Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 6 Location: United States
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:58 pm Post subject:
Russia, Britain and France all formed the Triple Entente to counter German power, so it is pretty safe to say that a large part of Europe was against Germany therefore giving them a disadvantage. The U.S as well did not fancy the Idea of a German victory and thus entered the war in 1917.
Germans initially supported the war, but later disapproved like it describes on page 45, ‘Protests against the war hardened resolve of top German officials to press on to a military victory’. The shift in attitude appeared in 1917, and the government responded by approving more drastic measures to thwart protesters in the anti-war movement. “Leader of the SPD in the Reichstag, Friedrich Ebert, was charged with treason for supporting a strike of munitions workers.”(Pg. 45) I imagine Germany began to lose its grip on the war without the support of all its citizens, weakening the nation as a whole. After the war, Germany was experiencing a total revolution with military mutinies and riots.
Also, in the final year, The German generals did not give up despite the odds being dramatically against them with American soldiers arriving in Europe. On page 46, it says German military leaders “realized that their attempt to break through the western front and capture Paris would not succeed.” It is hard to believe that it really took that long for them to realize the futility of their attacks. The fighting had already gone on for years and loads of people died. I think the military leaders were too proud to retreat and pushed forward at the expense of their soldiers.
The reading very briefly mentioned German Advocates of piece in favor of President Wilson’s 14 points, but didn’t really say much more than that they existed. Anyone have any idea what that was about?
Firstly, in response to your las question Knaide, I believe it said that there were people in Germany who were in favor of the 14 points because they hoped that those points would be addressed in the peace treaty in Paris that they later had.
Secondly, I have to agree with Knaide that it for the most part was Europe who had put Germany in a disadvantage the most. The reading brings up an interesting point, which is that because the rest of Europe felt threatened by Germany's growing industry and economy, the felt the need to band together and sort of gang up on Germany in a way. "Germany's growing strength and ambition raised concerns among the leaders of Britain and Russia as well as France. In 1907, these three nations joined to form the Triple Entente to counter German power."(p.42-43) This hostillity caused Germany to forge an alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Later on the reading makes light of how threatened Britain felt and how they reacted to it. "Britain used it's navel superiority to impose a navel blockade around Germany. Germany was cut off from its colonies, as well as from supplies of overseas food and raw materials...More than 700,000 German civilians died during the war as a result of the blockade."(p.44) Europe sought to crush Germany before it could make any advances or pose a powerful threat to anyone.
I definitely agree with Farrah and Knaide. When the Triple Entente formed, and when Italy joined, Germany pretty much was surrounded by hate. Germany had a huge disadvantage with the majority of the great powers against them.
Knaide basically said everything I was going to say.... But I'll still say it anyways. Germany went into WW1 with the idea that it would be over by christmas (july-december) and the German people were excited to go to war because the government assured them that they would have an easy victory. But as the war dragged on, especially when the British Navy imposed a naval blockade around Germany, I think that is when the German people started to lose their enthusiasm. "In Germany, significant opposition to the war appeared in 1917... Walkouts of thousands of German workers." (pg. 45) And without the support from the German people, the war lost a lot of its "glory." Just like any war, it is hard to fight without the support of the home country. So I think Europe was the main disadvantage to Germany, but the attitude of the public throughout the war definitely created some opposition.
Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 7 Location: United States
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:26 pm Post subject:
I believe that it was both Europe and the people of Germany that disadvantaged them during the war.
Germany was a growing power and threat in the early 1900s. It had a growing economy, industrialization was booming, technology was at a peak above the other nations in Europe, and it was providing the best education which lead to the development of the most brilliant minds in Europe.
This forced the other countries to notice Germany's growth. The other major powers grew jealous of Germany. And so they created the Triple Entente to counter them. Germany realized that France Russia and Britain was ganging up against them so they looked to Austria Hungary for help. Austria Hungary isn't capable to hold the threat of France, Russia, and Britain. And this led to the demise of Germany as they couldn't fight the Triple Entente with the lone help of Austria Hungary by their side. This shows that Europe disadvantaged Germany during WW1.
