4.

C DEJ The final stage of the WW1

In early 1917, Germany returned to unrestricted submarine warfare, hoping that it would
speed up Britain’s defeat. They risked the United States joining the war, as German U-boats
were also sinking American ships. In March 1917, British agents intercepted a telegram from
the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman, sent to the German ambassador in Mexico.
In the telegram, Germany promised to help Mexico recover the lost territories of Texas,
Arizona and New Mexico, with some financial aid if Mexico became Germany’s ally. The
British passed the message to the U.S. government and soon after its text was given to the
press and made public.
Although during the first year of the war public opinion was against direct American
involvement in the conflict, the Zimmerman note and the German unrestricted Submarine
Warfare raised pro-war feelings in the United States. On April 6, 1917, Congress declared war
on Germany, thus joining the side of the Allies.
As a result, Germany tried to win the war before American army could get into action. After
the Brest-Litovsk treaty was signed in March 1918, Germany planned to launch one final
massive attack on the Allies in France. The offensive started in March 1918, using all the
troops from the Eastern front. More than 6000 cannons opened fire in the largest artillery
attack of the entire war. The German army reached the Marne River, as it had four years
earlier. However, the German army was exhausted, overstretched and without working supply
lines.
In July, the Allies started a counterattack. In the second Battle of the Marne, 150 000 fresh
American soldiers and over 300 tanks stopped the German advance. Another 2 000 000
American soldiers under the brilliant command of General John Pershing changed the course
of the war and significantly participated in the Allies‘ advance towards the German borders.
In the fall of 1918 the Allies were winning on all fronts. German military leaders realized that
the war was lost. Moreover, the Central Powers started to crumble:
 Bulgaria surrendered on September 29
 The Ottoman Empire surrendered on October 30.
 Austria Hungary surrendered on October 31.
The German army and civil population began to mutiny. Kaiser Wilhelm II. abdicated on
November 9, and the new German Republic was proclaimed. On November 11, 1918
Germany and Allies signed an armistice (an agreement to stop fighting). They did so in
a railway car in the Compiegne Forest.