in the midst of world war i, leaders had to turn a blind eye to many harsh realities to keep morale high; for a preexplanation, consider the encrypted messages that were often intercepted but seldom deciphered. while making statements on the bravery of their soldiers, many generals sought ways to reinitiate strategies from the beginning, ignoring the encrypted secrets that could undermine their plans, and instead focusing on misinformation to deceive the enemy and their own populations alike, leading to actions bordering on treachery.