Group+3+-+WWI+DBQ

Both sides in World War I wrongly assumed that the war would not last long. Civilians had been fed nationalistic propaganda assuring them that their country was the strongest and their armies would quickly be announced the victors. However, during the course of World War I many new technologies and war strategies were introduced which caused a stalemate. With the invention of machine guns and more advanced artillery, trench warfare attacks lasted for days, causing mass casualties without either side ever losing or gaining ground. Armies were being rapidly depleted and civilians were losing patience with the long-running war. Countries on both sides were desperate to break the stalemate and put an end to the Total War. The combination of Germany underestimating American manpower and mobilization and the spread of Russian ideology allowed the Entente to break the stalemate and defeat Germany. When the United States entered the war the Entente was able to protect naval supply lines and strengthen their ground forces against an exhausted German army.

British blockades and the German development of the submarine were one of the main causes for the US to enter the war. At the time of WWI, Great Britain had the largest and strongest navy in the world. Both Germany and Britain depended on their sea merchants to supply their citizens and their armies with food and ammunition. In order to weaken Germany, Britain began building up blockades, cutting off supplies from ever reaching Germany. Even neutral ships, including those of the US, were not safe if they were suspected of carrying supplies intended to aid the enemy. In order to combat this, Germany developed submarines, a new weapon that became very effective due to its stealth. This began the era of unrestricted submarine warfare, when German submarines began attacking ships headed for British ports. This resulted in the British trying many different tactics to try and thwart the Germans, such as flying neutral flags, and German U-boats began targeting ships at random. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank a British passenger liner, the Lusitania, killing over 1,000 passengers including 128 American citizens. The US government was so outraged by this incident that the German government was forced to restrict the use of submarines, or else risk making the US an enemy. With the restriction of submarines, the British blockades once again became very effective, cutting of desperately needed supplies to Germany. Civilians in all areas of the country were starving, and many began starting food riots. The Imperial government had no choice but to reinstate the use of submarines or risk losing the war and the support of German civilians. The Germans claimed that this was absolutely necessary in order to fight the ruthless, tyrannical British as an excuse to the US. The German government knew this would result in the US becoming an enemy in the war, but assumed that the US would not be a major threat. On February 1, 1917 unrestricted submarine warfare was resumed and on April 6 the US entered the war. Once the Germans reinstated unrestricted submarine warfare, the United States was prompted to declare war, a decision that helped to break the stalemate. Although unrestricted submarine warfare was a strong reason for the United States' declaration of war, there was another reason for the United States to enter the war: the Zimmerman Note. The United States discovered that the Germans had asked Mexico to join the Triple Alliance and declare war on the United States in exchange for southwestern United States territory. This offer, known as the Zimmerman Note, was more evidence of German hostilities toward the United States. With unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Note as motives for war, the United States declared war on Germany. Germany assumed that the United States would take some time to mobilize, which they did, but they did not expect the quick response of the United States Navy. U.S. and British destroyers quickly began to destroy submarines and protected merchant ships in the Atlantic with convoys. Submarine warfare was Germany's last attempt to eliminate their enemies' supply lines, yet this form of warfare backfired on the Germans by involving a new and powerful enemy which eliminated their sole method of slowing the enemy away from the front lines. With a strong supply line in place, the Entente was able to U.S. troops and tank to the battlefield which were extremely effective against a weary enemy. The involvement of the United States eliminated submarine warfare, Germany's last hope of gaining an advantage, and moved vast resources to the front lines enabling the Entente to break the stalemate. Russian downfall and eventual submission from World War I played its significant role in the break of the stalemate from various aspects. The reasoning behind the Russian’s surrender was due to the chaos occurring within its own nation from revolts against the war and the uprising of a new power that immediately requested a peace treaty—Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This power being the Bolsheviks—a group of leaders who spoke from the weariness of the war and the toll it was taking on Russia’s people. Russians were just fed up and acknowledged the fact that this war was doing more harm than benefit for them at the time. The Bolsheviks supported an ideal Marxist/communist society which is seen to play its part in World War I at a later time. The initial affect of the Russians backing out of the war was a good thing for the German people. It allowed them to send their best troops that were in the east to the west permitting them to gain a significant amount of land for a short period of time. This was a significant reasoning behind the break of stalemate. It allowed much advancement on the German part up till the Bolshevik propaganda that they feared started to leak into the minds of Germans back at home. Originally the Germans' method of avoidance was to “set up mental delousing stations to reindoctrinate them with the correct loyal attitudes” (p 115). This however did not work when socialist leaders started to encourage the socialist ways upon Germany. After being exhausted from the Entente’s defensive position as well as its strong offensive position the people of Germany really started to accept these ideas and desired that cease in war so they could return to having a somewhat normal life. This led too many German revolts. It was the Russians decision to back down from a war that was tearing apart their country was one that allowed a great amount of repercussions afterward including the break of the stalemate and the eventual spread of ideology to Germany.

The combination of United States involvement and Russian idealogy broke the stalemate.