Armistice And Allied Victory example essay topic

In 1914 the First World War began. What was thought to be a short, quick show of power turned into a four year campaign as the countries of the Triple Entente fought to prevent the Central Powers from taking over mainland Europe. By 1917 it seems the war would go on forever, dragging out, with both side appearing equal in fighting power and a trench line stretching from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea. Why is it then that eventually the members of the Triple Entente won the war?

Why did Germany declare armistice? The following essay will attempt to answer these questions as well as providing evidence to support the claims made. When Russia pulled out of the war after a revolution in 1917 the war on the Western front took a turn for the worse for the Allies. With the removal of a threat form the East Germany was free to send troops to the Western Front strengthening its hold in the captured areas of France, Belgium and surrounding areas.

While this appeared, on the surface, to be a good turn for the German army it was really the beginning of a bitter struggle that eventually led to the defeat of her armies, for although more man-power was able to be dedicated to the battle line the British still maintained naval superiority and the blockade upon German ports and colonies was causing major disruption to supplies, especially food, which greatly lowered the moral of the civilians and the soldiers and caused a general 'ill-feeling' towards the government and the war. This drop in morale and the effect of Allied propaganda can be directly linked to the outbreak of several strikes and rebellions as is shown in the excerpt from '1914-18: the World at War, by C, O'Brien and A. Merritt"; It is almost always the women, whether form lower or better classes, who show their dissatisfaction with the war in bitter scolding and outbreaks of violence. This is understandable however, as it is the women who are expected to cook and cater for hungry families and find themselves unable to do so... ". Mutinies among disgruntled soldiers also had a part as they lacked supplies of food, clothing, blankets and other necessities to keep them healthy and able to fight the war. This coupled with the unrelenting offensives and counter-offensives made by both sides severely injured the support for the war leading to a much more submissive population and in turn a much more submissive and malleable government.

However it was not just the lack of supplies and Allied propaganda that led to the Germans declaring the armistice and the Allies winning the war. Much of the "credit", if it can be called such, lies at the feet of the United States of America. For while they were neutral until the very end of the war they lent great amounts of money to the Allied governments as well as gave aid in the form of supplies, technologies and eventually man-power as well as not giving any help to the Central powers. After the sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania, which carried over one hundred American passengers, when Germany once again began unrestricted submarine war-fare the United States declared War on Germany and it's allies and sent one million soldiers to join the battle on the Western Front.

A very significant number of men. This announcement of the United States taking 'active' involvement in the war on behalf of the Allies further lowered the German peoples morale as by this time the German soldiers and people were getting very tired of the war and battle-weary and the influx of new, fresh, eager troops made victory seems even further away as is stated in 'War and Peace' 'Reasons for Allied Victory': "The decisive factor, however, was the American intervention. A million fresh troops on the western front gave the Allies overwhelming superiority in manpower... ". These two factors were coupled with several smaller ones, one of which being the failure of the 1918 Spring offensive launched by Germany in an attempt to break the stalemate, this led to a huge decrease in manpower and again in the morale of the Civilians as again is shown in 'Reasons for Allied Victory':" The failure of this offensive accelerated the decline in the morale of the armed forces and civilians of the Central Powers... ".

Another factor was the uniting of the command of the Allied armed forces under General Foch. With a united command there was less bickering and more cohesion to the Allied army, making offensives more effective, with less losses, more often. This was also a deciding factor in the Allied resistance to the spring offensive. But it is unlikely the Central Powers would have offered armistice if not for the Fourteen points of United States President Woodrow Wilson.

The 'Fourteen Points' as they came to be known offered Germany an honourable way out of the war with little in the way of 'punishment' or repatriation. Seeing an almost hopeless situation in the continuing of the military campaign and the 'easy way out' offered by Wilson's Fourteen Points, the Central Powers declared armistice on the basis that the settlement be 'Wilsonian' based heavily on the Fourteen Points and likely to be fair and just to all. It was for these reasons that the Allies won the war. While no one single cause can be named the above points explain in some detail how the armistice and Allied victory came about, much through the lowered morale of the Central Powers, and why Germany agreed upon the armistice in the first place..