Effects of WWI on GermanyThe German people were celebrating in the early stages of 1918. Finally, the war had been starting to go their way and many were awaiting victory. What went wrong?
May 1918 - German troops in the Mount Kemmel trenches.
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Russia had been defeated on the eastern front and the Bolshevik government had been forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty, giving three quarters of their iron ore and a quarter of its best land. From the Eastern and the Western Front, the German divisions were now transferred. All along the Western Front (in the Ludendorff Offensive), they had made a massive breakthrough. Through northern France and Beligum the German divisions were now advancing quickly. German people were encouraged to believe that victory would soon be theirs.
The USA entered the war in 1917 to back up the Allied Forces thus putting Germany in a weaker position. Germany had lost a great amount of their best officers in earlier battles and soldiers were inadequately equipped after the British naval blockade of its ports. Fresh soldiers and equipment were being sent every month by the USA to help the Allies. By summer 1918 the Ludendorff Offensive slowed,,then ground to a halt. In August 1918, the strength of the German army was rapidly decreasing. The will to resist was hard to maintain. The Allies had counter-attacked and within a few weeks they had recaptured the land that Germany had earned within the previous three months. The German territory was threatened itself and it was this immediate change that had some Germans ignoring the very fact of it. People found it hard to believe that Germany were losing the war. It was clear by September of 1918 that Germany had to make peace. In Germany, the culture and happiness had been erased. Over a million soldiers were dead, citizens of Germany were facing starvation and they were incapable of fighting on. Peace was offered by the Allies on the condition that Germany became a more democratic society. Germany had been led by Kaiser Wilhelm II who was blamed to have started the war. |