Despite what they believed at the time, there are numerous factors as to why Germany and her Allies lost the First World War. The U.S’ involvement in the war, setbacks in the military, an ineffectiveness of alliance system, and a strain on economy and morale are just a few of the main casual factors towards Germany’s defeat. All of these factors put together are certainly not a recipe for success, but what I believe really gave Germany and her allies the big push towards defeat was the lack of a strong well thought out plan, as well as alternative strategies.
I think that Germany’s overall downfall started from the root, with the Von Schlieffen Plan. Count Alfred von Schlieffen devised the Von Schlieffen plan after the Franco-Prussian war, to be used in future war circumstances in which Germany would attempt to avoid fighting on two fronts – the Russian and French. In order to do so they planned on swiftly defeating the French first in the west, and then quickly rushing over to the east and reaching the Russians before they had time to mobilize. With the outbreak of the First World War Helmuth von Muoltke, Schlieffen’s successor attempted to execute the Von Schlieffen plan. Confident with their only strong plan, the Germans were shocked to see that it was flawed. They had thought that it would have taken Russia six weeks to mobilize, whilst when the plan was put into action, it only took the Russians ten days to mobilize. Another factor that the Germans had failed to consider was resistance. The German General staff did not expect Belgium to resist invasion and when they went in to attack on the 2nd of August 1914, they were surprisingly held up by the Belgium forces, with the help of the British. The Germans had failed to consider Britain or any other nations’ involvement in their invasions. They thought that the British army was simply a joke, and that the British would never fight. The Von Schlieffen plan also assumed that France was easily defeated in the span of six weeks. Of course unfortunately it took the Germans four years of war to prove that France wasn’t quite as easily defeated as they’d expected. Ultimately the Von Schlieffen plan failed due to the fact that it was based entirely on flawed assumptions, and once the Germans realized this, it was too late and they’d already pushed themselves into the deep end, having to commit themselves to the war in which they planned on winning in six weeks, with no plan B. Germany wasn’t the only country within her allies with a unsuccessful plan. Austria-Hungary’s plan R intended on sending huge forces over to Russia, where at first they managed on capturing areas, but then retreated within a week, leaving behind heavy guns and ammunition. Austria-Hungary also faced vast numbers of causalities as it was beaten during its attack on Serbia.
Not being prepared to commit themselves to a long-term war is what resulted in Germany’s economic difficulties. As Germany became united as one country, it became one of the most powerful countries in the world. Their industry came from steel and coal, and they strived for more power, in the form of colonies and land. Germany entered the war on the upper hand with a strong economy, but finished the war with it left completely devastated.
The Allied Naval Blockade made a huge impact on the German economy. The British had the strongest navy, and they controlled the North Sea with their dreadnoughts. The British took advantage of the fact that only the North of Germany wasn’t land locked, and Germany was prevented from using 64 percent of her merchant fleets, and eventually cut Germany off from trading her allies. Without the sufficient supplies, the German citizens began starving. It got to a point where the Germans became hungry and fed up. Their faith in the Kaiser had vanished and despite their anger and ‘stab in the back theories’, put pressure on the government to stop fighting. The British successfully cut off Germany’s supply of nitrates, which were essentially used for the production of explosives and fertilizers, leading to a shortage in weapons. Another disadvantage of long-term war that Germany wasn’t prepared for was the constant demand for more men to fight. Unfortunately for the Germans it took a toll on their labour. At a point a lack of fodder resulted in pigs being fed what was available – grain and potatoes. This wasn’t considered legal as the food could have been used for human consummation, therefore the German government ordered the slaughter of mass slaughter of pigs. A third of Germany’s pigs were killed, resulting in a lack of pork, and prices going up. In order to prevent the prices going up the German government ordered for set maximum prices for foods, outraging the farmers and influencing them to cut supplies. The government then had to resort to meat and bread rationing, and there were a significant amount of deaths estimated in Germany, around 300,000 due to malnutrition. During the first beginning years of the war the German army was well fed and looked after, whilst the people at home starved. It is said that in 1916 48,700 cows were killed for civilian consumption, whilst the army consumed 147,000 per month. By the time the long-term effects of the war starting kicking in, the German army was eating cabbage soup.
