“That was their ONLY chance of success and a slim one at that.”
Their only chance at what? Conquering the continent? Well, yes, but why would they need to do that? Because France and Russia could possibly conquer them first? Okay, but couldn’t France and Russia have used the exact same rationalization? “We better conquer Germany before it gets too strong and comes after us.”
Since when has that sort of thinking been respectable?
Again, what were the war aims of Germany?
To subjugate France? No.
To subjugate Russia? No.
To preserve their union of German states? Yes. What did they negotiate at Brest-Litovsk? Return of territory occupied by Russia. Return of the Baltic states to Germany, independence for Lithuania and Poland and the Ukraine.