Factors Leading to Germany's Downfall in World War 1

World War 1 became unbalanced from the start, when the Allies fought against the Central Powers, and dominated them. The Allies had many allies, strong attack strategies and organization, strong economies and they were prepared to fight the war. Germany was struggling, for as one of the Central Powers, they did not have many allies compared to the Allies, and they were unorganized and completely unprepared for war, without war tactics to stand for. Their plans failed and their strategies were weak, and Germany soon felt the wrath of the Allied Forces during their brutal fall from grace in the war that changed Europe. Germany lost the First World War because of their lack of organization and preparation needed to succeed; their poor plans for attack made it nearly impossible for them to achieve victory, and there was no strong structure in place.

Germany’s attack strategy was based on high-risk attacks, which were plans that were essentially one-shot attacks, meaning if their attack plan was successful they would be at an advantage point, yet if they lost then they had no back up plan. The Von Schlieffen Plan, for example, was a high-risk attack. Germany hoped it would be successful even though the prediction before it launched was that it would fail. The Von Schlieffen Plan was a high-risk attack because if it did fail, Germany would experience devastating losses and would definitely suffer and lose against the Allied forces. When The Schlieffen Plan did fail, Germany was almost beaten, and there was no shot at redemption. Plans like these are how Germany ran their military. Adding to Germany’s lack of good strategies was their poor propaganda, which compared to Britain was nothing. British propaganda had a psychological effect on many people, and turned many against Germany. It psyched out German soldiers and made them lose faith in the victory of the war, whereas German propaganda had no strong effect. Germany had no structure within their system during the war; they had a poor government and they did not plan their military attacks with positive tactics that would have benefitted them greatly during the war.

            The Von Schlieffen Plan was Germany’s plan of attack to demobilize France and knock them out of the war. They were to travel through Belgium to reach France, and they did not expect to struggle in Belgium due to Belgium’s stated neutrality in the war. Although the Belgium army was only a tenth of the size of the German army, they held them up for over a month before Germany was able to reach France. British propaganda exaggerated the fact that Belgium was a small and neutral country with campaigns such as “Poor Little Belgium” and “Brave Little Belgium”, which were designed to make Germany seem big and bad and Belgium to seem small and helpless. These campaigns turned many countries against Germany, which only added to the imbalance between the two sides to start with. The British Expeditionary Force was small, and was almost annihilated many times by Germany in their sweeping across Belgium. However, the BEF was able to hold up Germany long enough for French and British forces to arrive and prepare for attack. It was because of them that Germany broke off the plan, yet they were not finished fighting for many battles soon followed, mainly between Britain and France against Germany. Although the Germans lost less people, they were unorganized and their plans were chaotic. Another factor that prevented Germany from demobilizing France was the French Railway System, which made it possible for France to transport troops easily, and it made them prepared to meet Germany when they arrived. This also shows the organization and preparation accomplished by France, which Germany lacked.

            Germany was limited in many ways, two of which were its geographical location and the way it ran it’s economy during World War 1. Germany is located in the central of Europe, with France on its left and Russia on its right. During WW1, Germany was fighting against Russia and France, and she was trapped between them. Germany also does not have a large coastline, and further on in the war when Britain was reinforcing their navy, Germany struggled to use the small coast it had which lies to the north. There was a huge disadvantage to being in the center with a small coast, because Germany was surrounded by her enemies and unable to freely use the body of water that they had at hand. Belgium lay to the west next to France, and was in an ideal position for the Von Schlieffen Plan. The second limitation on Germany was their struggling economy. Germany did not have a national tax set in place on the people of Germany, and therefore was not receiving money that would prove to be a necessity in the war to supply them with weapons, submarines, and other war requirements. This was one of the ways Germany was unprepared; unlike Germany, countries like France, Great Britain, and others fighting in the war had an income from taxing the people, which helped maintain a stable economy, which Germany lacked.

            When WW1 began, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia filled with ludicrous demands. Serbia allied with Russia, and through this power they were able to dismiss the ultimatum, which resulted in war. Austria-Hungary had an alliance with Germany and the Ottoman Empire. France became involved due to their alliance with Russia, and Britain’s alliance with France shifted them in as well. However as the war progressed, it seemed as though Germany was losing their own alliances while the Allies were gaining alliances. Austria-Hungary brought Germany into the war to defend them, yet did not honor their alliance and sort of disappeared as the war continued. The Allies had a much more organized system in the war, and also in relation to their alliances. They had strong alliances with powerful countries, and even smaller countries such as Italy, Greece, Romania, Brazil, Japan, and more. Germany was left to stand alone at the end of the war when its few allies surrendered. Germany was destined to fail from the start, for they lacked structure and organization on the battlefield and off of it.

