main bits

• The USA joined the war in April 1917 due to the sinking of the Lusitania and it caused Germany a big blow as the US had the third largest Navy in the world and assembled a large army but it would take some time to transport those soldiers over the Atlantic to france.
• Whilst the USA arriving was a significant boost for the allies, in 1917 the Bolshevik revolution in Russia saw communists take over in russia causing the allies to try and negotiate with Germany as they lost one of their major partners.
• The Ludendorff Spring Offensive: This was a planned out assault on the allies to bring fast victory, lightly equipped and specially trained German trained were ordered to advance on the allies. It started as a success with Germany gaining 46 of land however losses were high and Germany suffered 400,000 casualties.
• The troops in the spring offensive had outran their supplies due to the speed of their advance causing them to have to slow down or even stop and wait for the supplies. This delay gave the allies chance to regroup and plan their own attack.
• The Hundred Days Offensive: From May to August another stalemate set as the Germans failed to make further advances and by summer the US had a million soldiers in France. The allies had gained strength from USA’s troops and supplies so the allies launched a major offensive in August 1918. By October Germany was in full retreat and by November they were looking for a peace deal with the allies.
• Germanys Surrender: In the dying days of war the German navy was ordered out to sea but as they saw the war ending they refused these orders. This is known as Mutiny and protests became common in Germany as people called an end to the war. German generals and politicians saw a peace deal with the allies was the only hope for Germany but the Kaiser didn’t wasn’t this. So after many negotiations and threats the kaiser abdicated on the 9th November 1918.
• The Armistice: On 11th November 1918 German representatives met with the allies in a railway carriage on the allied lines at the western front and they were presented with the demand that Germany had to unconditionally surrender. The deal included Germany to leave any occupied territory and surrender its navy to the allies. The Germans had little choice but to accept this.
• They signed the deal at 5am and the armistice was to come into effect at 11am, during the 4 years of war an estimated 18 million people were killed and millions more injured or scarred for life. A peace conference was held at versailles Paris in 1919 resulting in the treaty of versailles which dealt with Germany severely.
• NAVAL ARMS RACE: Britains had dominated seas for many years but the kaiser wanted Germany to have a sizeable navy of his own and Germany to become an empire. Britain became concerned that Germany would be able to dominate the seas and so they began to build up their own navy and create the dreadnought. The dreadnought was a battleship and the british built 29 of these by 1914 and in response Germany built 17
• STALEMATE : As the schlieffen plan failed due to Russia mobilising their armies quicker than germany had planned for and Belgian resisting Germany access through their borders. The BEF met the germans and stopped them from advancing and when french troops and the BEF met Germany at the river marne both sides were equally matched and no could push each other back, Both sides dug trenches causing the stalemate.
• RACE TO THE SEA: The race to the sea was when Germany tried to outflank Britain and France by moving around the edges towards the sea.
• REASONS FOR SCHLIEFFEN PLAN FAILURE:

  Belgiums resistance bought time for France and Britain to mobilise.

  The BEF was well trained and well equipped, they mobilised quickly and slowed the german advance.

  Russia mobilised quicker than expected meaning Germany had to divert troops to the eastern front.

  Britiah and French forces halted the Germans at the battle of the marne (stalemate)
• WHY DID THE WAR BECOME A STALEMATE:

  Germany was forced to changar its plan and head straight to paris following Russias mobilisation.

  Britain and France pushed back German forces at the River marne resulting in the race to the sea.

  The weapons of each side were equally matched and instinct set in as troops dug down to escape enemy fire.
• THE WAR AT SEA : Allied blockade of Germany is when the royal navy blocked supplies from reaching Germanys ports, this blockade proved effective with Germany being starved from essential food supplies and became one of the main reasons why Germany surrendered. U-boat campaign was when Germany countered the blockade with submarines sent to sink British ships, causing a severe shortage of food in Britain, it was until the sinking of the lusitania that Germany destroyed a ship with 128 us passengers on board which is when Usa declared war on Germany in 1916.
• CONVOYS: This was the British response to the U-boat campaign which was by organising supply ships into convoys where the supplies were protected by the royal navy and proved highly effective with numbers of losses falling.
• BOLSHEVIK(RUSSIAN REVOLUTION) : After tsar nicholas II abdicated, the Russian people were angry that prices of goods increased, food was in short supply, fuel shortages made living conditions unbearable, government could not provide weapons for the troops. Russian people wanted the war to end but the government carried on with their involvement, the bolsheviks were communists and wanted believed working class would one day liberate themselves. This revolution caused Russias withdrawal from the war as the country tore apart.