The following were equally important reasons why Germany was defeated. How far do you agree with these reasons?

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The following were equally important reasons why Germany was defeated:

* New technology like the tank

* The American entry into the war

* The war at sea (1917-1918)

* The events on the Western front: March to November 1918

Explain how far you agree with this statement

Germany was finally defeated in 1918 after four years of war. I will now examine each of the four factors that contributed to Germany's defeat, to see if all of the above points did contribute to the Germany's defeat, and to see how far I agree with the above statement. I will also see whether the four reasons alone are sufficient enough to explain why the stalemate was broken, or whether there are other important reasons.

The main factor of new technology used in WW1 was the tank. When the tanks were first made and brought into action, they were highly unreliable (broke down often), slow, and didn't achieve much success. This could be seen when they were first used at the Battle of the Somme, 1916. However they allowed infantry to cross no man's land without being caught by machine gun fire, they crossed barbed wire and trenches. By 1917 at Cambrai the potential of the tank was seen. After one year the tanks had been improved and were now more manoeuvrable and crossed all terrains easier. Artillery was still the same, but how it was being used was much more effective. Rather than artillery bombardment there was now periodic "crashes" and the infantry would attack when the Germans least expected it. High explosive shells were also used to attack trenches. These proved to be more practical since they destroyed the trenches, driving the defenders deep into their dug outs, therefore there would be no-one to man their defences on the day of the attack. New technology did help to defeat Germany but a lot of new technology was unreliable and this factor alone could not win the war.
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America was neutral before 1917, and supplied munitions and loans, to Britain, France and Germany before they entered the war. The reasons that America entered the war was firstly because of Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, which sunk any ships that weren't allied with Germany, including ships belonging to America. America also entered because of the Zimmerman Telegram, which stated that if Mexico allied with Germany, the Germans would help Mexico to recapture Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The British decoded the telegram and sent it to America. America declared war with Germany on 1st April 1917. American troops ...

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