In terms of feeding its country, Germanys biggest flaw was that it was simple unprepared for war, and when it did hit the country the government failed to take the right actions to ensure the German people food and a sustained economy. As soon as Germany’s U-boats cut off Britain’s supplies in 1917 the Corn Production Act was passed, which guaranteed minimum prices for wheat and oats. The outcome of the Corn Production Act ensured that Britain had enough food for its country, whilst Germany’s situation was chaotic; a shortage of cotton led to a demand in wool which led to the ban of Sheep slaughtering which led to yet more decrease in the food supply. Of course Germany wasn’t the only country with this crisis during the war – Germany’s ally Austria-Hungary had suffered severely bad harvests. Although Germany had its own troubles, it also faced the burden of Austria-Hungary’s constant request for help. This paralleled the United States’ strong availability to easily constantly stock up its allies with supplies.
One of Germany’s biggest mistakes, I believe, was angering the Americans. German U-boats were used with the intention of fighting off the British Blockade, and an attempt to starve the British people themselves by having their own attack on the British economy by cutting off their trade, but also found themselves attacking neutral American ships. Despite the U.S’ constant threats and warnings towards Germany concerning sinking their boats, Germany proceeded to torpedo a large passenger ship, the RMS Lusitania that resulted in a loss of American lives. The American public was outraged by the military alliance that Germany publicly offered Mexico in the Zimmerman telegram. This particular U-Boat incident was the final
straw for America, and it turned the American public against Germany, pushing their decision for to join the “war to end all wars” as American President, Woodrow Wilson called it. As America entered the war, Germany’s chances of winning were slim, and with little developments going on as each side held up their own it was only a matter of time that an armistice was signed. Another one of Germany’s great disadvantages during the war was the lack of good leadership. Germany’s Zimmerman and Schlieffen were no match for the clever minds of their opponents, Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson. Germany knew fully what it was getting into by riling America but did not favors for themselves as once again, that had falsely made an assumption, as they believed that they would have won the war by the time that the United Stats had mobilized. They had the brilliant ideas of introducing machine guns and gases, the warfare reached a point where it stood still and stopped progressing, Germany failed to come up with offensive weapons. The use of tanks created great pressure for Germany and caused them great damages militarily.
Germany stood their ground and managed to resist defeat for a considerable amount of time. Eventually the Germans signed the armistice that called an end to the war. In conclusion, if you consider Germany’s overconfidence, awful plan of action, and its terrible outcome, along with its inadequate leadership, unstable allies and weak economy it comes to no surprise that Germany failed to succeed in World War I. It is often questioned though, if Germany and her allies really lost. Despite ‘losing’ militarily and politically, Germany was able to leave the war looking somewhat like a victim. Personally I believe that Germany did lose the war in general sense, because they failed to do what they sought out to do, and then were severely punished. What surprises me is that the Germans didn’t believe that they had actually lost the war, and that they were simply to sign a treaty because everyone was sick and tired of fighting. They only realized that they had lost when the treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and they were faced with the harsh burden of war reparations and total blame for the war. Despite being completely unprepared for long-term war, Germany managed to resist defeat for a considerable amount of time. What I believe made Britain successful in the war, in the sense of conserving food and the Corn Production Act, was that it had previous experiences therefore knew how to organize itself in such a situation. After experiencing the First World War, Germans would be able to improve on things that were flawed the first time around as the Second World War comes shortly after. Unlike the first time, I’m sure that before going into war they would have learnt from their mistakes and prepared themselves. My theory as to why Germany lost World War I is purely my opinion and is definitely not the only reason. The factors mentioned are simply the causes that stuck out to me as the most significant reasons, and my opinion is also hindered by the fact that I get over such a strong new country, who’s doing considerably well, risking everything to execute a plan conceived simply on assumptions. There are numerous factors towards Germany’s downfall; most of them are debatable and dependent on opinion. Although it’s not my opinion, as mentioned before, it’s even debatable whether or not the war was even lost by Germany.
