Another cause for the failure of the Germans on the western front was another long term cause, as it happened way before the end of the war. This cause was the failure of the Germans submarine campaign. As the British had done to them they tried to starve the country of ammunition supplies and food to try and force them out of the war. They went out saying that every ship delivering supplies or vital equipment to the British would be sunk. This was the most deadly thing to hit the British and it was very close to driving them out of the war so that they could avoid widespread famine throughout the lands. However as the Americans were the main supplier to Britain when the German wolf packs started sinking passenger vessels it aggravated them and this caused the Americans to enter the war. This was a huge blow to the Germans and central powers as America was, and still is, the largest collection of countries in the world. This was the worst consequence during the war as the Americans were also supplying ammunition to the Germans so when they entered on the side of the allies the Germans lost the supply of the Americans.
Another cause for the failure of Germany on the western front was the introduction of America in the war. The Americans had a very large army and was a very rich country so when they came in on the sides of the allies there was a new balance of fresh troops to strengthen the forces at both fronts and also financial security. The Germans were at a loss after America joined as they now had 3 large powers 2 fight against where as before there was only France and Britain with the Russians on the eastern front. This was a long term cause as it still took a long time from when America joined the war for Germany to declare defeat.
Another cause of the failure of the Germans on the western front was the string of heavy defeats suffered throughout the war. With these defeats the morale of the German people and the German forces dropped dramatically as it became more and more clear that the war was on a downward slope towards defeat and that is not what the people of Germany wanted. But as the morale dropped the
defeats got worse and worse, heavier and heavier and it was clear that the forces were not willing to fight anymore as it looked like they would never win this war. Things looked up in 1917 when Russian left the war as the Germans now had no one to defeat on the eastern front and could concentrate all there forces on the eastern front. But when the Trench warfare continued on the western front for another 2 years defeats rose again and the German morale took another huge knock. This was a long term cause of the failure as it happened four to two years before the end of the war.
Another cause of the defeat of Germany on the western front was the failure of support from its allies. Many of Germany’s allies could not support them with enough troops to have an influential part in the war and so there were weaknesses along the whole of the German line, which were noticed and manipulated successfully by the allies during the closing stages of the First World War. The allies could also not supply them with money ammunition or supplies and during the end of the war many of the central powers were driven out of the war leaving Germany to fight the war on there own against three huge powers of the world. This was another long term cause as throughout the war Germany never had the same amount as support from its allies as France, Russia and Britain had from each other and gave to each other.
Another cause of the German defeat on the western front and the only short term cause was the Ludendorff offensive. The Ludendorff offensives started off to try and deliver a terrific blow to the allies before one million troops arrived from America and make the task of winning the war almost impossible. At the start the plan looked as if it was going to succeed. The three storm troop armies that were sent to fight in the offensive made fifty miles ground in three days. However this made them extremely tired and as morale was so low because so much was asked they refused to fight anymore and instead of going through with the offensive they looted all of the British possessions and returned home ending the offensive in great embarrassment to the Germans.
In conclusion I feel that although the failure of the Schlieffen plan was important in the defeat of Germany on the western front it was not the only cause for it. There were a number of long term causes including the allied sea power, the failure of the German submarine campaign in the Atlantic ocean, the USA entering the war, the strain of heavy losses and Germany being let down by its allies. There was also one short term cause that helped towards the defeat of the Germans on the western front and that was the Ludendorff offensive. Now the connections between the sources show that the submarine campaign by the Germans in the Atlantic bought USA into the war which was the worst thing that could have happened as America could be the turning point and the decisive element in winning or loosing the war for Germany. The strain of losses also sank German morale which could be seen to have been the reason for the troop’s failure in the Ludendorff offensive.
