HERE
Notice the machine gun on top and the men posted
Zeppelins
I love the Great War. It’s sad, that this huge event is in the shaddows of WWII.
The Central Powers could have won. Germany was by far the most impressive country during the War, holding France and England in stalemate, while ripping huge sections of the Czars Army apart, while keeping Austria-Hungry on life support. Romania and Serbia fell to the Central Powers.
Had the British Blackade not been so strong, the Germans may have won that War.
@i:
Yes they could’ve won the war in 1918 France and Italy were on the brick of collapse all the Austria and Germany had to do is hold on a little longer. The allies would have had to surender. As with the collapse of Italy and France the balkans would soon be finished and America would Lilly pull out for having nothing to gain and wouldn’t want to be on the losing side. Then Britain by her self would likely make peace for fear her people might follow France or Italy’s example.
In this senario the French empires collapsed the kingdom of Italy’s callapsed the Russian empire has collapsed. The German empires Lilly to have gotten most of there colonies back plus parts of the French colonies Austria would have more or less takin the Balkans and the ottomans would Likely still be alive for another 12 ish years.
i don’t see germany taking any colonies, neither from british or french.
in 1918, they tried the ludendorfoffensive. afterwards they were pushed back deep into belgium, with little american aid.
and americans were arriving, what was the reason they did surrender
also, there was a large famine in both german and austrian empire at the time (1917-1919)
and americans were arriving, what was the reason they did surrender
also, there was a large famine in both german and austrian empire at the time (1917-1919)
No sir…not because of the arriving of American. You over estimated the US presence.
Yes the German people would starve and to avoid the uprising of the population and avoid a revolt, the German government
has decided to stop the war.
and americans were arriving, what was the reason they did surrender
also, there was a large famine in both german and austrian empire at the time (1917-1919)
No sir…not because of the arriving of American. You over estimated the US presence.
Yes the German people would starve and to avoid the uprising of the population and avoid a revolt, the German government
has decided to stop the war.
i know, i know US had almost nothing to do with great war
but the prospect of a few new million doughboys did help germany sign the treaty, no?
but the prospect of a few new million doughboys did help germany sign the treaty, no?
No, Germans lost the initiative after the battles of summer 1918.
The bad moral of german population and spanish flu call off the war.
As I recall, the first two or three pages of Barbara Tuchman’s book The Zimmermann Telegram give a vivid portrait (well worth reading) of the state in which the European combatants were in early 1917: all of them drained, Germany beginning to starve, revolution stirring in Russia, and so forth. France and Britain were looking towards the untapped resources of the U.S. and seeing America as the only thing that could change the situation before the European nations had exhausted themselves beyond the point of recovery, and were frustrated by President Wilson’s efforts to negotiate a peace settlement; Germany, on the other hand, was keeping Wilson talking in order to keep him neutral.
After the Revolution in Russia, similar movements and situations were gaining ground both in Germany and in France. It was believed at the time that the Communist Revolution would spread from Russia to Western Europe if the War continued.
The German Empire was already on shaky feet politically BEFORE 1914… the deprivations of the war only added to the Kaisers weakened position.
but the prospect of a few new million doughboys did help germany sign the treaty, no?
No, Germans lost the initiative after the battles of summer 1918.
The bad moral of german population and spanish flu call off the war.
The Ludendorff Offensive was a gamble to win the war before fresh U.S troops arrived in numbers. So the entry of the U.S into the War did have an decisive effect. Same outcome, just a quicker end.
The Ludendorff Offensive was a gamble to win the war before fresh U.S troops arrived in numbers. So the entry of the U.S into the War did have an decisive effect. Same outcome, just a quicker end.
A gamble???, german called over 50 division from the eastern front. The attack was to broke up the allies wall once and for all but they failled because german army supplies were already poor. If the attack would have succeeded, the allies would have been in trouble.
If I’m not mistaken, one of the factors which slowed the momentum of the German offensive was the fact that, as the hungry German troops overran the forward Allied lines and captured their supply dumps, they couldn’t resist the temptation of greater quantities of food than they had seen in a long time. Instead of just filling their pockets and packs with captured rations and pressing onward, they stopped and feasted.
