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The 1918 Armistice with Germany: Allied Victory on WWI's Western Front

The armistice that ended the First World War (1914-18) on the Western Front was signed between Germany and the Allies on 11 November 1918. The guns fell silent at 11:00 a.m. that day. The Allies, who included Britain, France, and the United States, had defeated Imperial Germany and its allies, who included Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

Around 11 million people were killed in the world's first global conflict. The terms of peace for Germany – decided at the Paris Peace Conference and presented in the Treaty of Versailles – were harsh and included accepting responsibility for starting the war, loss of territories, an obligation to pay reparations, and severe limits on its future armed forces.

Why Did Germany Surrender?

Through the summer of 1918, the Allies on the Western Front made great advances in what became known as the Hundred Days Offensive. Thanks to improved tactics, a better coordination of combined arms (infantry, artillery, and air support), superior equipment, the better use of new technology like tanks, and a large influx of new troops from the United States, the German Army was pushed back, losing most of the territory it had gained in the spring. While the Allies were increasing the number of men at the front, Germany was running out of soldiers in this long war of attrition. The German Army was bashed and demoralised, and it seemed now only a matter of time before the Allies gained total victory.

Within the space of 100 days the Allies took 363,000 German soldiers prisoner (25 per cent of the army in the field) and captured 6,400 guns (50 per cent of all German guns on the Western Front). These numbers show the effectiveness of the Allied strategy and the low morale of the German soldiers.

(Winter, 170)

Germany and its main ally, Austria-Hungary, made their first moves for a surrender by sending word to United States President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) at the end of September. The president responded that, for a peace to be agreed, both countries would have to adhere to what became known as Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, which included the necessity of giving up territory these aggressors had gained during the war. For now, the German government rejected Wilson's terms on the grounds that they seemed to require nothing less than an unconditional surrender. The German generals decided to fight on "with all our strength" (Simkins, 76).

With the Western Front further deteriorating for German forces and the Allied blockade of Germany causing food shortages at home, there was an increase in the instances of discontent within Germany over the continuance of the war. Perhaps as many as 400,000 German civilians died of starvation in 1918. The spirit of revolution against Germany's leadership was spreading, with riots in several cities, a mutiny in the navy at Kiel on 28 October, the army suffering mass desertions, and even a Bavarian Republic being declared on 7 November. Calls for an armistice became ever more urgent. As the historian P. Simkins notes, "the German Army was essentially beaten in the field by November 1918 and would have unquestionably suffered an even more humiliating defeat the following year" (91). By November, Germany was fighting alone now that Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary had all surrendered.

Even the obdurate Kaiser Wilhelm II saw the writing on the wall and abdicated on 9 November, fleeing Germany for the greater safety of the neutral Netherlands. The abdication was formally signed on 28 November, and with the Kaiser's six sons each swearing not to succeed their father, the ruling Hohenzollern dynasty came to an end.

As 1918 reached its close, the Allies were still successfully advancing and so were in a much stronger position to dictate terms than ever before. The new temporary German government was obliged to accept the following:

….the immediate evacuation of all occupied territory, including Alsace-Lorraine, and the occupation of Germany west of the Rhine. All U-boats were to be surrendered and the High Seas Fleet was to be disarmed and interned. Large quantities of arms, equipment and transport were to be surrendered. The treaties of Brest-Litovsk with Russia and of Bucharest with Rumania, which had been dictated by the Germans, were set aside.

(Bruce, 28)

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Imperial german pioneers testing a model 1916 Kleif Flamethrower

How Germany Lost World War I

Germany started the First World War (1914-18) with the belief its armed forces could win a quick and decisive victory over France and then Russia. The reality turned out to be much more complicated as more countries became involved in a global war that lasted five years. Undoubtedly, the Allies fought with courage and resolution to defeat Germany, but it is also true that Germany was often its own worst enemy. In the end, justice was served, and the aggressor nations lost a global conflict that caused around 16 million deaths and an even greater number of wounded.

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German East Africa

German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a colony of Imperial Germany from 1885 until 1918. The territory, much larger than Germany itself, covered what is today Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and part of Mozambique. As in many other European colonies, the region was subjected to land confiscations, forced labour, a harsh system of punishments, and the overturning of traditional economic networks and cultural practices. There were local rebellions, but only Germany's defeat in the First World War (1914-18) by the Allies saw a regime change when Britain and Belgium took over the region as colonies of their own.

