WW42+Victory

=Reasons for the Allied victory and German collapse=

The truth is that no one cause was, or could be, decisive. The Western Front, the Balkan front, the tank, the blockade and propaganda have all been claimed as the cause of victory. All claims are justified, none is wholly right, although the blockade ranks first and began first. In this warfare between nations, victory was a cumulative effect, to which all weapons – military, economic, and psychological – contributed. Victory came, and could only come through the utilisation and combination of all the resources existing in a modern nation, and the dividend of success depended on the way in which these manifold activities were coordinated. Basil Liddell Hart, //History of the First World War//, 1930, p.464
 * Source A**



… the military defeat suffered by Germany is only partly explicable in military terms… the sheer size of the demands placed upon German society and the economy in order to meet the challenge of total war were ultimately too great to be overcome. This was true almost from the beginning of the very conflict, and it was only the extraordinary efforts of the German people and soldiery that staved off the inevitable for four years and brought their nation to what appeared to be the brink of victory during 1917. However, by this time Germany was exhausted. Cawood, I and MCKinnon-Bell, D, //The First World War//, 2001
 * Source B**

As the war dragged on the German government was singularly unsuccessful in convincing the people that they were fighting for a worthwhile cause. It advanced no program of noble aims like that of President Wilson, and it antagonised the neutral nations with its unrestricted submarine campaigns. Hagan, J, //Modern History and its Themes//, 1973
 * Source C**

It (Germany’s defeat) was moral, political and above all naval. British sea-power worked by blockade and hunger. The effect of this attrition finally coincided with, and greatly intensified, the military reverse. While the Allied offensives lessened the material power of Germany, insufficient food, defective equipment, and tales of the anguish at home sapped the soldiers’ morale. Breaking point had been reached because of the strain imposed by the navy at the time of the armistice negotiations. Grant, AJ and Temperley, HWV, Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries, 1946
 * Source D**

The gamble in the west had failed. Germany did not possess the necessary superiority in manpower to exploit the initial breakthrough (of spring 1918). The Supreme Command had chosen to keep one and a half million men in the east controlling, directly or indirectly, vast territories from the Baltic to the Crimea… Meanwhile American reinforcements arrived more quickly than Ludendorff bargained for. Carr, W, //A History of Germany 1815-1985//, 1989
 * Source E**

Allied propaganda had always been more effective than that of the Central Powers. It vilified the enemy, often converting normal incidents of war into atrocities, and also convinced American public opinion that the Allies were fighting a ‘war to end all wars’ and to preserve democracy. Directed by Lord Northcliffe and Lord Beaverbrook after February 1918, Allied propaganda became a powerful force, boosting Allied confidence, stimulating patriotism and spreading hatred of the Germans, while at the same time it succeeded in creating despair among the enemy troops and civilians. Cosgrove, JJ and Kreiss, JK, //Two Centuries//, 1969
 * Source F**

=Some reasons for the Allied victory=

In the final stages of the war, Germany’s manpower was dwindling. Britain and France too were faced with the same problem. But then the United States entered the war. The arrival of fresh American troops in Europe was a tremendous help to the Allies.
 * Superior manpower of the allies.**

The Central Powers had taken on too much. There were only four of them against 24 Allies, with their colonies. The resources of the Central Powers therefore could not match the combined resources of the Allies.
 * Extensive resources of the Allies.**

The naval supremacy of the Allies enabled them to recruit men and gain supplies from their colonies and to buy war materials from neutral countries. The Allied naval blockade of German ports greatly reduced Germany’s material power. Germany fought back by using unrestricted submarine warfare. This submarine campaign failed to destroy Allied naval power and led to America’s entry into the war.
 * Allied control of the seas.**

Determined to end the war before the arrival of American forces, Germany launched a great offensive on the Western Front in 1918. It failed because of the lack of German reserves and the arrival of fresh American troops in Europe.
 * Failure of the last German offensive.**

With Germany losing the war in 1918, Bulgaria, Turkey and Austria-Hungary surrendered. Left alone to fight the Allies, Germany was forced to surrender.
 * Surrender of Germany’s allies.**

Shortage of food and war supplies together with military defeats in the last stages of the war destroyed the fighting spirit of the Germans. There were mutinies in the German navy and signs of indiscipline among the German troops. At the same time, the German people were in revolt. Faced with these problems at home, there was nothing left for Germany but to surrender.
 * Discontent among German people.**