Main Reasons Why Germany Lost the World War I Paper

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The Main Reasons Why Germany Lost the World War I

Many factors surrounded the emergence if the World War I. Among the triggers of the

war include the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, imperialism,

nationalism, and militarism that led to intensified competition among European nations

(Afflerbach 108). Besides, the rise of nationalism in the early 1900s led to increased competition

for marketing materials among European countries as each of the countries sought to overpower

the other. Furthermore, aggression among the European nations was furthered by the competition

for colonies in both Africa and Asia resulting in the emergence of the European arm races as

most of the countries believed in more organized troops that could be quickly mobilized for

long-distance when the need arose. With all these races for superiority among nations, a war was

expected to occur with many European nations starting to form alliances thus bringing Germany

with its allies of Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire into the war. Despite the

many factors that could have triggered the war, many historians believe that Germany was

responsible for the war. With the signing of the treaty of Versailles on the 28

of June 1919,

Germany and its allies lost the battle leaving it with a bankrupted economy (Treaty of Peace

Between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany: And Protocol). Among the reasons

that made Germany lose the World War I included the failure of the Schlieffen plan, lack of food

supplies during the war, nationalism, as well as the effective allies use of attrition warfare.

With the failure of the Schlieffen plan, it was impossible for Germany to fight a two-front

war. Von Moltke modified the plan by Alfred Von Schlieffen as a strategic plan for Germany to

emerge victorious while fighting on two fronts (Stewart 360). Under Kaiser Wilhelm II Germany

fought a two-front war with Americans, Belgian, French, and British on the western front

simultaneously with Russians on the Eastern front (Strachan 39). Even with Russian’s

involvement in the war ending on the 3

of March 1918, with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-

Litovsk, Germany could not win the war as it was left with inadequate troops and food to sustain

them during the war. Besides, the Schlieffen plan failed due to the Belgian resistance and the

entry of Britain into the war after France attacked Belgium. With Britain being a superior empire

that Germany could not have expected to join the war, they panicked and thus causing the failure

of their plan. Additionally, Germany did not expect the speedy mobilization of Russia to gain

land in Eastern Prussia to move closer to Berlin (Haller 23). This move shocked Germany as

they never believed that Russia could have been a threat, especially after their humiliating defeat

in the Russo-Japanese war. Besides, the unexpected speedy mobilization of Russian forces

caught Germans unaware as they could not hit them easily as anticipated. Therefore, with things

not going as per the expectations of Germany, their masterplan failed terribly and thus could not

avoid defeat.

Another reason why Germany lost the World War I was inadequate food supplies to both

the citizens and the troops on the battlefield. With food being a critical weapon in any war,

German could not win the battle with malnourished citizens and soldiers since armies, nations,

and cities cannot sustain a war when hungry. This is because soldiers in the front need to keep

themselves strong for the fight while as well as have those working from home has to be well-fed

(Lang 245). Moreover, children also needed nourishment during the war, and thus, lack of food

supplies destroyed Germany right from their roots. As a result of food shortages in Germany,

riots, mutiny, and protests were experienced, thus weakening their ability to sustain the war

further. Moreover, with Germany depending mostly on food imports, it was hard for them to

sustain the food supply as they were in war with most countries that they depended on in terms

of supplying them with food. This failure to sustain food supply was because, during wars,

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The Main Reasons Why Germany Lost the World War I Many factors surrounded the emergence if the World War I. Among the triggers of the war include the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, imperialism, nationalism, and militarism that led to intensified competition among European nations (Afflerbach 108). Besides, the rise of nationalism in the early 1900s led to increased competition for marketing materials among European countries as each of the countries sought to overpower the other. Furthermore, aggression among the European nations was furthered by the competition for colonies in both Africa and Asia resulting in the emergence of the European arm races as most of the countries believed in more organized troops that could be quickly mobilized for long-distance when the need arose. With all these races for superiority among nations, a war was expected to occur with many European nations starting to form alliances thus bringing Germany with its allies of Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire into the war. Despite the many factors that could have triggered the war, many historians believe that Germany was responsible for the war. With the signing of the treaty of Versailles on the 28th of June 1919, Germany and its allies lost the battle leaving it with a bankrupted economy (Treaty of Peace Between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany: And Protocol). Among the reasons that made Germany lose the World War I included the failure of t ...
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