Basically, it was because of the American reinforcements.
Both the triple alliance and central powers were getting worn out. Russia was beaten due to internal conflict between the reds and whites, the Austrians were getting hammered due to the Brits supporting the Italians, the Ottomans were behind in technology and their economy was suffering, and the French were losing more and more ground everyday in spite of how they slowed down the German assault. If the Germans hadn't angered the Americans, they would have most likely won due to superior amounts of raw material, greater industrial capacity, and better technology.
References to the Spanish flu and socialist uprisings were not limited to Germany and Russia. France, Italy, and Austria-Hungary suffered harshly from them as well (both motivated mass emigration from these countries into America).
When the Americans arrived, the British, French, and Italians rallied and finally brought the war to an end. Unlike WW2 though, the victory didn't annihilate the Germans UNTIL the armistice when extreme reparations were demanded. Wilson insisted emphatically that such hard terms not be stamped onto Germany, and when the Senate failed to ratify the League of Nations agreement, the US was unable to intercede and prevent the great depression. Afterwards, American money would be used to kickstart the German economy repeatedly, but it never became independent of American support so when we ran out of money to lend, the world economy collapsed due to greedy British and French demands. It got so bad that the French actually decided to move German industrial complexes into France brick by brick, rebuilding the same factories with the same materials rather than just overseeing German industry.
2007-02-21 06:22:43
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answer #1
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answered by Mikey C 5
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here men hope this may help you 10. Hitler and the Nazis were Stupid Containing opposition to liberalism, a Communist / Jewish conspiracy, and Aryan Superiorism, Nazi ideologies have been radical, and perhaps to the extent of insane. Just the fact that they made an alliance with Japan shows how hypocritical their beliefs really were. 9. Attacking Poland Some may say that Germany lost the war before it even began. Hitler already had many territorial gains in the forms of Czechoslovakia, Sudetenland, etc. But the Germans got greedy and decided to invade Poland. 8. Losing Allies With Japan far away fighting in the Pacific Theater, they only had Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, and a few other smaller Eastern European countries comprising of the Axis Powers, but most specifically, Italy. After Mussolini was executed and taken out of the picture, Italy declared war on Germany and stacked the odds against them even higher. 7. London Bombing The Germans had a prime opportunity to cripple the British Military and take out the Royal Air Force during 1940 throughout Operation Eagle. If Goerning and Hitler had not changed their minds about attacking the RAF Fighter Command Stations, they may not have lost the war on the Allied front as easily. 6. Declaring War on the USA Although the US had their hands full throughout the first half of the war, with Japan, by the time the invasion of France came around in 1944, Germany had one more country to fight. 5. Persecution of Jews While we may have not had much knowledge of the Holocaust during the war, If the Nazi Party had not been so arrogant in their beliefs the German-Jewish population could have been a force to reckon with. Notable Jews such as Albert Einstein could have done much to provide German scientists with technical and scientific foresight. 4. Technologically Slow Had the Germans invented the Atomic Bomb first, they would have had a huge advantage over the Allies, even after the D-Day invasion. 3. Economic Troubles Not only did Nazi Germany have a difficult time maintaining fuel, oil, and other economic tools for war, but their enemies had plenty of resources, especially from th e United States through agreements such as the Lend-Lease Act. 2. Declaring War on the Soviet Union Why Germany betrayed the Soviet Union, I’ll never understand. They signed a non-aggression pact with them and could have focused their efforts on France and Great Britain. Instead they chose to attack a country with harsh winters and leadership that would kill their own soldiers rather than retreat, and in the end opened up a two-front war. 1. Loss of Resolve The German people and military have gone through *much* throughout those past six years. War can be both physically and mentally draining not only for the soldiers but also the people at home. It may be that the Germans just didn’t have the willpower to continue the fight, and just wanted peace.
2016-05-24 03:12:57
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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A few things transpired that led to the German defeat:
On the battlefield, the US Army and Marines started to turn the tide against the Germans. The French and British armies were rejuvenated by the influx of the Americans. (But don't believe the lie that the Americans were the sole reason for the German military defeat.)
On the home front, the citizens started to rebel against the Kaiser, following the lead of the Russian Bolsheviks. Scarcity of essentials and the thought that the only reason to prolong the war was to keep the Kaiser on the throne.
On the health front, the German army was decimated by the influenza epidemic.
There are many more reasons, but these are the ones that stick in my mind.
2007-02-21 06:57:04
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answer #3
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answered by cjones1303 4
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Several factors contributed to Germany's final collapse. I think I remember a few that are not so commonly known. Briefly:
- German exhaustion, both in terms of the national economy and manpower resources following the expending of the peace trained German Army on the battlefield.
