1-WWI+Allies+on+Brink

Russian Withdrawal from WWI At the beginning of the War in 1914, the Russians were not prepared to deal with other countries, let alone their own. Russia faced many problems that hindered their efforts. Russia’s main problem came economically. The Russians lacked supplies, equipment, training, and transportation. All of these factors play a very large role when going to war, and Russia lacked in almost all of these due to the lack of funds towards the war efforts. They also had many political setbacks, in which the Russians focused on militarization. Although Russia had entered the war with the largest army in the world, standing at 12 million mobilized forces, they were extremely unprepared for combat and lacked training. This resulted in a casualty percentage of 76.3, the second highest percentage for this war.

The German Offensive of 1917-1918 At the end of 1917, the German high command found itself in a very beneficially favorable situation. The October Revolution and the subsequent disintegration of the Russian Army gave the Germans the opportunity to concentrate their fighting forces on the Western Front. In the spring of 1918, Luderndorff ordered a massive German attack upon the Western Front. This was Germany’s attempt to end the war. The Allies had known of the German attack prior to it, but did not know where it would come. The British strengthened their positions near the coast while the French reinforced their positions to the south of the British. In doing so, a weak spot was left in the British line to the west of Cambrai. Sir Hubert Gough, the commander of the Fifth Army in this area, was well aware of his situation and the fact that there were very few reserves to call on as reinforcements if the Germans did decide to attack this location. German reconnaissance had made them aware that the area was less well defended. On March 21st, 1918, Luderndorff launched the offensive. In just five hours, one million artillery shells were fired at the British lines held by the Fifth Army. This was followed by an attack by elite storm troopers. These soldiers were highly trained and moved lightly. At the end of the first day of the attack, approximately 21,000 British soldiers had been taken prisoner and the Germans had made substantial advances.

The British, the French, and the Italians The Italians had suffered terrible losses due to the Austro-Hungarian offenses. There were many casualties, wounded people, and prisoners. The confidence in the troops had degraded drastically because of their failures. The loss of the war was already foreshadowed due to the lack of mobilized forces. The German Offensive was too strong for the Italian defense. This shows that they were already on the verge of failure and loss at this war. The weak spot left in the British line to the west of Cambrai led to many problems for the British and French. During Operation Michael of March 1918, the British troops were taken by surprise and many of their divisions had been completely destroyed, while the ones that were not affected had retreated. This caused much debate over the British combat tactics and it’s efficiency. Germans had wreaked havoc for the British, and shot into the public crowds in order to instill fear and chaos. This was very bad for the British because not only did the citizens fear the crash of the country, but the political leaders as well. Operation Georgette, a smaller version of Operation Michael, had also caused many problems. The Germans began to face a setback in ammunition, food, and other supplies to continue to advancement. This caused a hindrance for the Germans, but did not completely stop them. Fortunately for the Allies, they were able to reclaim the front. Both sides had suffered tragic losses due to the sheer size of the armies and duration of the offensive. During the time, the British had lost approximately 240,000 while the French lost approximately 90,000.

What were the causes and consequences of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian pursuit of peace terms with the allies? Austria-Hungry had a lack of leadership and military planning during the war. Austria-Hungry relied heavily on German strategy and guidance during the war, and did not focus on their own needs. Austria’s army experienced a low morale due to high casualties, as well as difficulties that come with controlling a multi-ethnic army (such as difficulties in communication). During the fall of 1918, the Italian forces were advancing on the exhausted Austria-Hungarian troops. They began to seek an end to hostilities with the allied powers. October 1918, Austro-Hungary could no longer wait for a strategically beneficial approach to exit the war, because internal damage to the country was far too great. Social unrest was becoming too great of an issue for the Empire to ignore. On October 27th, 1918, they brought forth an armistice to the allied powers in order to end the fighting. This left the Germans without their Austria-Hungarian allies. An additional consequence of the withdrawal of this Central Power was that Hungary declared itself an independent state, and the country of Yugoslavia was created by the ethnic groups of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes on October 29th. The country of Austria-Hungary was no more. The Ottomans were met by heavily offensive British forces in Palestine, 1918. The Ottoman Empire suffered a substantial defeat in Palestine and Mesopotamia, and was on their own after Bulgaria’s withdrawal from war. The Arab revolt, cerca 1916, was the cause of major social and political unrest within their territory, and contributed along with WWI towards the destruction of the Empire. The inner conflict with the Arabs contributed to a lack of focus and complete determination towards defeating the Allied Countries. October 30, 1918, the Ottoman Empire began to negotiate an armistice, or cessation of hostilities, with the Allied powers. This armistice was titled The Treaty of Mudros, and included seven main conditions. Overall, the Ottomans agreed to open access to the Dardanelles straight, demobilize its armies, and allow the use of its territory at the digression of the Allied military forces. WWI contributed greatly to the demise of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire, as the world knew it, was to be divided into several new nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The partitioning of the Ottoman Empire gave rise to the creation of the Middle East that we know today.

