In 1914 one of the places where every one expected a war to happen was in the air. The newspapers tried to get stories about heroic aces that were flying in the war.
Most nations in the war had there own heroes. The most famous pilot in the war was the German Baron von Richthofen also known as the Red Baron. In total he shot down 80 allied planes. The Frenchman René Fonclz came close to the Red Barons amount with 75 kills.
Airships also played a key part in the war. Both sides used air ships but the most famous was the Zeppelin. It was mainly used for bombing London as well as escorting the German navy.
The U.S.A. entry into the War
At the beginning of World War One, America was officially neutral although it was supplying weapons and equipment to the allies. The Germans attacked and destroyed many American ships. In 1917 Germany sent Mexico a telegraph that has been referred to as the Zimmermann telegraph. The Zimmermann telegraph was a message to the Mexican saying to attack America. If they did this then Germany would give them Texas once they invaded America. America intercepted the telegraph and the result of this was that America declared was on Germany on the April 1 1917.
The allies thought because America was entering the war, the Germans had little or no chance of winning the war. But in late 1917, Russia had a revolution and a communist government came into power. The new communist government made peace with Germany. This allowed Germany to send over a million men back to the Western Front.
The British Blockade
The British blockade was one of the key factors in the defeat of Germany. The British blockade starved Germany of food, because of this the German army was weakened and most of the German citizens no longer supported the war. The war at sea was becoming just as important as the war on land.
- In Germany over 300,000 deaths were related to malnutrition during 1914-1918 among German civilians.
- The German government was forced to slaughter a third of all pigs because the British blockade had stopped fodder being imported.
- The blockade cut off supplies of nitrate, which was vital for making explosives and for farmer’s fertilizer.
- The meat ration in 1916 for one adult per week was the equivalent of two burgers in a modern food restaurant.
Before the 1900’s Britain had the biggest navy in the world and Germanys navy was much smaller then Britain’s. In 1898 the German Kaiser announced that he was intending to build a powerful navy. This threatened Britain because they were afraid that Germany would be able to attack them. Britain needed a big navy for protecting its empire that was located around the world. But Germany didn’t have a big empire so what would they do with lots of ships in the North Sea. Germany said it was to protect their trade and Britain was over reacting.
In 1906 launched HMS Dreadnought. A new modern class type warship. Germany also produced their own type of modern warship. Both countries spent millions on building boats.
The German offensive in 1918
Even thought Germany now had an extra million men, the economy of Germany was collapsing. The British blockade had starved the economy of raw materials and there was a food shortage even for the soldiers, and the USA was moving 50,000 troops to France each month. Germany needed a quick victory to end the stalemate. In March the German Commander Ludendorff launched the “Ludendorff Offensive” which would either win or lose the war.
The plan was to use the usual heavy bombardment but then instead of sending waves of infantry, the Germans would send small groups of storm troopers, which were specially trained light infantry. One night during a heavy fog the storm troopers attacked along the entire front. The plan was very effective and the Germans advanced 64 km. Paris was now in range of heavy gunfire. But the Germans lost 400,000 men in the attack and there were no reserves to call on. Also the troops of 1918 was no like the standard of 1914. This was because most of the original soldiers of 1914 had been killed and the newer soldiers did not get a lot of training. Many of the soldiers stopped to raid and loot villages because they were so hungry.
The Germans could make no further progress and the allies attacked back. The allies’ cannons had been modified and they were more powerful and more capable of hitting the target even over long distances. The allies counter-attacked along the Western Front and drove the Germans back to the Hindenburg line. In October the Germans were in full retreat.
Finally on the 11th November 1918, Germany agreed to a ceasefire and World War One was finally over.
