A weapon new to war was gas. The French first employed it in WW1 by filling some grenades with tear gas in 1914. Later that year, the Germans fired shells, containing a chemical irritant, but they used such little amounts it was barely noticed. The Germans were the first to use gas on a large scale, firing 18,000 artillery shells with tear gas at the Russians in 1915. However, the chemical froze, before becoming a gas, and so failed to work. Over the war, gasses became much more destructive, with some gasses that killed the victims. Deployment of gasses became frequent, and gas masks became standard kit. More than once did the wind change during an attack, causing the gas to blow back into the trenches of the side that used it. The casualties due to gas were immense, up at 1.25 million. However, fatalities were lower, with 91,000 dead. However, the fatalities figure does not take into account the amount of soldiers who died after the war due to the gas, and the many that were severely disabled due to them. Russia lost the most by a long way, and between them, Britain and France, lost more than Germany on the western front. Germany therefore gained an advantage due to the use of gas.
Tanks were first developed by the British. The tank was given its name, when the British sent some over to Russia, labelled as Water Tanks to avoid knowledge of them getting to Germany. The first tank was used by the British in the Battle of the Somme. It was nicknamed ‘Little Willie’; it could carry 3 men in cramped conditions, and travel at 2 mph on the rough terrain of the battlefield. The Little Willie could not get past trenches, and this proved to be a major set back. Early tanks were also very unreliable, mostly breaking down before getting into battle. As tanks became better equipped, more reliable and able to cross trenches, more were produced. In 1918, the British produced 1,391 and the French produced 4,000. However, the Germans never saw the potential in them, and only made 20! Quite possibly, the tank could have aided the Germans greatly with their final push in 1918.
Another weapon used for the first time was aeroplanes. At first they were used for spying, and taking aerial photographs. They were flimsy, made of wood and material. There was no protection for the pilot if they were shot at. Over the war, planes were used to drop bombs and usually carried machine guns. Pilots were often involved in ‘dogfights’ with other planes. If a pilot survived many of these by shooting down the other plane, they became known as aces. The British had the most planes, and made good use of them in terms of surveillance.
Overall, weapons can’t really claim to be a cause of the breaking of the stalemate, as both sides used the new technology equally, and so neither side gained a huge advantage. In fact, machine guns could be said to have prolonged the war, due to their effectiveness at defending the trenches. The allied tanks were in a good position, with their superior numbers over the Germans, however they never showed to be significantly helpful in any decisive wins.
The Americans joined the war on the 6th of April 1917, due to German unrestricted submarine warfare and Germany’s persuading Mexico to attack them. President Woodrow Wilson had repeatedly warned Germany that they would not tolerate the sinking of vessels containing U.S. citizens. Until that point, the US had declared itself neutral, although supplying the allies with weapons and other essential supplies. American troops began preparing for transfer to the Western Front. This took a long time, and even after this time, the British and French supplied the troops with a lot of the needed kit. Few American troops arrived until mid 1918. By this time the stalemate was already broken, and so the American entry into the war did not affect the breaking in any physical way. However, the threat of over 1.5 million American troops arriving on the Western front must have greatly panicked the Germans, and could have been one of the major reasons why the Germans finally broke the stalemate in March 1918 with their huge final push.
One of Britain’s tactics to win the war was to blockade German ports, to stop supplies coming in, and ships going out. Germany also tried the same tactic, but the British coastline was too long for them to guard it all. However, the Germans had restricted coastal areas, and the British were able to barricade off every one of Germanys ports. There were sea-mines laid as well to provide extra difficulties for Germany to get in or out. It was a very successful blockade, causing huge food shortages, for civilians as well as the army. By 1917, it is estimated that 250,000 people died due to starvation in Germany, and more in 1918. The shortages caused huge food riots all over the country, and the price of food rocketed, with a loaf of bread costing around 300,000 marks (approx. 100,000 pounds).This is thought to be one of the major reasons why Germany executed their final offensive in March 1918.
When 1917 turned to 1918, things were looking bad for Germany. America had joined the war, food and other essential supplies were extremely low, and every last troop was on the western front, with numbers dwindling. It was probably a mixture of these reasons why they launched a final, powerful offensive in March 1918. To begin the attack, small groups of well trained soldiers were sent. They moved stealthily between shell holes, to avoid machine gun fire and retain the element of surprise. It was a complete success, the allied line was broken in many places, and the rest of the German army poured through the holes. The Germans put everything into the attack, and drove the allies back 60km. They were once again in sight of Paris. However, the whole army was exhausted, and the allies mounted a massive counter attack. They drove the Germans almost all the way out of France, and the Germans admitted their defeat. The treaty of Versailles was signed in November 1918, it signalled the end of the gruelling 4 years of trench warfare. The German’s attack was what finally broke the stalemate, but if the other factors weren’t taken into account, it could have been a very different story.
I now looked at other reasons for the ending of the stalemate. The ‘Stop the War’ protests in Austria-Hungary and Germany must have contributed to the final push by Germany, and put huge amounts of pressure on the government. If the public don’t want a war, the army probably doesn’t either. This was expressed by the German navy when they mutinied because they were ordered to sea in the last months of the war.
Looking back to the question, I have come to the conclusion that no, the 4 given reasons were not all equally important. As I said earlier, the new technology did not dramatically affect the wars outcome, as each side developed similar technology. In my opinion, the second two reasons were actually reasons for the 4th, which was the most important reason that the stalemate was broken. The German offensive was the actual move that ended the stalemate, and I think that means it was most important.