What were the French & British views of the American entry into the war? To what extent could it be argued that US entry sealed the defeat of the Central Powers? British attempted to sway Americans to enter the war by evoking empathy from the US, by means of similar culture and common language. The British did not want the US to join the central powers, and took action by creating a blockade for US goods being sent to Germany en route through the North Atlantic Ocean. Trade with the British was a huge part of the US's economy, and the British used this to their advantage to help offset the previous neutrality of the US. Between the years 1914 and 1916, this tactic severely cut trade between the US and Germany. While the British hindered trade with Germany, trade between the US and Britain was united these two countries even closer together. France and Britain posed no serious threats to the US, while Germany proved to be a threat through the sinking of the U-boats and Zimmerman Telegraph. Britain and France were afraid of losing, and needed the Americans of their side. These two Allied countries wanted the US to abandon their neutrality stance and join forces in the war, in order to increase the quantity of war supplies, increase the number of fighting men, and give the Allies an added advantage over the Central Powers in order to provide for a quicker victory. US entry sealed the defeat for the Allied powers because during this time, the US was seen as the largest industrial nation in the world. The US was capable of supplying weapons, ammunition, foodstuffs, and loans to the Allied powers. Before the entry of the US, the Allied powers were already out producing the Germans; however, with the addition of the US, the differences in supply of war materials significantly grew. Thanks to the Henry Ford assembly line (1913), the US could quickly produce motor vehicles, which provided the benefit of quicker transport and supply in the war. American troops were rushed over to France to combat the tired British and French troops, and even more men were in training, in preparation to be sent after the first group of men. The US joining the war refreshed the strength and morale of the Allied countries, and created a futile situation for the exhausted Germans.

Works Cited

Dennis M. Murphy, "Nexus: Strategic Communications and American Security in World War I," Parameters 38, no. 4 (2008), [].

The British Army, French Farmers and the War on the Western Front 1914-1918 Craig Gibson Past & Present, No. 180 (Aug., 2003), pp. 175-239 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society Article Stable URL: []

Italian-Austro-Hungarian Negotiations 1914-1915 Leo Valiani Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1914 (Jul., 1966), pp. 113-136 Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd. Article Stable URL: [] Martin Sicker, The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001).

1. What were the objectives of the Allied blockade of Germany, and how was it carried out? What did the Germans do to try to work around it or break it? The allied blockade was made specifically because of the submarine warfare that the Germans were using. The Allied Blockade of Germany started in November of 1918 and went all the way up to June of 1919. Germany was waging a misinformation campaign to end the Allied blockade in Germany.
 * Blockade**

2. Germany was suffered extremely due to the blockade. Germany relied on foreign imports significantly. Later on, Germany had no choice but to create their own blockade which they considered to be hugely effective during the war on Allied commerce. The Germans had unterstreeboats and due to the U- boats, many merchant ships of the allies were sinking. By 1917, the war was turning out to be the way of the Central Powers. However, Britain eventually found a way to stop the Germany’s U boats by introducing their convey system. Because of the convey system, allied blockade was sustained and this eventually led to the collapse and defeat of the German forced in 1918. Farmers were forced to sell their food stores as well as their animals because of Decrees. Farmers had to negotiate their crops for each year to become part of the armistice terms. The seizures became inclusive later on. There was exchange rate as well and it was considered to be extremely inequitable because 20 francs were only 1 reichmark. Invasion marks were also there but they were considered to be that valuable.

3. The Versailles treaty played a huge part in World War 1 for the France. There was a high inflation during the years immediately after world war 1. The entire economy was in favor of Germany rather then France. There were armistice conditions that were taking place and because of those conditions the billing costs of daily occupation and garrison was around 300 to 400 million francs. The zone that was occupied contained the best industries of France and it was a fifth of the world’s iron ore in Lorraine as well as 6% of steel production. The railway network of Germany was unbreakable as it had 4000 French locomotives and 300,000 freight cars. This quantity was more than half.

**Bibliography** African, this time there were increasing reports of Vichy French vessels in the Mediterranean running the British blockade from North. "Blockade of Germany (1939–45) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. . "The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning online | First World War | Spotlights on history." //The National Archives//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. . "First World War.com - Primary Documents - German Declaration of Naval Blockade of Britain, 4 February 1915." //First World War.com - A Multimedia History of World War One//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. .