The First World War Ends

Este apunte puede servirles para estudiar los ultimos acontecimientos de la Primer Guerra Mundial. No les va a servir si necesitan hacer un trabajo práctico, pero si cmo apunte para un parcial :)

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The First World War

The War Ends

The German war machine was breaking down by 1917. Royal Navy blockades of German ports were cutting off essential supplies of rubber, oil and metals. German troops and war supplies could no longer be sent to support Germany’s allies. But it only made matters by bringing the USA into the war in April. Faced with this desperate situation the Germans planned to launch an all-out attack on the Western Front in March 1918.

The attack was successful at first. The Germans broke through the Allied trenches and gained about 65 kilometres in ten days. It was the biggest breakthrough since the first days of the war. But the Germans lacked troops and armoured transport to play on their advantage. In 1914, the German advance was interrupted at the river Marne.

The Allies counter-attacked using tanks in August 1918. Many of these vehicles broke down, and they were vulnerable to armour-piercing bullets. Even so, they demoralized the German troops, who retreated to the Hindenburg Line. Helped by their tank superiority, the Allies pushed on until they had broken through.

The armistice: 11 November 1918

In Berlin, the politicians and generals could see that the situation was hopeless. An epidemic of influenza had added to the problems of the German people. There were revolutionary uprisings in Munich and Berlin, and a naval mutiny in Kiel. Greece had finally joined the Allies. This helped the offensive against Bulgaria, which surrendered in September. In October 1918 the British troops in the Middle East forced Turkey to surrender. On 4 November, defeated by the Italians, Austria signed a ceasefire.

The situation was so grave that Kaiser William abdicated on 9 November. The German army remained undefeated, but its government had no alternative but to surrender. An armistice (ceasefire) was agreed on 11 November of 1918. This is the day celebrated every year on Remembrance Sunday (Poppy Day).