How Far was the Failure of the Ludendorff Offensive the Main Reason for Germanys surrender in 1918?

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Robert Bentham

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3/        How Far was the Failure of the Ludendorff Offensive the Main Reason for Germanys surrender in 1918?

There were many contributing factors to Germanys surrender in 1918. The first of which became apparent shortly after the start of the war, the schlieffen plan had failed. Germany was forced to have a war on two fronts, forcing a divide of the army and hence weakening it. They were forced into a long drawn out trench warfare on the western front; this was not the quick and easy war that the Germans had planned.

        The British enforced a blockade on Germany preventing vital supplies such as food getting into Germanys ports. This was disastrous for Germany and in 1915 food rationing was introduced into Germany as widespread hunger crippled the nation. This lack of food and supplies coming into Germany meant that it became much harder to keep the armies strength up with food for the troops, and things such as petrol for the vehicles.

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        The Germans were also fighting a war at sea, with there U-boat campaign. They enforced there own blockade upon Britain with a sink on site strategy destroying all supply vessels coming into Britain. This was very bad for Britain as at one point they were brought down to just six weeks worth of rations. If Germany had been able to keep up the blockade for these 6 weeks, they would have brought Britain to its knees and forced them out of the war, leading to a victory and the end of the war on the western front. Unfortunately for Germany, ...

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