- Battles of attrition 1917-18. What the Germans tried to do to the French at Verdun ("Bleed the country white" i.e. destroy the French Army by killing enough French men) Britain did to Germany from the Battle of the Somme onwards. The German Army was gradually whittled away by the Allies, especially British, ANZAC troops, and the soldiers in the end could not be replaced.
- German support of weaker Axis partners. The Allied policy of knocking out Germany's partners was wrong. In actual fact, Germany's partners, Austro-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria's forces were inferior to the German Army and required constant German support throughout the war.
- 2 basic faults of Shliffen Plan (Germany's pre-war plan to win the war quickly fighting on 2 fronts (France & Russia) by pinning the Russian Army in a holding attack while the bulk of the German infantry rushed to Paris and attacked on two sides, knocking France out of the war). The first fault was over-optimism with the lightning attack on Paris, too much was expected from the German Army. The second fault was the planned shortcut to Paris via neutral Belgium failed miserably to recognise the negative effects and ramnifications in the international community, as well as loss of all moral high ground that this would provoke.
- German opportunism. Meticulously planned German offensives and battle plans were frequently changed or dropped completely in a very casual manner in favour of unforseen opportunities. Such last minute changes often led to disasterous results when sticking firmly to the plan of attack might have proved successful.
- US intervention at the end. Although the US took a long time to build up its forces on the Western Front. Forces which were largely inexperienced in trench warfare. The 500,000 troops, even their presence, had a huge impact on the morale of both sides. Only at the very end of the war did the US play what can be considered a full part in the Allied attacks but it proved decisive.
- German civilian expectations. One thing that lengthened the war by making it almost impossible for both sides to accept a compromised peace (and therefore abject failure) were the high expectations and assurances of victory fed to the national populations in order to retain their support for the war and supply of soldiers to fight it. The German High Command, like all the participants, had claimed that the war one of national survival against the threat of the Allies. Therefore, the German people expected victory and nothing less. Anything less than victory would mean that the millions of sacrifices made were in vain.
- German principle not to lose ground at any cost. This was, until the very end of the war, a critical part of German infantry tactics. Each time the Allies attacked and gained ground, an immediate counterattack was carried out by the German troops. If it failed, then another counterattack was executed, and another. This contributed heavily towards the horrendous losses on both sides as strips of muddy and cratered former trench positions exchanged hands several times during a battle at great cost. This eventually ground down the German Army to critical limits.
- Unjust Russian peace terms, a "German Peace". The treaty imposed upon the fledging Soviet Union by Germany to end war in the east was so outrageous that it hardened the attitudes of the Allies towards any possible compromise with Germany and gave a shocking indication of what the Allies could expect after a German victory.
2007-02-25 04:16:50
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answer #4
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answered by mjo 2
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The Germans were defeated because their economy was nearly collapsing ,the war was a standstill and when the Americans came on the scene they were outgunned and outmanned.The weakness of their allies was showing as the British were taking care of the OttomanTurks and Austria-Hungary could not defeat Italy in the Northern Alps so their defeat was inevitable.
2007-02-21 06:28:23
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answer #5
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answered by Dave aka Spider Monkey 7
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The British and US successfully blockaded German shipping. That more than anything ended the war, as the Germans ran out of necessary resources to continue waging war. Plus, years of fighting and losing thousands of men over a hundred feet of ground began to take their toll.
WW I took a HUGE toll on the populations of Germany, France and Italy. There's some crazy statistics involved here, but mainly it was the addition of the US, and its thousands of fresh troops, that pushed the difference.
2007-02-21 06:25:07
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answer #6
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answered by A K 2
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They had to fight France on the west and Russia on the east. They were basically winning the war up until the point when the Americans joined. The reinforcements with tanks and thousands of soldiers overpowered Germany.
2007-02-21 06:22:46
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answer #7
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answered by Panda 3
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I don't know, they should have won. They could have spread democracy to the UK, knocked down the irritating Eifel tower...
wait a second, they sided with the Turks and Austrians, about two of the most Brutal regimes in history. It seems to me that in the end, tyranny loses. The people just don't stand for it, and eventually it collapses. The moral was probably not that strong to begin with because they had iffy allies.
2007-02-21 06:45:11
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answer #8
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answered by dude 5
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my mom said they was stupid. they're strategy was not as good as other country's. Germany went to war for all the wrong reason. Hitler fought in the first (ww1) war.
2007-02-21 06:39:18
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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