The Great War: Ends-unexplained & unexpected
Ø Unknown to the German public, the German Army's Spring Offensive succeeds only briefly and then the Germans are stopped.
Ø American troops in growing numbers enter combat for the first time in 1918, and help stop the German offensive. Suddenly the Germans are on the defensive again, but now in disadvantageous and vulnerable positions. Now the allies launch various counter-attacks.
Ø Meanwhile by 1918 in the Balkans, Germany's primary ally, the Austrian-Hungarians are collapsing under the attacks by Italy, Serbia & Romania.
Ø Simultaneously after a long struggle, the other German ally, Turkey is being thoroughly defeated by the British in Palestine, Jordan, & Syria.
Ø All these negative events remain unknown to the German public.
Ø Even the Allies (France, Britain, Italy, and the U.S.) in 1918, believed that the German Army in France would not be defeated until 1919, after American troop strength is scheduled to double.
Ø However in September and October of 1918, for the first time in the war, the German Army in France suffers major defeats with large breeches in the defensive lines. German collapse and defeat is at hand, and maybe only a few weeks away.
Ø In late October & early November 1918, there is political unrest in Germany and some mutiny among German naval units. Many of these are pro-Bolshevik (communist) uprisings.
Ø The Kaiser's government collapses as he seeks and receives political asylum in Holland on November 10, 1918.
Ø A new German civilian government (at the urging of Hindenburg & Ludendorff) suddenly requests and receives an armistice effectively ending the war on November 11, 1918.
The Great War: Truth & Consequences for Germany
Ø The sudden defeat is greeted with shock, disbelief and surprise by the German public. Its army is still in France, some within artillery range of Paris. Germany's borders have not been penetrated by the enemy, nor has any significant damage been done to any German territory, city or factory.
Ø The reasons for the defeat are never revealed or explained to the German people by the new German government. To the contrary, Army leaders (including Hindenburg & Ludendorff) knowingly and falsely blamed defeat on the Kaiser, the new republican government and the numerous political parties. They gave false testimony before a Reichstag Commission in 1919.
Ø The victorious Allies do not send occupation troops into Germany (only in the Rhineland are Allied troops temporarily there to enforce its new demilitarized status).
Ø Just prior to, and as the war ends there is isolated (yet very public) civil unrest led by German Bolsheviks.
Ø All this serves to convince the German people and many who served in the army, including Adolf Hitler, that the German Army was not defeated and had been "stabbed in the back" by 'domestic enemies' (Bolsheviks & Jewish Financiers).
Ø It also served to undermine the current democratic government and all the participating political parties. In Germany, this very powerful myth would endure for over thirty years, and would be one of the major reasons that many German people supported Hitler's aim to rebuild Germany's military and international prominence.
The Kaiser left about three days before the Armistice, around November 8, 1918. The Allies would not let Germany have an Armistice with Kaiser Wilhelm still on the throne, so he had to go.
Fourteen Points were first outlined in a speech Wilson gave to the American Congress in January 1918. Wilson's Fourteen Points became the basis for a peace programme and it was on the back of the Fourteen Points that Germany and her allies agreed to an armistice in November 1918 .
An armistice, or truce agreement, that ended World War I. This was NOT the Treaty of Versailles. November 11 is now called Armistice Day.
In November 1918,the Germans asked for armistice because they realized that their cause was lost. Their army had no reserves, whereas the arrival of Americans has assured the Allies of a fresh supply of soldiers.
The armistice that ended hostilities between Germany and the Allies during World War I went into effect on November 11, 1918 at 11 a. m. The armistice did not end the war, merely active fighting. World War I did not officially end until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919.
because they had finished fighting and had been defeated in World War I.
The armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918
The Kaiser left about three days before the Armistice, around November 8, 1918. The Allies would not let Germany have an Armistice with Kaiser Wilhelm still on the throne, so he had to go.
The Armistice between Germany and the Allies, which signalled the end of the 1st world war.
11 November 1918 .
Versailles
Fourteen Points were first outlined in a speech Wilson gave to the American Congress in January 1918. Wilson's Fourteen Points became the basis for a peace programme and it was on the back of the Fourteen Points that Germany and her allies agreed to an armistice in November 1918 .
The Armistice between the Allies and Germany, ended World War 1. It was signed on November 11, 1918 in Compiegne, France.
Assuming we are talking about Veterans Day, it is a national holiday recognizing all veterans of the various U.S. military branches. It is a holiday that dates to November 11, 1919, which was called Armistice Day. Armistice Day commemorated the November 11, 1918 signing of the armistice between the allies and Germany, which ended WWI.
An armistice, or truce agreement, that ended World War I. This was NOT the Treaty of Versailles. November 11 is now called Armistice Day.
Germany on November 11, 1918.
It was the signing of the allies to end World War 1.