Chapter 4 examines why both sides aggressively pursued in their attempts to break the stalemate that had emerged by the end of 1914. They spent 1915 mobilizing their resources and launching a series of bloody, but futile assaults on enemy positions. The misguided logic behind these attacks was overconfidence that the outdated strategy of previous wars was working, combined with a deep-seated fear that they might lose the war if they did nothing. In 1916 decision-makers chose to pursue a war of attrition by launching even larger and riskier military campaigns in their search for victory. The war got wider. Italy joined the Entente Powers and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in 1915; while other countries in Northern Europe and the United States tried to maintain their neutrality in the face of blockades that interrupted global trade. However neutrality was becoming increasingly difficult, and as 1916 ended, things were finally changing. The Germans put Paul Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff in command of a new strategy focusing on victory in the East, and the United States moved closer to joining the Entente.