The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [148]
Deciding Factors (in order of importance):
1. The British Blockade of Germany and its allies. This devastating blockade prevented any kind of material, including food, from reaching Germany or its allies. Even the Ottoman Empire suffered. Syria claimed the loss of one-half million people due to starvation from the blockade. Cut off from its traditional food sources in Russia, Austria-Hungary’s agricultural system began to collapse in 1917 increasing starvation in their nation. In the end, England starved the Germans and their allies into submission. Even after Germany agreed to the armistice, Britain continued the blockade while thousands of civilians starved to death needlessly (and people wonder why the Germans started WWII).
2. The Failure of the Schlieffen Plan. Germany staked everything on the Schlieffen Plan. After it failed, Germany fought a war on two fronts, eventually proving the pre-war prediction of certain defeat. After the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, Germany needed to consider offering peace even if the terms were unfavorable. Years of slaughter followed but still failed to change the course of the German nation.
3. The Entry of the United States into the War on the Allied Side. Once again, like Britain, if the USA had remained neutral, the world’s future might have transformed. With no intervention by the USA, WWI might have continue stalemated; thus, requiring all sides to consider some kind of negotiated peace where everyone “lost.” Senator Warren Harding, a future US president, led the Republicans in arguing against entering the war but failed to convince the public or the Democrats who controlled Congress.
4. The Code Breakers. England was reading Germany’s codes consistently, leading directly to the deciphering of the Zimmerman Telegram bringing the United States into the war. The code breakers knew beforehand everything the German High Seas Fleet was doing, enabling them to block any move to destroy or significantly damage the English fleet. The code breakers also warned the Allied generals of coming German offensives. Overall, the Allied code breakers were a key war-winning factor (just like WWII).
5. Allied Technological and Tactical Developments. The invention of the tank and combined arms warfare (tanks, aircraft, artillery, and infantry all working together as a team) broke open the Western Front leading directly to the defeat of Germany. In addition, the invention of the convoy system and new detection devices destroyed Germany’s undersea offensive, which was their last chance to break England. Allied aircraft became much better as the war progressed giving the Allies control of the air, another key component in winning on the Western Front.
The War Begins
The war began with Germany executing its Schlieffen Plan, which violated the neutrality of Belgium. The English then entered the war because of this neutrality violation and straight away landed troops in France. Meanwhile, the French were positioning their troops improperly. Under the French Plan 17 they planned an immediate attack on the German frontier, thus, inadvertently putting themselves into the German sack. Germany’s generals had changed the Schlieffen Plan by positioning more units on the German frontier where the French attack took place. The French attack suffered heavy losses followed by a retreat. This was not what Schlieffen had wanted. Von Schlieffen placed only a few German troops on the frontier because he wanted them driven back. The French drive would continue if they thought they were winning, making it impossible to reposition their troops fast enough to prevent their encirclement. Critically, since the French attack experienced a bloody repulse, the French units were in position to move swiftly by rail to meet the German advance on Paris.