Britain and the First World War.

Year 11 Coursework Depth Study: Britain and the First World War

1) In 1917 when the Americans joined in the First World War on the side of the allies the Germans were starting to loose the war because of the strong British navy who had been blockading Germany by sinking supply ships and stopping food, rubber, oil and fodder from entering Germany, as Germany had done to Britain in 1915 hence stopping food supplies from reaching the tiring German Army on the western front. This blockade meant that German troops were fatigued and the German civilians were loosing confidence in their war effort because they had little food supplies reaching them and so they were loosing morale,

The Americans joined the war on 1st of April 1917 because they had many innocent Americans killed when a German Submarine sunk the American liner in their Campaign of ‘unrestricted submarine warfare’. In addition Germany made an attempt in the ‘Zimmerman’ telegram to get Mexico to ally with her and this proved to close to America as it was inside their circle of influence and this annoyed America. America had stayed neutral until 1917 but “German provocation tipped the balance” (T.H Johnson). America had been using the war to make money by loaning the European countries cash Britain being the biggest loaner and so when America joined the war it is no surprise it joined with the British and the Allies.

When America joined the war they brought money, this was helpful because the allies were all very much in debt to America and so America brought them needed goods such as munitions to continue to continue the war. Men were brought to the war by America these men could help fill the front lines and replace men who had died in the war. Munitions were brought by America to carry on fighting the war. Possibly the most helpful thing America brought was confidence that the allies could end the war that was promised to end by Christmas 1914 and so allied soldiers morale grew and this could lead to more full hearted attacks as people believed the war was going to end.

The Americans entry only brought an extra 2 million men in to Europe to fight in the trenches but these men gave a chance for allied soldiers who were tired and had been fighting for 3 years already a chance to rest. This gave allied troops confidence that they could end the war. The fact that Allied troops considerably gained in confidence must have brought a physiological effect on German soldiers who were already depleted, and had been fighting for a long time so the entry not only brought allied confidence it also made Germany loose confidence and hope that they could no longer win the war of attrition.

The American entry into the war depleted German confidence and in early 1918 after Russia surrendered from the war German troops were transferred across to the western front the Germans started an offensive using specially trained ‘storm troops’ to attack quickly and retreat regularly to damage the front lines of the allies. These attacks were forced upon the Germans as they were running out of supplies and the fact that America had joined meant that they had to win the war fast because they could not now win the war otherwise because the longer the war went on the more American troops could be moved over to France. This attack was very effective across the whole front line and in some places the Germans advanced 64km and came within heavy artillery range of Paris. This attack slowed down as men and supplies depleted due to the British blockade that was upon effect on Germany and soon it was weak and lost its effectiveness. The Allies counter attack pushed the Germans into a large retreat and led to the November 1918 Ceasefire.

It seems that in 1918 when Germany launched this attack it signaled a last push for the war as they were exhausted and I think that the blockade and the entry of the Americans Speeded up a war and forced the Germans into a last ditch effort to win the war which was these attacks. Furthermore by 1918 I feel that Germany had lost too many troops to make the 1918 German offensive work well enough for the Germans to win the war.

Many factors interrelate to give a more full idea of why the First World War ended. The ...

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Many factors interrelate to give a more full idea of why the First World War ended. The British blockade on Germany which started in 1915 was taking its toll on the German population by 1918 because it meant food rations were restricted even more and so people in Germany were loosing morale this meant that the German government had to do something to either end the war quickly or

2) It is clear that from the factors given it is very hard to choose one factor alone that can be named as the soul reason for the First World War ending but it seems easier to pick out factors that can be seen to have had less effect upon the ending the war and in this category would be placed the Introduction of the tank.

The introduction of the tank into the First World War is shown to have had very little or no effect on the outcome and the ending of the war because they joined the war in 1916 and when they were placed into battle they were unreliable and the fact men were placed inside the tank meant that although land could be taken easily it was hard to exploit these gains e.g. In the battle of Cambrai where 12 miles were taken but then lost quickly because the allies had few infantry troops to exploit the gain. The little effect that the tank did have was that it was a good propaganda aid to British people in the way that it made the government look like they were trying hard to end the war although British people rarely found out the real unsuccessful effect of the tank, Sir J.E Edmonds (a British commander from 1918) states the tanks “effect were largely Moral”. the reliability of the tank can be clearly seen from data taken from the battle of Amiens that in 5 days the number of working tanks fell from 540 to just 6 this shows that the tank was no war winner it aided the troops a little but money could have been better spent on more ammunitions or weapons for the troops “The tank was no war winner.” By J. Terraine shows my view on tanks.

Tanks did increase morale in Britain a little bit but major morale boosts came from the American entry into the war because this was seen by all including troops in the front line as a turning point in the war because the war was promised to be over in 1914 in British propaganda and so men who had been on the line since the start had lost all confidence in the war ending for a long time and so the Americans joining gave these men a hope that the war was coming to an end this morale boost cannot be proved but it would be an obvious effect on anybody that help improves morale. The American troops were fresh and so were unused to the war and in many ways this too must have brought hope to the frontline because these men had high morale and this would have rubbed off onto many other troops. The fact that the allied troops had gained in morale would have had just as much of an effect on the German troops as the fact that there were now more allied troops than before and so the Germans lost confidence in their war effort and this would have proved an effect on their war effort.

