Download Germany`s defeat

REASONS FOR THE DEFEAT OF GERMANY
The Allies were able to defeat the Germans for a series of reasons:
1. The Allies possessed long-term advantages over the Central Powers. They were superior
in economic power, naval power, manpower, resources and technology.
 The Allies were able to mobilise almost twice as many troops (41 million) as the
Central Powers (23 million). This is hardly surprising, given that 27 nations fought
with the Allies, and only four with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Turkey and Bulgaria). American entry into the war was the decisive factor.
 The Allies also enjoyed overwhelming economic superiority, particularly once the
United States had joined in. American economic power alone was almost triple that of
Germany.
2. Germany was hampered by the fact that her allies were relatively weak, economically and
militarily. Austria-Hungary needed continual support from Germany, while Turkey never
fully recovered from the Dardanelles campaign.
3. Germany made an important political blunder by invading Belgium, thereby giving the
British a pretext for entering the war. (Of course, it is quite possible that Britain would
have joined France anyway, given her policy of maintaining a balance of power in
Europe.)
4. Militarily, four factors were decisive:
 Failure of the Schlieffen Plan to secure a quick victory meant Germany was forced to
fight a war on two fronts.
 The Germans fought a successful defensive campaign, but lacked the tactics and
weaponry to secure victory.
 The Allies, on the other hand, developed a weapon capable of breaking the stalemate
on the Western front – the tank.
 The Germans made an error in waging unrestricted submarine warfare, since this only
encouraged the United States to enter the war on the Allies’ side.
5. The Allies made better use of propaganda than the Germans, allowing them to win greater
international support. They made particularly good use of the “rape” of Belgium and the
sinking of the Lusitania.
6. The blockade of Germany led to the collapse of the German home front. This was made
possible by the superiority of British naval power. By 1918, Germany was literally
starving, causing a collapse of morale at home and in the army. Opposition to the war
increased, with revolutionary groups organising strikes in the munitions factories. The
Reichstag even passed a resolution calling for a just peace.
In conclusion, General Ludendorf gave three reasons for Germany’s defeat in the Great War:
lack of reserves, lack of tanks and lack of planes. Of these, the first two were decisive.