Sclieffen Plan &There were 4 main reasons 'why the stalemate on the Western front finally broke'.

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There were 4 main reasons ‘why the stalemate on the Western front finally broke’.

Firstly, new technology like the tank allowed movement and so the sides started to attack again. This was not successful due to 2 reasons. One reason why the tank was not successful was because of its speed. It moved at walking pace and was not reliable or manoeuvrable. Due to the slow speed of the tank, groups of men walked directly behind the tank but sometimes the tanks broke down in no-mans land. Also in 1918, German forces were using armour - piercing machine - gun bullets. Another tactic they used is known as the rolling barrage. This was when artillery fire moved forward in stages just ahead of the advancing army. The strategy required precise timing as a failure would result in killing your own troops. Tanks were important because they allowed movement and both sides started to attack again.

Secondly, fresh men were entering the war and were facing the tired German opposition. By 1918, 50,000 American soldiers a month were landing in France. This crushed the German moral. USA joined because of Germans attacking and destroying many American ships, which they suspected of carrying supplies to the allies. The Lusitania, an American ship, was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915. The Zimmerman telegram was the final straw for the USA. They discovered Germany were to ally with Mexico against USA. The American entry into the war was important because they were sending fresh men into the war who with strong moral. Also they were supplying Britain and France which enabled them to carry on fighting. This broke the German spirit.

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The blockading of German meant that supplies for ammunition and food were very low. This meant that Germany was falling further and further behind in technology. So, in Germany, the government were forced to slaughter 1/3 pigs in 1915 because the naval blockade had cut off imports to feed them. There were short supplies of nitrates, essential for explosives and for fertilising farming land. In Germany 1916, the average adult meal ration for one week was equivalent to 2 hamburgers. Germany was starving and desperate to end the war. The blockading of German ports was important because Germany was weakened ...

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