The failure of the Schlieffen Plan was the German plan to take the war before any other country was able to get troops together and maneuver. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan does not seem to have much effect on the allies’ final victory of the war against Germany. although The failure of the Schlieffen Plan did help Britain and the allies because Germany were having to fight a war on two fronts which she thought that she could avoid if the plan had worked and Paris had been taken, But the Belgium’s and the British expeditionary forces slowed Germany down. Therefore, this meant that Germany had to focus on both the Western and Eastern Front because Russia had also mounted an earlier attack than was thought they could meaning Germanys forces had to be split to both fronts had, this gave the Allies more chance of winning the first world war because Germany could not focus solely on one front as they wished they could.

However, even though the Schlieffen Plan failed it did not weaken Germany much; The Allies could only delay the German advance through Belgium to Paris. Even though the Schlieffen Plan had failed, by the 4th September the Germans were in sight of Paris. Therefore, this shows that the failure of the Schlieffen Plan was not that critical to the allied victory as Germany nearly won the war through this attack and gained more land in one attack than in any other attack during the whole course of the war. On the other hand the Schlieffen Plan was of importance because it showed a weaknesses in the German Army as they had been slowed by a far smaller force, This gave allied troops confidence that they could win the war if they had larger numbers. Alternatively because it happened at the start of the war it is felt that it cannot be considered that it is the most significant factor to why the Allies won the First World War. As there were many other factors which are seen as far more important in the allied victory. Such as the entry of the USA linked with the British blockade which are more important, which happened later on in the war and so are easier to link more directly to the end of the First World War.

The British blockade was a part of the supremacy of the British Navy. The blockade had stopped nearly all supplies reaching Germany. So Germany were running out of food to feed its war effort (soldiers), and also she was running out of military goods to carry on constant attacks from the front line as Germany could not produce enough goods itself to feed this constant want. It is known that Germany had to slaughter one third of all pigs in the country due to this blockade just to feed the countries people who were eating ‘rubbish’. from looking at source B it is clear that through the war Germany’s food production had decreased dramatically, for example 50% less milk was produced by the end of the war than was produced before the war this is a dramatic decrease and shows the strength of the British navy and their blockade on Germany. These food decreases affected German troops and people very badly because it led to the morale of the Germans being destroyed. This made Germany weaker, meaning she was easier to defeat. By the end of the war German people were giving up hope as “Germany could not go on much longer” because “Essential supplies of rubber, oil and fodder” were running out (B.Catchpole, ‘A map history of the modern world’,”

Nevertheless, The British were merely a few days from defeat in the war due to similar German tactics “Germans adopted unrestricted submarine warfare” which relied on U-boats to sink all ships in “All the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland including the whole of the English Channel,” “Every merchant vessel found within this war zone will be destroyed.” (A German declaration on February 1915) from how effective these U-Boats were it shows that the British Navy were not as controlling of the seas as is thought. The German U-Boats are one of the reasons that America joined the war as a German U-Boat sunk an American cruiser called Lusitania which killed many innocent Americans.

Britain however, after nearly being starved into submission, improved their tactics for dealing with German U-boats. They used things such as mines, convoys of ships to protect supplies, Q-ships and depth charge. These factors defeated the German U-boats, and eventually it was Germany who were pretty much starved into submission. This Change in tactics shows that the British navy was supreme because they did finally deal with the threat and came through it. Although Britain’s blockade was a serious blow to the Germans and can be seen as a major reason that the Germans surrendered the blockade could not have been completed unless America had entered the war because they helped with new technology to deal with U-Boats.

This demonstrates that America’s entry into the war was crucial to the Allied victory because it gave the Allied troops a huge morale boost because they now had more men to fight and men who were not scared by war and so helped to cheer up a lot of the front line, Also, a huge number of armaments were being supplied by the USA to Britain and now with their entry they had a nearly unlimited supply of resources to make armaments, Shells and guns etc to fight the war with. For example “It was on American industry that Great Britain especially depended for shells and other munitions during 1915 and 1916.” (“The Twentieth Century” A.J.P Taylor) This quote suggests that Britain relied heavily on American munitions, Therefore the entry of the USA would have assisted the Allies in winning the war because there would be more goods arriving than before and there were American troops arriving to fight in the first world war these troops were fresh and were well trained as they had not just been called up into the army they had been in the American army before. This also gave German troops a large decrease in morale because they new with the entry of the USA it was only a matter of time before they lost the war because the longer the war dragged on for the more American troops would make it to Europe and fight and would eventually outnumber Germany so much it would be impossible to win the war this American pressure can be seen to have a direct effect on the Germans as they try the German offensive in 1918 when all the pressures get too much for them.

The German offensive involved small sets of ‘storm troops’ attacking quickly and retreating but men were lost in this attack and too many men had died in the war and supplies had dwindled. Germany also had no extra troops upon which they could rely as they had lost far too many men. German morale had been destroyed this can be seen when in 1918 general Ludendorff says “The war must be ended” This quote shows how stretched the Germans were and so they call for an end to the war the German offensive is the finishing point although it is the supremacy of the British navy and their blockade and the entry of the Americans.

The five factors shown are certainly not equally important to the ending of the First World War as can be seen in the very little importance that the use of the tank had. However, when some of these reasons are interlinked with other reasons it can be seen clearly that they are not of equal importance, for example the entry of America helped the British blockade which was cutting German supplies which meant that they had to launch the last ditch attack in 1918. When these reasons are all put together they are nearly all crucial to the Allied victory nevertheless none of them on their own they are of much importance in ending the war and have to interlink with other factors to become of major importance.