Group+1+-+WWI+DBQ

=John Moore, Casey Zuccarello, Amos Bartelsmeyer, Tad Desai=

Total War
World War I was a deadly war between multiple nations that lasted longer than anyone predicted. It created a resilient stalemate that required a specific order of events to break and one driving force that sparked these events. These events would include the German food riots, the Russian Revolution of 1917 (and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk), and finally the entrance of the US. Of all the forces at play during World War I, the stress placed on the home front by total war caused the break in the stalemate and ended a war of attrition.

With the beginning of total war, began the British blockade resulting in very difficult times for the citizens and government of Germany, breaking the stalemate. In an effort to starve the German lines of resources such as food and ammunition, the strong British Navy enforced a blockade over Germany’s ports. This tactic was //extremely// effective and not only did it keep supplies from reaching German troops, but it kept them from reaching the German public. Soon Germany was in turmoil and the country was slowly being starved of food, fuel and war supplies. As the war went on the stress caused by this tactic of total war built on the German population resulting in social unrest. The lack of food resources became too much for some and the German population began to decrease. From 1915 to 1918, 712,736 deaths were attributed to the British blockade. In a situation with many parallels to the French Revolution the social unrest culminated into many food riots. In 1916, there was at least one food riot in almost every major German city, 31 in total. Just as in France almost 200 years prior, outcries for revolution occurred. Toward the end of World War I, one man in particular, Karl Liebknecht voiced his opinions saying: //“//// More than four years have they offered your sons, fathers, brothers, as victims and have starved millions, so that they // [Kaiser Social Democrats] //might coin profits out of your blood……Comrades! Soldiers! Sailors! And you workers! Arise by regiments and arise by factories. Disarm your officers, whose sympathies and ideas are those of the ruling classes.”// As tension rose and people began to develop dissenting ideas such as Liebknecht, the government began to become desperate as well. In an effort to create a new blockade against Britain, Germany created the submarine and began unrestricted submarine warfare, a tactic that would eventually result in the entrance of the United States. The commencement of the British blockade would start a chain of events that would eventually tilt the scales to favor the British and the allies. The lack of food in Germany created social unrest culminating in riots and calls for revolution from the public. A desperate German government would then start unrestricted submarine warfare in an effort to focus the British Navy away from their blockade of Germany and towards protecting their own ships thus resulting in the passage of merchant ships to Germany and its people. This submarine warfare would bring a powerful new enemy, the United States, whose troops coupled with that of the allies would help lead strong counter-attacks breaking the stalemate between the central and ally countries.

Another country that was suffering extraordinary stress at the home front was the United States of America. Due to the British blockade, Germany decided to counter attack by sinking British merchant ships which contained supplies for the soldiers however the ships also harbored innocent American citizens who were killed when the ships were sunk. Both the American government and the public were beginning to become angry that American lives were being lost in war that they were not fighting in. The United States eventually declared war and joined the Allied forces in the war. Germany underestimated how soon America would mobilize and attacked the Allies in France after they brought their forces over from the eastern front after the Russian surrender. Germany decided to go on the offensive and broke the stalemate by attacking the Allies with all their forces. However Germany underestimated the United States and how fast they could mobilize. Combined with the lack of forces after going on the offensive and the new American soldiers with the Allies, they were able to push Germany back enough that they were forced to surrender and end the stalemate of World War I

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a result of total war and broke the stalemate; ending the war of attrition. Russian citizens and soldiers were hungry, cold, and tired of war. Millions of young Russian men had died on the frozen battlefields in defense of their country and in a war that they could not win. They were feeling the enormous toll that total war takes and were sick of their government. Common people and soldiers forced Tsar Nicholas from power and the Bolsheviks took over. The Bolsheviks made peace with the Central Powers in March of 1918 through the Treat of Brest-Litovsk. They gave up access to the Black Sea and land that was home to a quarter of the Russian Empire’s population. The treaty ended the war for Germany on the Eastern Front and effectively ended the stalemate of WWI. Germany could now focus all its military might on the Western front and finally have enough manpower to not only equal the enemy, but to beat them. The German Empire launched a massive assault against France with the new troops from the East. They employed new tactics and invented new, “shock troops” that punched holes in the enemy’s defensive line and allowed the main body of the force to move in. Germany found success and soon arrived once again within striking distance of Paris. But, the offensive had cost too many men and Germany began to lose momentum. The influx of troops from the United States turned the tide and helped The Entente beat The Central Powers and end WWI. However, this defeat was only possible because Germany was able to break out of the conservative mold and put all its cards on the table. It all started with the devastating effects of total war pushing the Russian people to overthrow their government and back out of the war. The ensuing peace treaty finally gave one side the advantage and set in motion the events that led to the end of WWI.

The all encompassing effect of total war manifested itself in the entrance of the United States into WWI, the explosion of dissent among the German population, and the backing out of Russia from the war. In all of these cases the citizens of each country felt pressures similar to that of the soldiers on the front lines. Total war pushed the general population to its limit. This eventually caused one nation to act decisively and ended the war of attrition.