Changes in the Allied Forces

Model answer

A is the Zimmermann Telegram. It proposed that if the USA entered the war, Germany and Mexico should become allies, and Mexico would regain its lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Model answer

Source A opposes the continuation of the war because it calls the war 'the greatest of crimes against humanity'. It describes the war as a struggle among 'strong and rich nations' to share out the peoples they have conquered, which reflects the Bolshevik view that it was an imperialist war fought for the benefit of the ruling classes, not ordinary people. It demands 'an immediate peace without annexations and without indemnities', meaning the fighting should stop at once without any country gaining land or money. This reflects the situation in Russia: millions of Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded or captured, the army had suffered defeats such as Tannenberg and the Great Retreat of 1915, and the cities were short of food and fuel. The Provisional Government had kept fighting, and the failure of the Kerensky Offensive in July 1917 boosted the Bolsheviks, whose slogan was 'Peace, Land and Bread'. The provenance shows how important peace was to them: this was the new government's first decree, approved the day after the Bolsheviks seized power. They agreed an armistice with Germany in December 1917 and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.

Model answer

Source B is useful because it gives the official reasons for war in the President's own words at the decisive moment. Wilson's claim that German submarine warfare was 'a warfare against mankind' fits the immediate cause: Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare on 1 February 1917, the USA broke off relations two days later, and in March U-boats sank several American merchant ships. His reference to the 'intercepted note' to Mexico is the Zimmermann Telegram, published on 1 March, in which Germany offered Mexico Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. His welcome for the Russian Revolution is also significant, because the overthrow of the Tsar in March 1917 meant Wilson could present the war as democracy against autocracy, 'to make the world safe for democracy'. However, the speech was designed to persuade Congress and the American public, so it stresses noble reasons and does not mention the American economy.

Source C is useful because it gives a very different view and points to the economic background. It is true that American banks had lent the Allies about 2.3 billion dollars by 1917, compared with about 27 million to Germany, and that trade with Britain and France had boomed, so an Allied defeat would have been a disaster for American business. It is also true that the British blockade had caused disputes over American trade. Some members of Congress, such as Senator George Norris, made the same argument that the USA was going to war for money. However, the provenance limits it: a German-language newspaper was likely to be sympathetic to Germany, and it completely ignores the U-boat sinkings and the Zimmermann Telegram. It is most useful as evidence of the views of some German-Americans and opponents of the war, who were a small minority: the Senate voted for war by 82 votes to 6.

Overall, Source B is more useful for the immediate reasons why the USA declared war in April 1917, because it shows how German actions triggered the decision. Source C is useful for the longer-term economic ties and for showing that not all Americans accepted Wilson's reasons. Together they suggest that German actions caused the declaration, but economic interest and Wilson's ideals help explain why the USA was ready to act.

Model answer

The entry of the USA was one of the most important reasons why Germany was defeated in 1918, because it gave the Allies an advantage in manpower and resources that Germany could never match. However, Germany was also defeated by the failure of its own Spring Offensive, by the military victories of the British, French and Commonwealth armies, by the blockade and by the collapse of its allies. I agree with the statement only partly.

The American contribution was significant in several ways. By the summer of 1918 around 10,000 American soldiers were arriving in France every day, and there were about 2 million by November, while Germany could not replace its losses. The prospect of these numbers forced Ludendorff to gamble on the Spring Offensive before the Americans arrived. American troops then helped to stop the Germans at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood in June 1918 and in the Second Battle of the Marne in July, and in the autumn they fought at St Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne. At sea, American destroyers helped the convoys defeat the U-boats, and American loans and food kept the Allies going. Finally, Wilson's Fourteen Points gave the German government a basis on which to ask for an armistice in October 1918.

However, the Spring Offensive itself did enormous damage to Germany. It cost hundreds of thousands of men, many of them the best stormtroopers, and left the German army exhausted and over-extended. The Allied counter-attacks were mainly carried out by British, Commonwealth and French troops. At Amiens on 8 August 1918, tanks, aircraft, artillery and infantry working together broke through the German lines, and Ludendorff called it 'the black day of the German army'. In September the British broke the Hindenburg Line. These victories were made possible by better tactics and by Foch's unified command.

The situation in Germany was also collapsing. The British naval blockade had caused severe food shortages, leading to strikes, falling morale and, eventually, the naval mutinies at Kiel and the revolution of November 1918. At the same time Germany's allies gave up one by one: Bulgaria on 29 September, the Ottoman Empire on 30 October and Austria-Hungary on 3 November. The news of Bulgaria's collapse helped convince Ludendorff to demand an armistice at the end of September.

In conclusion, the entry of the USA was very important because it made German defeat certain in the long run and destroyed German morale. But it was not the main reason for defeat in 1918. The military victories of the Hundred Days, won mostly by British, French and Commonwealth troops, together with the effects of the blockade, actually forced Germany to seek an armistice in the autumn of 1918, before most American soldiers had seen serious fighting.