Why Did Germany Lose Ww1

In 1918, the First World War ceased. On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day in the eleventh month, Germany and the Allies signed an armistice. Germany had lost the Great War. A number of factors contributed to Germany’s defeat, such as numerous strategic errors, economic factors, weak allies, and the entrance of the USA.
One of the most prominent causes for the German defeat would be their continuous strategic errors. Most infamous; the Schlieffen Plan. Germany opposed the idea of a two front war, so their plan was to cross Belgium and strike Paris first within 52 days, before turning East and fighting the Russians. The plan was unsuccessful for numerous reasons, primarily that they underestimated the time it would take to complete, as
well as the resistance of the Belgians. The Belgians, with support from British forces, went so far as to sabotage their own railway system to slow the Germans down.
Another reason for the failure of the Schlieffen plan, being that the Russians managed to mobilise their army much quicker than the Germans had anticipated. This disadvantaged the Germans, seeing as they were already preoccupied in Belgium. They were forced to fight a two front war despite their attempts to avoid it, as the Schlieffen plan was the only plan they had.
In addition to the strategic errors of the Germany army, they also had financial troubles. The German government was not as efficient at organising a country for war as the Allied forces. 83% of the total public expenditure went towards the military, whereas only 2% was spent on the civilian sector. In Britain it was 62% and 16% respectively. Britain had also set up a naval blockade, to weaken the central powers that relied heavily on importation of foodstuff. The German government set up regulations to control the sale of foodstuff, which were not so well thought out and consequently worsened the effect of the British naval blockade. Agriculture production was also heavily affected by the war; in some places it decreased by 70%. People turned to making substitutes for things for example bread, also known as K-brot, which was made from potatoes, oats, barley, and straw. This had very little nutritional value, and the people became malnourished near the end of the First World War. The German people’s will to fight was weakened, and anger towards the Kaiser strengthened.
In contrast to the Allied forces, who were all very strong, Germany’s allies were not as capable.
Germany was constantly called in to help out the Austrians and Bulgarians, who were battling with nationalists that were unwilling to fight for the Empire. On top of having to help out a lot of the time, Germany lost most of its allies. Italy, originally a German ally, managed to change sides in 1915 at the Treaty of London. In September 1918, Serbia and Bulgaria were defeated, followed by Turkey in October and Austria in November. The German’s were left with no support and it was only a matter of time before they succumbed to the pressure of the Allied forces.
A pivotal part in Germany’s defeat was when the USA joined the war in 1917. Anti-German sentiment was strong in the US, after the tragic sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. After being torpedoed by German submarines, 128 Americans lives were lost on the British passenger ship. The sinking of the Lusitania wouldn’t be the last attack on American ships. The German unlimited submarine warfare, a kind of warfare where submarines would attack other ships with no prior warning, would inevitably lead to attacks on more American ships, aggravating the US further and strengthening the anti-German
sentiment.
It seemed inevitable that the USA would become involved, considering the massive anti-German opinions, especially after the Zimmerman Telegram. Germany had dispatched a message to Mexico in secret, encouraging them to strike the US and promising to reclaim lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The telegram was intercepted by British Intelligence and decoded. This went public, and the US became outraged.
The event of German victory would mean great economic losses for the USA, considering the economic relationship between them and the Allied forces, more specifically Britain. The Americans and the British lived very similar lives, they both traded greatly with each other, for example the United States sold resources to Europe in exchange for money that prevented them from heading into a recession. They were very entwined with each other economically.
The final straw that pulled the US into the war was the fall of the Russian Tsar in 1917. It became a battle between democracy and autocracy. The USA felt a moral obligation to protect the world from autocracy, and when the Russian Tsar fell in 1917, it meant that the Allies were all democratic, and the Central Powers were all autocratic. This made it easier for the US to join the war since they wouldn’t be siding with a tyrant, but instead would be fighting tyranny. The US eventually deployed around two million soldiers to France in 1918, giving the Allied side fresh and motivated soldiers compared to the Europeans who had ‘war weariness’.
In conclusion, there were many factors that drew Germany closer and closer to their inevitable defeat. They made continuous strategic mistakes, they chose the wrong parties to side with, the USA was too strong to fight, not to mention alongside the Allies who were already quite powerful, and finally, the economic aspect pulled them closer to defeat.