The British uses their submarines to blockade the German ports, to stop boats going in and out. However this use I will cover later, when I cover the blockading of German ports.
Considering the first aircraft flight was in 1903 and hard only been 252 metre, the use of aircraft during World War One was quite surprising. Fighters were developed, along with bombers and German Zeppelins. The Zeppelins were at first very successful and during 1915-1916 were able to make bombing raid on London. However Zeppelins are filled with helium, which is a highly flammable gas. The British soon realised this and invented exploding bombs in 1916. Bomber planes were then developed to carry out the bombing raids. Special fighter planes had to be developed to give protection against these raids. However the main use for aircraft during World War One was for observation. They would fly over the enemy and take photos and record their positions and any movements that had been made. This would help the generals when planning attacks. Although the aircraft did help with the war effort, they did not themselves win the war.
All in all the new technology did not really have much effect on the outcome of the war, as normally both sides had the technology so neither had the advantage. Also, counter inventions were often developed to reduce the amount of effect the technology had.
When the Americans entered the war in April 1917, morale amongst the Allied troops was running low. However, the American entry into the war provided a huge morale boost. The Americans entered the war as a result of two things
- unrestricted submarine warfare used by the Germans on American ships
- The Zimmerman Telegram, which stated that if Mexico entered war with America the Germans would help Mexico to re-conquer Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. This telegram was decoded by the British and leaked to the Americans.
It was not, however, just morale boost which the Americans provided the Allies with, loans and resources (of military equipment and men) were also given to the war effort. In 1917 America’s economy was the largest in the world. They could afford to give large loans and pay for more weapons to be built and chemicals to be made. The American men, when they eventually arrived in the summer of 1918, were enthusiastic, but they were also naïve and inexperienced. It took such a long time for the impact of the American troops to be felt because the American army was, in 1917, very small and therefore men needed recruiting, training and transporting before they could start fighting on the Western Front.
The Americans entered the war at around the same time that Russia withdrew from it. This helped to once again tip the balance of forces towards the Allies. In 1917 the Germans were running out of manpower and had to start recruiting schoolboys to fight in their army. The Americans provided fresh new troops, who were not tired from months, if not years, of fighting like the German, British and French troops were.
The Americans had, even before they entered the war, provided a great deal of aid. After April 1917 they still continued to do this.
In conclusion, I think that the American entry into the war was a very significant factor when it came to the stalemate being broken.
The British Royal Navy used its submarines to stop supplies getting into Germany, just like the German submarines had done to Britain. The British, however, blockaded German ports in order to do this, rather than using unrestricted submarine warfare. Through the blockading of the German ports the Royal navy prevented imports of food, oil, chemicals and weaponry as far as possible.
This method was much more successful than the German use of submarines. It caused serious hunger in Germany from 1916 through til 1918 and in the winter of 1918-1919 the Germans suffered from starvation. There were also bad fuel shortages as all the fuel that Germany did have was being sent to the fronts, for the army to use. A lack of medicine also occurred, and the Germans ran out of anaesthetics towards the end of the war. Lack of supplies led to rapid inflation in Germany, which caused strikes in factories as the workers were unhappy about the conditions in which they worked, and the amount they were paid for doing so. These strikes interrupted the war production (i.e. the production of weapons and chemicals). All these factors led to a huge decline in German morale and eventually revolution in November 1918. Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on the 9th November and two days later, the 11th November at 11 o’clock, the war was over.
It was not, however just the normal people of Germany who were being affected. Lack of food meant that the soldiers on the Western front had poor supplies. Poor food supplies put them at a disadvantage as they had less energy with which to fight and poor artillery supplies meant they could not fight as well as the Allies as they did not have as good weaponry.
Therefore the blockading of the German ports was a very important reason as to why the stalemate was broken, as it attacked Germany from within.
The German Offensive in 1918 was a final attempt by Germany to attack the Allies before the arrival of the Germans had its full impact. The main aim of Ludendorf’s Offensive was to break though the Allied lines before Germany’s manpower resources became too low for Germany to be able to continue fighting the war. Germany was running so low in manpower that, in 1918, its was recruiting schoolboys. This was because during previous battles, for example Verdun in 1916, Somme in 1916 and Passchendaele in 1917, the Germans had suffered serious losses and did not have as many men to start with as the Allies did.
Another reason for the Offensive to be made in Spring 1918 was that in early March the war with Russia had been ended and therefore German troops could be transferred from the east to the Western Front.
The result of the Spring Offensive was at first very good, the Allies were driven back and Paris was put under threat again. However, the Germans never managed to break the allied lines and in July 1918 the Allies began their counter-attacks and started to drive the Germans back to Germany. The Offensive also caused a massive loss of manpower, which was unsustainable by the Germans. They also suffered exhaustion of supplied caused by loss of weaponry. The German Offensive also exhausted the remaining Germany troops and caused a loss of morale between them.
There are, of course, other reasons which could be used to describe why the stalemate on the Western front. One of there could be the Spanish influenza in Germany. This disease worsened the conditions in Germany, caused even more morale to be loss and more dissatisfaction amongst the German peoples. Spanish influenza could therefore be seen as another factor leading to the revolution and the Kaiser abdicating.
The surrender of Germany’s allies could also be seen as a factor which caused the stalemate to be broken as by November 1918 Germany was left fighting on its own, with no real leader after Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and no allies to help her.
Although these two reasons are significant, the main other reason as to why the stalemate on the Western Front was broken was Foch’s counter attack in July 1918, which led to the German defeat on the Western Front. There were four reasons why this counter-attack was successful. These were:
- the combined allied command under Foch set up in 1918. Before 1918 the Allies
had fought separately, and were not very co-ordinated, however, when all the armies fought under Foch’s command they were much more co-ordinated and found this strategy worked much better than previous ones had.
- The use of the fresh American forces under Pershing. These American men were fresh and enthusiastic; they were not tired from years of fighting.
- German exhaustion and losses meant that Germany lost the war of attrition. The war of attrition was, simply, that the first side to run out of men and equipment would loose the war. It was a policy adopted after the first three or four by the generals.
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The greater experience of conscript groups, which meant the British troops could break though the Hindenberg Line on 30th September. By finally breaking through the enemy lines the stalemate had been broken after three years.
The counter-attack was the final factor towards the stalemate being broken.
The causes for the stalemate being broken are interconnected. For example, the submarine was a new invention, and it was used by the British to blockade the German Ports, which was a significant factor towards winning the war. The German U-boats were used in unrestricted submarine warfare, which led to the American entry into the war. The American entry into the war gave the Allies enough manpower for Foch to carry out his counter-attack.
I think the reasons for the stalemate being broken are not equally important. The American entry into the war is, I think the most important reason as it had many effects. The boost in morale made the Allied forces happier, and more willing to fight for their country. The extra manpower allowed Foch’s counter-attack to take place, as well as tipping the balance of forces towards the Allies. The extra money provided by the Americans helped to buy more weapons and chemicals. It also ensured that the allied supplies were far superior to the German supplies. The American entry into the war was, in my opinion, the final factor, which ensured the allied victory. I think without the American entry into the war the stalemate would not have been broken for a much longer time, if it had been broken at all as the other factors alone were not enough to end the war.
