Ending The War Flashcards
How were Americans involved with the war, but not fighting/part of it?
They were neutral however they were supplying loans and equipment to the Allies
How did this anger Germany?
Angered by the US’ help, Germany began attacking shipping in Atlantic and sank passenger liner called the Lusitania which carried 128 Americans.
However, the ship was carrying a lot of cargo which contributed to it sinking so fast
The British denied it was carrying illegal cargo and Germany called of their tactic of unrestricted submarine warfare as they didn’t want USA to join the war
What caused America to join the war?
In early 1917, Germany carried on with unrestricted submarine ware fare as they were desperate and attacked many American ships
They had also tried to secretly get Mexico to become their ally against America
This was the last straw and US declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917
How did the US help the triple entente side massively?
The US navy was the third largest in world and its destroyers could be used to protect merchant shipping
This would help Britain’s critical food shortage
The US government was also willing to lend Britain money to buy war materials
However, short term there wasn’t much impact as they had to train and prepare their troops
But by summer 1918, America made a big contribution when they landed 1million troops in France
What happened in the Russian Revolution?
In March 1917, the Tsar was forced to abdicate (give up throne)
A temporary government took over and although its policy was to keep Russia in the war, her armies became less and less effective
In November 1917, a second revolution in Russia brought in a communist government and declared it wasn’t going to fight and began negotiations so in March 1918, they had peace with Germany
However, the terms of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was harsh in Russia as they had lost large areas of territory to Germany which were responsible for providing food and raw materials for industry
Germans could now also transfer loads more troops back to western front before the US troops arrived
Why was the German situation desperate by 1918?
Although Russia had surrendered, the Allies blockade of German ports starved the economy of materials and food
The USA was sending tanks and guns to France and moving 50,000 troops a month
The allies got more and more tanks and were using the latest technology
How had German’s technology become bad?
German aircraft could no longer safely attack targets as the British government ordered better searchlights, anti-aircraft guns and planes
The navy also used aircraft against U-Boats
By October 1918, there was a huge increase in the size of the Royal Flying Corps with over 20,000 aircraft
German army was no longer powerful and well trained
What idea did a German commander come up with to try and achieve German victory?
In March 1918, German commander Ludendorff decided to launch huge bombardments and gas attacks and followed up these attacks by smaller bands of specially trained troops who struck during the heavy fog - wanted to break down Allies defences
The Germans had broken through the Allies lines in many places and advanced 64km, bringing Paris in range of heavy gun fire
However, how did it soon turn south for the Germans?
The ‘Ludendorff offensive’ had gone well but the Germany army lost 400,000 men just in this breakthrough and had no reserves to call upon
These troops weren’t as good as the ones in 1914 as they were bad,y fed and supplied, and the discipline was poor
Many of the German advances were held up by soldiers looting for food and supplies
They also came up against well-led and well-equipped allied forces
How had the Allies now gained the benefit?
Between May and August 1918, the Germans made no further progress. It was clear they’d run out of time and recourses and had broken trench warfare.
The allied troops were well-fed and well-equipped due to USA’s help.
They were supported by tanks, aircraft and improved artillery.
By 1918, big guns were extremely accurate and gave cover fire from any attackers
What was the ‘Hundred days’?
On 8 August 1918, the allies counter-attacked along the western front, later known as the German army’s ‘Black Day’ By late September 1918, the Allies had reached the Hindenburg line and the Germans were in full retreat by October This period (18th July - 11th November) was known as the Hundred Days
Why did the people of Germany want to surrender/Kaiser to abdicate?
A war general wrote to the German government saying we must stop fighting to save people from useless sacrifices
The abdication of the Kaiser seemed necessary to end war
Most army generals saw that they couldn’t win so they wanted to negotiate a fairer ending to fighting and that the Kaiser was standing in way of peace
It was only after the Social democrats threatened to resign did the Kaiser abdicate
When did Germany become a republic (country with no monarch but elected president?)
9 November 1918
What happened after the Kaiser abdicated?
Negotiations had been thought out and planned for a few weeks and the German government expressed a willingness to follow President Wilson’s 14 points.
These were terms for a peace settlement and were drawn up in January 1918.
Wilson tried to look at situation for fairness and principles
What did the Allies do?
They gave Germany a list of their demands and there was to be no negotiating
The demands included money to pay for costs(repairs) due to war and a reduction in Germany’s army and navy
