British perfidie was held up as a special advan¬ tage. It was hoped that it would attach the smaller nations to us and win the confidence of the larger ones.
The value of the Triple Alliance was psychologi¬ cally of little importance, since the binding force of an alliance decreases the more it confines itself to main¬ taining an existing condition. On the other hand, an alliance waxes stronger the more the individual con¬ tracting Powers are able to hope that they will gain definite, tangible advantage.
This was realized in various quarters, but unluckily not by the so-called “professionals”, Ludendorff, then a colonel on the Great General Staff, in particular, pointed out this weakness in a memorandum in 1912. Naturally the “Statesmen” refused to attach any sig¬ nificance or importance to the matter.
For Germany it was a pure piece of luck that the War broke out in 1914 indirectly by way of Austria, and that the Habsburgs were thus forced to take part in it ; if it had happened the other way round, Ger¬ many would have been left all by herself.