East African Geography

The area that became German East Africa is a combination of savannah plateau, forests, and mountains, with its borders being defined by the Indian Ocean in the east and the three great lakes of Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi) in the south, Lake Tanganyika in the west, and Lake Victoria in the north, the latter being the continent's largest lake. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is located in the far north. Fossil remains indicate the region was inhabited by extinct hominids up to 2 million years ago. The region was settled by the Bantu-speaking people, a language which is a parent of Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa in later centuries.

This area was once part of the Swahili Coast, which experienced intense trade from the 10th to 16th century between Africa's interior and eastern coastal regions with Islamic Arab traders plying the Indian Ocean and connecting the continent to Arabia and India. Islamic settlements were founded along the coast of what would become German East Africa, notably at Zanzibar and Kilwa. Portuguese traders were active along the coast in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Ottoman Empire then took over this trade, and then the Sultan of Muscat in Oman from around 1806, although the Sultanate's territorial control was limited to a thin coastal strip. Goods traded throughout the centuries included gold, ivory, and cotton cloth. Slaves were also traded here. Trade involved not only outsiders but also powerful African groups such as the Nyamwezi people.

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Schlieffen Plan: Germany's WWI Plan to Invade France

The Schlieffen Plan, prepared by German Chief of Staff General Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913) in 1905, was a secret plan of attack by German armed forces against France, should the two countries go to war. The objective was to quickly defeat France in the west to avoid facing Russia in the east at the same time. The plan required German forces to quickly move through the neutral Low Countries, avoiding the main French fortifications on the Franco-German border. The plan was to attack the French lines from the rear, capture Paris, and gain a surrender in six weeks.

The Schlieffen Plan was weakened in practical terms in 1914 (when the First World War began) by the new chief of staff, Helmuth Graf von Moltke (1848-1916). With fewer troops available than planned, logistical problems, and the enemy putting up unexpectedly strong resistance, the Schlieffen Plan failed, and the German advance was first halted and then pushed back at the 'Miracle of the Marne' in September 1914, a situation which ultimately led to the establishment of the Western Front as a relatively static line of opposing defensive trenches.

The Plan

In the early 20th century, states across Europe were mutually suspicious of each other's intentions. In the pre-WWI Alliance system, two blocs emerged: the Triple Entente of Britain, France, and Russia versus the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. In case war broke out between these two blocs, military strategists were tasked with formulating suitable plans of attack. Russian generals formulated plans on how best to attack Austria-Hungary, while French generals formed attack plans for a campaign against Germany. Most famous in history is Germany's plan of attack on France: the Schlieffen Plan.

General Alfred von Schleiffen, Chief of the German General Staff, dreamed up a plan on how best to face the French army on the Franco-German border. Completed by 1905, Schlieffen retired in December of that year, stressing that his plan was unlikely to be successful in reality since Germany lacked the necessary manpower. The plan involved certain other assumptions. The first was that Germany would probably find itself at war with both France and Russia at the same time. Britain would likely be the ally of France and Russia. This assumption was based on the treaty obligations of these states at the time and is what actually happened. The second assumption was the geography that had to be covered, and both the antiquated nature of the Russian army and its command structure meant that it would only be able to mobilise relatively slowly. Consequently, Germany's Eastern Front would require fewer troops to defend it in the initial stages of a pan-European war. It was estimated that Germany might have six weeks to deal with France before Russia's army was fully mobilised. Initially then, the bulk of the German Army could be deployed on the Western Front against France. If Germany could achieve a quick knockout blow in the west, then its whole army could be redirected to the Eastern Front.

The key to the Schlieffen plan was for German troops to move through neutral Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, thereby circumventing France's defensive fortifications on the Franco-German border. The German generals were convinced that their French counterparts, if given total freedom of movement, would mobilise the French army to attack and reclaim Alsace-Lorraine. The German generals would entice just such an attack by launching a feint advance in that region, but then swiftly withdrawing. This ploy would distract the French while the real German attack, consisting of 53 divisions, sped through the Low Countries and attacked French territory in a wide arc from Rouen to Paris, then crossed the Marne and Seine rivers to attack the French army from behind in the areas of Verdun, Nancy, Epinal, and Belfort. Part of this ambitious plan was to capture Paris, which would, it was hoped, bring about the fall of the French government and the capitulation of the state's armed forces. Once the French had been defeated, the German troops would be transported by railway to the Eastern Front to face the army of Russia.

