on the political and military situations in 1917. New governments emerged in Britain (David Lloyd-George), France (Georges Clemenceau) and Germany (Paul Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff). In Russia the establishment of a Bolshevik government led by Vladimir Lenin resulted in a cease-fire in December, followed by the Treaty Brest Litovsk that ended the war between Russia and Germany three months later. The Germans were prepared to gamble that victory on the Western Front was within reach. The failure of the German economy to meet the military and civilian needs, and decision by the United States to join the war produced a need for quick military success. The Allied generals still believed their war of attrition was working. They launched offensives that produced huge losses and no significant gains. For the Germans, 1918 offered some confidence that their military efforts might succeed before the Americans arrived; for the Allies it offered a hope that they could hold on until the Americans arrived. Both sides remained convinced that continuing the war was worth the risks.