I think the “old men” in Germany, the leadership of the country, thought surrendering was the right thing to do.
They saw there young, nationalistic men going off to war, getting killed, over a few inches of mud.
They called it, because they wanted people to LIVE, instead of die for pride. The German Surrender, was also based on Wilson’s 14 points, all but 1 of which, they never recieved in the treaty of versailles.
Talk about taking one for the team, that’s what the germans did, for everyone’s benefit, they saw that the war was stupid, and bore a heavy cost. For this good deed, tey only recieved ridicule from within and without…
For what it’s worth, they should have just hung on, letting all those people die would have done them better off in the long run, so it would seem?
The Ludendorff Offensive was a gamble to win the war before fresh U.S troops arrived in numbers. So the entry of the U.S into the War did have an decisive effect. Same outcome, just a quicker end.
A gamble?Huh?, german called over 50 division from the eastern front. The attack was to broke up the allies wall once and for all but they failled because german army supplies were already poor. If the attack would have succeeded, the allies would have been in trouble.
yes it was a gamble, Germany didn’t have any other reserves so if it lost it could not sustain its current battle-lines. It gambled that these men could take paris before too many Americans proved an impossible wall of force for Germany to deal with. Those east front divisions were just put into a meat grinder sprinkled with a few Stosstrupen units that had specialized trench raiding skills.
@CWO:
If I’m not mistaken, one of the factors which slowed the momentum of the German offensive was the fact that, as the hungry German troops overran the forward Allied lines and captured their supply dumps, they couldn’t resist the temptation of greater quantities of food than they had seen in a long time. Instead of just filling their pockets and packs with captured rations and pressing onward, they stopped and feasted.
Another huge factor for the slow German advance in the Ludendorff Offensive was that much of the German push crossed the old Somme battlefields of 1916. The area was a nightmare for lightning operations, vast forest of tree stumps, empty trench systems, ruins upon ruins of German and British war efforts from two years before.
so, before 1918 and its offensives then?
Let’s keep this World War One topics alive, World War One is my favorite war.
We also have to remember that Germany’s Allies were crumbling… even before the 1918 offensive in the west.
The Ottomans were losing ground in the Middle east, at the Austo-Hungarian Empire was falling apart from the inside.
bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.
@Frontovik:
bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.
The Kaiser’s love for his navy hurt Germany in WWI. Germany had the best armor-cruisers at the time: great for commerce raiding. Germany should have tried to break out more warships into the Atlantic.
@Frontovik:
bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.
The best shot that Germany got at fighting a decisive naval action against Britain was at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The battle was a tactical victory for Germany in terms of tonnage sunk, but it was a strategic defeat: the High Seas Fleet had to withdraw twice in the face of Britain’s greater numbers. Germany never again tried to challenge the British Grand Fleet. By 1918, the High Seas Fleet was in a sorry state compared to 1916, due to the losses suffered at Jutland combined with two years of inactivity. In late 1918, the German naval command planned to send out the High Seas Fleet on what its sailors correctly interpreted to be a futile, suicidal gesture meant to salvage the Fleet’s honour. The sailors promptly mutinied and the last sortie never took place.
@CWO:
@Frontovik:
bulgaria, ottoman empire and austria-hungary were already out of the war at start 1918 i thought
or atleast played no more vital role.
i always wondered why the germans didn’t launch the biggest navy assault at the same moment. if either of them was to fail, they’d have lost the war anyway.
of course, it’s good that such butchering has been prevented, but it would have given the british quite headaches, as the supplies to france was already hard to maintain.The best shot that Germany got at fighting a decisive naval action against Britain was at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The battle was a tactical victory for Germany in terms of tonnage sunk, but it was a strategic defeat: the High Seas Fleet had to withdraw twice in the face of Britain’s greater numbers. Germany never again tried to challenge the British Grand Fleet. By 1918, the High Seas Fleet was in a sorry state compared to 1916, due to the losses suffered at Jutland combined with two years of inactivity. In late 1918, the German naval command planned to send out the High Seas Fleet on what its sailors correctly interpreted to be a futile, suicidal gesture meant to salvage the Fleet’s honour. The sailors promptly mutinied and the last sortie never took place.
that was after the ludendorff offensive.
but point taken ^^