WW1- Why Germany lost the war

Question 1

Why was the Ludendorff offensive launched?

Answer 1

Germany needed a quick victory as the blockade had starved German economy, the US had joined the war and were training soldiers and the surrender of Russia gave them one last opportunity to break the stalemate

Question 2

What were the stages of the Ludendorff offensive?

Answer 2

• soldiers moved from Eastern to Western front
• hurricane bombardment- the largest bombardment of the entire war
• 150 miles hit by 1 mil shells fired by six thousand guns
• followed up by mustard gas attacks and storm troopers, lightly armed with guns, flame throwers and machine guns so they could move swiftly
• German soldiers broke through the frontline
• eventually German soldiers had to steal food and supplies and many died

Question 3

What were the problems from the Ludendorff offensive? (for germans)

Answer 3

• many deaths
• Poor discipline, poorly fed and supplied
• no reserves
• blockades meant no technological improvements

Question 4

How did leader’s decisions make the Hundred Days a success?

Answer 4

• Allies decided to put one commander in overall charge of armies to coordinate their response- Foch
• Foch decided that instead of 1 large attack, there’d be smaller attacks in different places
• Haig managed to push the German forces back to the Hindenburg line

Question 5

How did technology make the Hundred Days a success?

Answer 5

• Better guns and shells that actually cut barbed wire
• Tanks- first used at the Somme, and was a failure, but worked better now

Question 6

How did German problems and weaknesses make the Hundred Days a success?

Answer 6

• Soldiers ran out of supplies
• the large amount of battles led to many deaths and captured supplies
• By 17th Sep, the Germans were in full retreat as the French continues to attack the Hindenburg line
• Blockade continues, so still no better technology

Question 7

How did new tactics make the Hundred Days a success?

Answer 7

• Creeping barrage, smokescreens, version of stormtroopers
• Germans burned bridges, poisoned wells and destroyed as they retreated, but they also left valuable equipment like heavy guns and supplies and there were mutinies among reserve groups

Question 8

Military events that led to the armistice in 1918

Answer 8

• March: Ludendorff offensive launched, which went well but the advanced slowed and had stopped by July
• Germany couldn’t import food because of the success of the British naval blockade
• August: Allies counterattacked in hundred days, and 250,000 American soldiers were arriving each month. Germans began to retreat
• Low morale, exhaustion and suffering, illness meant that Generals said they couldn’t survive another winter

Question 9

German domestic events that led to the armistice in 1918

Answer 9

• Farm workers conscripted into army, so food supplies ran low
• people were being told they were winning the war
• September: Hindenburg and Ludendorff persuaded Kaiser to appoint a democratic government
• October: Food shortages and low morale led to strikes and protests
• 26th October: Ludendorff sacked
• 29th October: German navy mutinied at Kiel and refused to fight
• 9th November: Kaiser abdicates and Germany becomes a republic. Known as Weimar