            Had Germany been prepared for the war with strong alliances, powerful government and military, flourishing economy, and viciously sculpted attack tactics, they would have had a shot at winning the war. However, they lacked all of these things, and were teamed-up against from the start without a fallback plan. Germany was a powerful country, but pitted against Britain, France, the U.S.A., and more, it had no hope in being successful. They failed economically due to their non-existent national tax. They faltered strategically with terribly structured attack plans such as the Von Schlieffen Plan, and they did not have any support to help them win the war. Germany did not exactly lose the war, however, the Allies won and in essence defeated Germany to the point where they had no other option but to surrender. A positive aspect to be recognized in Germany was their improving of their naval warfare through submarine warfare which proved to be very effective during the war in taking down enemy ships. However, Germany was at a great disadvantage throughout the war via the factors stated previously, and they were forced to accept defeat due to their inability to succeed which was rooted to their disorganization and unpreparedness

Imperialism in World War 1

Imperialism was one of the four contributing factors to the cause of World War One, along with secret alliances, militarism, and nationalism.  It is the most important cause of WW1, because it created a build-up of tension in Europe and outside of Europe, and through imperialism, the three other causes were able to affect the beginnings of the war. Imperialism is defined as the governing of one people by another country, which was a recurring dilemma prior to WW1 due to the industrialist movement. Although not all events that fall into the imperialistic category were about controlling another country, they contributed to the war, and imperialistic events were the foundation of the cause of WW1.

Within Europe, imperialism occurred at the height of industrialization. As European countries were discovering more about the sciences and mass production benefits via industrialization, a demand and competition for more land and produce was developing, and this would create the tension needed to begin the First World War. Germany and Great Britain were two powerful European countries that had been trying to establish control in Africa and Asia, two countries that were not as strong as them, and relatively vulnerable.  Due to rebellions of the native people and interferences by each other and other countries, they were not entirely successful. This lack of cooperation between European countries in the attempt to govern and control weaker states so as to use their products for trade caused tension, and finally after it built up to a certain point, war was the only option left.

Imperialism led to the three other contributors to the war because without the tension induced by imperialism, secret alliances would not be necessary. Alliances such as the Triple Alliance, which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy that lasted until the start of the war, and the Three Emperors League, which involved Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany and created tension prior to the war, were created in case of war, which would not be an issue had there not been minor conflicts occurring all over the world. Militarism was another factor, and the threatening behavior when powerful countries involved in powerful alliances begin forming unbeatable weapons would not have affected war had there not been a prior fear that war would be coming. England produced a ship made to kill in attempt to prove to the Germans that they still owned the sea, and this kind of behavior is what triggered an additional rise to the pressure building in Europe. Nationalism relates closer to imperialism because it was due to nationalism that imperialism was not always successful. When the European powers attempted to invade and take over China, they were unable to due to the unity of the Chinese people, and also the interferences by other countries. This nationalism prevented countries from extending control over many people, for rebellions occurred and changes had to be made.

       The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia was one of the examples of imperialism during WW1. On July 23 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was to be the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austro-Hungary, realizing they were stronger than Serbia, issued an ultimatum with ridiculous demands, along with statements such as “The Royal Serbian Government [is]… to suppress any publication which incites to hatred and contempt of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the general tendency of which is directed against its territorial integrity” and more. In essence, the ultimatum demanded that Serbia renounce all rights to their self-governing and to be placed under the rules decided by Austro-Hungary. However, Austro-Hungary was not aware of the alliance between Russia and Serbia, which brought Russia into the problem between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which then created the need for Austria-Hungary to involve their ally, Germany, who encouraged a war-like solution to the problem. Through one action of a freedom fighter or terrorist, depending on which side you agree with, a whole upsurge of negative relations are formed, and already conflict is occurring.

            The ultimatum issued to Serbia was a direct example of imperialism. However, events such as the creation of the Dreadnought may also be considered imperialistic, even though it was not an attempt to overthrow Germany. In 1906, British Admiral Sir John “Jackie” Fisher established the Dreadnought into the British navy. Not only was the Dreadnought the fastest battleship around, but it also used a more effective form of weaponry that was more advanced than most battleships at the time. Created to frighten the Germans who were attempting to strengthen their navy under the control of Admiral Tirpitz in order to threaten the British navy. Known for their power over the sea, the British created the Dreadnought to make it clear to the Germans that they were still so called “King of the Seas” and that Germany would never be able to defeat them. This is imperialistic because there was a surge for naval expansion, which stemmed from tension and also industrialism.

            One final example of imperialism as a cause of WW1 was the Berlin-Baghdad railway that was built in 1903 until prior to 1914, connecting Berlin and Baghdad, where the Germans wished to establish a port so as to expand trade. This railway would have threatened the British trade exports and imports, giving Germany an economic dominance through trade. The railway was also seen as a threat to Russia, for it extended into a zone where Russia had a dominant share in the trade. However, due to interferences by other countries because of the tension it created, the railway was never finished. This is an example of imperialism because it was Germany trying to extend it’s control over areas surrounding the railway being put in place, while also angering the Russians and the British, who were constantly fighting with the Germans throughout the beginning and during WW1.

            Imperialism was a cause of WW1 because it developed the basis for tension to occur and after a continuous build-up of conflicts and frustrations; there was an outburst of war that was not only foreseeable, but also unstoppable. Different occurrences added to the pressure induced by the war, and led to the three other causes of war by means of threats, competition of power, and defense of nations. Imperialism made it possible for this conflict between countries to grow, and it stemmed from the industrialist movements attempting to expand and grow within countries, mainly in Europe. Although some may argue that the other three contributors were the main factors leading to WW1, none would have occurred without the introduction of imperialism to the world.