Why Did the Stalemate End in 1918 free essay sample

Why did the stalemate end in 1918? By 1918 the western front was still in the middle of a stalemate, but now it looked like there might be a breakthrough that would lead to the end of the war. Even though defensive weapons had ben largely developed and were extremely dangerous offensive weapons had started to be developed largely. I believe the stalemate ended in 1918 due to several reason but mainly because of the entry of the USA into the war but there were other key factors such as the British Blockade, the German spring offensive and the tactics of the British generals. I will now discuss why these causes are influential to the end of the stalemate. Firstly there was the British Blockade that was introduced in the beginning of the war on all German ports and lasted the duration of the war. Due to four years of German ports been blockaded its trade had gone from ? 5 million a year to just under ? 1 million (shown in a source from Ben Walsh’s GCSE Modern World History), meanwhile most resources were being sent to the fronts for the soldiers or spent on weapons and so very little money was spent on feeding the rest of the country and so the country starved while the army fought a losing fight. Due to this moral was extremely in the army and throughout the country realizing they needed to win the war very soon or else they will end up having to surrender before the country starved to death. Due to the fact all of Germanys fleet was stuck in their ports even after several sea battle which resulted in more German casualties but no break in the blockade, this meant the allies had control of the seas, therefore allowing trade and supplies to easily reach French and British troops and so there was very little risk of allied troops starving, this fact kept allied morale higher than the Germans. But their was a glimmer of hope for Germany, in early 1918 Germany won on the eastern front and Russia was forced to sign a peace treaty, this meant one million German soldiers were supplied to the western front. German generals seeing their last opportunity put all them troops into the spring offensive. The Spring Offensive was Germanys last push for control over France and too breakthrough allied lines all along the front. It was a huge risk but if it worked it would ensure victory for Germany. All other the front groups of German storm troopers were formed, these were small agile troops equipped with the newest weapons hat would charge upon allied lines and breakthrough before supported by more troops, ‘We were completely surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered. The first breakthrough had apparently come on our right’ (Walsh). This proves that the Germans broke all over the allied line and the allies were out matched. Germany knew they had to move fast due to the fact American troops were arriving every day. At first the offensive was extremely successful as there were breakthroughs all over the front, German troops got within 50 miles of Paris but unfortunately for the Germans their supplies could not keep up with the troops and so the attack was halted but as the allies counter attacked Germany had no reserved troops meaning they the German land gained was quickly retaken and so the offensive was a failure and resulted in over a million German casualties. Another reason why the stalemate was broken in 1918 was the change of tactics by the British generals. New tactics consisted of ‘Haig’s forces were employing tanks; aircraft; armored card; motorized machine gun units; wireless; and ammunition drops by parachute’ (Walsh). Finally British generals had realised sending troops over the top into prepared German defenses was suicide and so there were several changes to cut deaths and increase land gained. Firstly generals brought in the creeping barrage which was when troops would walk 20 meters behind artillery fire and then take the German troops by surprise, troops were trained to walk so close that they often were killed by their own artillery. At first ‘It didn’t work. The infantry wasn’t able to move as fast as the barrage and as communications with the artillery were limited it left the men exposed to gunfire’ (gcsehistory. org. uk). This tactic largely increased land gained and reduced casualties, to reduce more casualties cavalry charges were used less and they very rarely succeeded. Other tactics were also introduced for example 450 tanks and 800 planes were brought in by the end of the war, the first time they were used as a key weapon was the battle of Amiens where there were huge gains to the tanks and very few casualties, the tanks did so well troops could not keep up with them. Overall a change in tactics led to less casualties and more land gained. Lastly the main reason the stalemate ended in 1918 was the introduction of USA into the war. Due to the fact nearly 2 million American troops joined the allies moral was largely increased and demoralized the German troops as every time they killed an allied troops two more American troops would take his place. Realising they couldn’t win a war of attrition Germany went all in on the spring offensive but thanks to the American troops German forces but beaten back again and again. In the last hundred days of the war with the Americans the allies launched a series of offences starting with the battle of Amiens that caused the collapse of the German army. USA troops were described as ‘blood into a dying patient’ (Walsh), if it wasn’t for those troops Germany might have won the war during the Spring Offensive. This is why I believe the entry of USA into the war is vital because without their troops and resources the result of the war could of easily been different. In conclusion this is why I believe the stalemate was ended in 1918 due to a mixture of the British Blockade, The Spring Offensive, the change of British tactics and the entry of USA into the war. If it wasn’t for the fact that the allies had many more soldiers and resources than Germany it was pretty much inevitable that the allies would win due to the fact Germany didn’t have enough troops to support the whole of the front as their forces were stretched extremely thin.