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The Zeppelin Bombing Raids of WWI

Zeppelin airships were used by Germany to attack its enemies on all fronts during the First World War (1914-18). Bombing raids, usually conducted at night, targeted key infrastructure like railways and docks, dropping both explosive and incendiary bombs. For the first time in warfare, it was possible to bypass a nation's armed forces and attack the civilian population directly, opening up a new 'front', what became known as the Home Front. The bombing raids caused damage and 4,000 casualties, but, due to technical and numerical limitations, and the threat from ever-improving airplanes, the Zeppelins, despite all the propaganda issued throughout the conflict, actually did little to reduce the enemy's war production or seriously affect civilian morale.

Masters of the Air

The Zeppelin was a category of rigid airship first designed and built by the company founded by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838-1917) in Germany. The idea was that several expandable gas-filled balloons could be held within an outer skin which was itself held rigid by a frame (hence the common name 'rigid' airship). The first Zeppelin airship, LZ 1, flew on 2 July 1900 at Friedrichshafen, home of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company. More models soon followed, and Zeppelins became so successful that the name was widely applied to any type of airship, even if built by a rival company. Count Zeppelin became the figurehead of DELAG (Deutsche Luftschiffahrts Aktien Gesellschaft), founded in 1909. Another major German manufacturer of airships was Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz, which innovated a more streamlined design and a stronger, double-framed hull.

Most Zeppelins had a rigid metal frame of duralumin, giant hydrogen-filled gas cells, and water tanks for ballast, which could be emptied when required. The skin envelope was usually made of cotton, with later models using lighter silk. Engines and crew were housed in gondolas suspended underneath the airship. Zeppelins grew in size in the pre-war years, most measuring around 140-150 metres (460-492 ft) in length and 15 metres (49 ft) in diameter. The Zeppelins had several inherent problems: their structures were fragile and easily damaged in collisions, high winds made them very difficult to navigate, and the hydrogen gas they were filled with was highly flammable. As a consequence of these defects, there were many setbacks and disasters, but persistence paid off, and Zeppelins became both a viable form of transport and a potentially lethal weapon of war.

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Moroccan Crises: German v. French Imperialism

The Moroccan Crises were two international incidents, the first in 1905-6 and the second in 1911, when Imperial Germany, eager to expand its empire, threatened France's presence in Morocco. France's position was supported by Britain and Russia, meaning Germany was obliged to back down twice. Although not a direct contributor to war, the Moroccan Crises certainly caused a strengthening of alliances and worsened the atmosphere of international distrust then prevalent in Europe, a distrust which was itself one of the primary causes of WWI as Europe shifted into two mutually opposed alliance groups.

The Kaiser's Weltpolitik

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) came to power as emperor of Germany in 1888 (reigning until 1918), and he pushed for more territorial and military expansion in order to secure the natural resources Germany's booming economy demanded. This new policy was called 'World Policy' or Weltpolitik. Wilhelm II's chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow (1849-1929), and the naval minister, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849-1930), were both in wholehearted agreement with this policy, which had the added advantage of distracting the population from domestic problems such as the weakening of the power of the Junker Prussian landowners in the ongoing process of industrialisation and democratisation. Popular support for the policy was whipped up by a jingoistic press. The policy of Weltpolitik only worsened the pervading instability in international relations. As the historian F. McDonough states: "The policy created a great deal of tension, accomplished very little, and soured international relations" (9). As the historian D. Khan adds: "From the 1890s imperial Germany was a fundamentally dissatisfied power, eager to disrupt the status quo and to achieve its expansive goals, by bullying if possible, by war if necessary" (209). In short, Germany was now widely seen as enemy number one when it came to world peace. Countries began to form alliances to counter Germany's rising power.

In 1904, Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, which removed conflicts of interest in Africa and Asia but did not cover mutual assistance in the case of a war in Europe. The same year, France agreed with Spain to divide Morocco between themselves. Britain agreed not to interfere in exchange for a free hand to control Egypt. The problem was now for France to defend its gains in North Africa. Long in decline, by the early years of the 20th century, France was "a second-class naval power" (Bruce, 139). Germany's navy, thanks to an unrelenting arms race with Britain, was moving in the opposite direction.

Germany was anxious over the development of the Entente Cordiale since France's diplomatic ties (established in 1894) with Russia would effectively mean that three powerful states might align themselves against Germany. Indeed, the kaiser was convinced, despite a lack of evidence, that the Entente Cordiale contained a secret clause that promised mutual military aid in Europe. The kaiser was determined to test the strength of the Entente Cordiale, and the ideal place to do it seemed to be North Africa.

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Imperial Parade - playing “Schleswig-Holstein Meerumschlungen”