Besides that, the Germany people didn't like the fact that the war was being extended over the period of a year. So, they revolted which forced Germany to retreat. Although I felt that Germany should have continued the war I believe that it was a good decision to withdraw from the battle front as it helped them save millions of lives that would have been lost. _________________ Manveer Singh
It all really depends on when we ask the question. It it is during the war than it was definitely the Tripple Entante. They were fighting Germany from all sides. I could be argued that the U.S's intervention lost germany the war. Germany seemed to have had a chance of victory until the 1Mil troops from the US arrived. in this time period i have to disagree with manveer, because until Germany's surrender, the German people believed (because they were told) that Germany was on the brink of victory. They had gotten russia to surrender.
Once the peace talks commenced, the other countries collectively blamed Germany for the War and all damage. They called for the disbandment of the German empire and a crippling dismantlement of the Germany army.
The reason why Germany had disadvantage during the World War 1 is other European nations. In Early 1900's, Germany was becoming one of the major European power along with France, Great Britain, and Russia. Since Germany was developing in economy, technology, and military stuffs, other Western major powers started to afraid of Germany's developement. Therefore, when World War 1 broke out, France, GB, and Russia fomred "Triple Entente" in order to defeat Germany and exclude Germany from the major power in Europe. Not only Germany lost because of Triple Entente, but Germany lost because of it's alliance. Germany's alliance were Italy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy and Austro-Hungarian were not considered as major European power and not develpe as much as Triple Entente group did. If Germany allies were strong enough, then the result of WW1 could have changed.
Before the war and in the early stages of the war, Europe's actions put Germany at a disadvantage. Like others have said, Germany's economic growth and industrialization intimidated other nations, especially Great Britain; since Germany was now a trade/economic rival. Great Britain's strained relationship with Germany also affected the United States' perception of Germany. For Russia, German nationalism challenged their ideas about pan-Slavic unification and the pan-Slavic identity. France had historical reasons to dislike/distrust Germany. The formation of the Triple Entente put Germany at a huge disadvantage, as Germany's allies (Austria-Hungary and Italy) were not nearly as powerful militarily, economically, technologically, or politically influential.
During the war, the low moral of the German citizens placed Germany at a disadvantage. As the number of German casualties rose, German citizens lost a lot of faith in their government and the causes the war was supporting. The blockade disturbed the lives of many german citizens, to the point where 200,000 workers walked out of their jobs in opposition to the war. The loss of German morale was really detrimental to Germany's success in the war.
While I agree with what's been said about Germany being at a disadvantage due to the strong alliances of the European powers around it, I think that the German government is just as responsible for Germany's struggles, if not more so. The Triple Entente were responsible for their fair share of problems for Germany, but they were not the ones who got Germany into the war in the first place, nor were they the ones who caused the public opinion on the war to shift negatively, and who continued to push their soldiers on into fights they knew they could not win. The protests for peace by German citizens could be seen as disadvantageous as well for their contributions to the dwindling of public support, but if the government had been paying as much attention to the people as it had been to the war, maybe the public would have continued to back them.
I do agree with what's been said about other European powers and their alliances with one another being hugely disadvantageous to Germany, but I think it's interesting to think about why that is. The other powers weren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to support or ally with Germany, but it was not just because they were intimidated. Who Germany chose to support and why affected its relationships with other countries, so I think it's interesting to think about who was really putting Germany at a disadvantage- was it the Triple Entente, or Germany itself, who backed Austria-Hungary, knowing who they would be up against?
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:59 pm Post subject: reason
I don't think Germany's disadvantage was just due to one reason. The conflict within the country in 1917 didn't help. Germans had expected the war to only last a year, and three years later, they still hadn't won. People were starving, and so many Germans had lost their lives.
When America brought troops into France to prevent Germany from capturing Paris, Germany finally saw how hopeless their situation was.
I agree with the former posts. The German govt. and politics at the time caused certain reactions from other European powers, as well as their Citizens, which became their greatest disadvantage. It was clear from the beginning of Germany's Industrial Revolution that countries like Britain and Russia were worried about their growing power, and this coupled with France's general dislike of Germany due to the Franco-Prussian war caused general dislike from most of Europe. Then the German govt. feeling this discontent from it's surrounding countries felt the need to secure an alliance with Austria-Hungry, which caused greater discontent between the enemy countries. Then the German govt. oppression of the German working class inevitably caused distrust of the war, their govt. and thus became a huge disadvantage considering their working class was a huge part of their population. From this reading Id conclude that it was the German govt. that became their biggest disadvantage because it caused such adversity from surrounding countries, and within it's own population.
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