Unwilling to give up, Ludendorff doubled-down and repeatedly launched increasingly costly follow-up offensives which saw no major breakthroughs. However, the offensive gradually slowed with impeding logistical issues and tactical errors by the German troops alongside the arrival of French reinforcements. Infiltrating the enemy lines, the German troops pushed quickly into enemy territory. On the 21st of March, elite German storm troopers pushed into no man’s land through the fog and stunned the British troops. With the defeat of the Russian Empire, a spark of hope was reignited into the German people that victory may still be a possibility. A map of German plans for the ‘Spring Offensive’ (The Sun, 2018) The plan was to quickly knockout the British Expeditionary forces in Europe by pushing the British into the english channel. Ludendorff as a result wanted to prepare a massive Spring Offensive against the Western Allies. As a result of this, General Eric Ludendorff (The Commander of the German Army) saw an opportunity to end the war in a quick fashion before the morale of his troops broke down even further, and before American troops could arrive in Europe. The Russian Empire was gone and the Soviet Union had signed a peace treaty with Germany officially ending its participation in the war, thus freeing up lots of resources from the Eastern front to be re-assigned to the western front, thus removing the eastern threat. However, just when everything seemed lost incredible news came for the German people. The war had become a meat-grinder supplied by the German youth. Losing loved ones, less food and a general lower level of economic and social wellbeing due to the war being dragged on for years. The United States of America had entered the war against the Central Powers in 1917 and the German defeat seemed increasingly inevitable.īack in the homeland, thousands of tired, angry and starving German citizens began protesting out in the streets now that the once propoganized ‘glorious war’ was impacting their lives at home, and increasingly making life harder for the citizens of Germany. The Year 1918 was off to a bad start for the German Empire, a series of political earthquakes shook Germany. These offensives proved most succesfull during what is now known as the hundred days offensive, the offensive that broke The Germany Empire…. Image created by Noreen Johnson (2011, via Slideplayer)ĭespite many factors causing the fall of the German Empire, a major reason for its fall was the unrelenting pressure the allied troops had put on the German front line. Here you can see the Territorial losses put into perspective: The victorious nations brutally partitioned Germany. On October 11th, 1918 the New German Republic signed what was considered a humiliating armistice leading to significant Germna territorial losses. “Conditions where so bad in Germany that the leader of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm the Second was forced to abdicate his throne due to the impending revolution. During the same time the population in Germany was incredibly angered due to lack of supplies and general civil unrest at the same time that the German army was being demoralized by the Western offensive. Today that event is the Hundred days offensive, Unknown to most, but during the last months of WW1 a bunch of Western-Allied offensives finally cracked the german defenses, ending a bloody stalemate on the Western Front. This article is a first in a new series, where everyday we will be breaking down a major historical event and explaining it so that you can understand the connection between major world happenings.
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