His solution was a plan in which Bethmann-Hollweg would be sacked and the office of Chancellor abolished; the Kaiser would "temporarily" abdicate; and Field Marshal Hindenburg be given the new office of "Dictator of the Reich", concentrating all political and military power into his hands in order to win the war.[3] Though the Tirpitz plan was not implemented, the very fact it was mooted showed the extent of military dissatisfaction with the existing leadership, and the strength of the "state within the state" in that Tirpitz was not punished despite having essentially called for deposing the Emperor.[3] In August 1916, Germany became a de facto military dictatorship under the duumvirate of Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Ludendorff, who ruled Germany until 1918.[4] During the rule of the "silent dictatorship" of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the German government advocated a set of imperialist war aims calling for the annexation of most of Europe and Africa that in many ways were a prototype for the war aims of the Second World War.[5]