The extent to which a country can establish and retain a state of ‘Total War’ inevitably leads to victory. In World War 1, the allied forces ability to achieve this resulted in their success. The production of munitions and American funding, resource allocation and the British Blockade, gave the allies a clear advantage on the home front. The utilization of the superior weaponry and manpower as well as improved tactics on the battlefront gave the allies an upper hand in this war of attrition. The final loss of German morale on both the home and battlefronts, directly influenced by allied propaganda, the arrival of the Americans and Germany’s political instability, led to the cessation of the war and thus, allied victory. The allied and …show more content…
These strategies were then consolidated in 1918. The allies also adopted the use of Gas, it being one of the most feared weapons. Source B depicts the use of gas masks. As gas was used frequently, allied soldiers would often wear their masks as a precautionary measure, especially when firing machine guns, like the source shows. The allied forces superior manpower aided in the war of attrition that WW1 had become. The allies could gain troops from a number of nations as by the end of the War, over 32 countries were supporting them. Germany was by then fighting alone. As source C displays, despite the fact that the allies had more military deaths than that of the central powers, their population was around eight times larger, thus allowing this high loss of life. The Allied forces essentially had more personnel, weaponry and munitions supplies. This, along with their ability to develop tactics and engage all elements of the battlefront, supported the perpetuation of ‘Total War’ and the allies’ victory. The loss of German morale on both the home and battlefronts greatly affected the outcome of the war. This diminution of confidence was directly related to allied propaganda, the entrance of the Americans to WW1 and the political instability of Germany. The lack of food supplies due to the British Blockade and increasing casualty lists begun to make an impact on German morale. This, combined with the allies’
Imagine you are a soldier at war fighting for your country. You have no other thought in your head but the fact that you are destined to beat the filthy slobs on the other side. Little do you know how the chemicals used to destroy the enemy will effect him; let alone yourself. Little do you know how the enemy’s family on the other side will be affected once he’s dead. World War 1 and World War 2 both had many similarities and differences. Both Wars started from an imbalance of power, had incredibly high death tolls, and caused lasting effects on many countries.
The Great War, known as World War I, left an indelible mark on history, altering its course in ways unimaginable. Its ferocity and impact were unlike anything seen before, with millions of lives lost and extensive destruction that scarred nations for generations. What set World War I apart from its predecessors, leading to unprecedented devastation? The transformative power of military technology played a pivotal role in the heightened lethality of WWI.
Richard Overy’s book “Why the Allies Won” is a great read for those who are intrigued by World War II alternate histories. Overy gives unique insights on the large scaled picture regarding how the war went throughout each of his chapters. The book identifies that the resulting Allied victory was not inevitable, and then it points out the factors that contributed to making the Allied victory possible.
On the whole, this is the most significant point that will be discussed because simply, the Eastern Front is where the war was won and it also facilitated the landing of the allied troops in Normandy – D-Day. Stalin had been longing for the opening of the second front to draw German tanks and infantry away from the Eastern Front. The crucial aerial bombing meant that Germany had to withdraw anti-tank guns from the Eastern front and instead, use them to fight the British bombers in the sky. This was evident with the AA Defence System (88mm tank guns) which could no longer inflict damage upon the Red Army and the Soviets. Similarly, the Germans had to divert money and manpower (infantry) to provide a significant enough opposition to discourage the Allies from continuing with their long range offensives. As well as diversion of resources, the priority of the German manufacturers shifted greatly whereby the number of fighters increased on the German front from 1405 to 1650 in 1943-44, but decreased on the Eastern Front from 445 to 425 in 1943-44. The switch of bombers to fighters meant that troops on the front line did not have a protective air force. This, along with the minimalised production of weapons, reduced the war effort served by the Germans on the Eastern Front. The only fight which the Germans could put up there was defensive which inevitably, gave
After the Germans Schlieffen plan failed they retreated to the north where trenches were constructed by both the Allies and the Entente. This subsequently led to a stalemate that would not be broken until years later. Due to the short war illusion misguiding nearly every country’s prominent leaders. Every nation involved in the Great War began to realize that they were not economically prepared for a long-term war. The type of mobilization that every country’s home front experienced was unprecedented. After the fall of 1914 social norms would be modified, new socioeconomic opportunities would be presented, government intervention would increase, and every citizen would experience some form of propaganda to influence their views on the war.
In 1919, Treaty of Versailles was made after the World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary was blamed for the Great War and was imposed financial debts and territorial dismemberment on them. Germans could not afford the huge debts and during the 1920s the Great Depression which started in the USA impacted the economies of the whole world. There was high unemployment and the prices of daily necessities were high. The German government was distrusted. People chose to believe a man Adolf Hitler with his extreme ideas, and Racism that promised to make Germany stand up again. After Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933, he had secretly built up a military and
The development of the allied military strategy in World War II (WWII) presented challenges for the U.S. and Great Britain as they worked together to defeat the Axis powers. First, this paper will review the environment at the time of WWII when Admiral Stark penned the “Plan Dog” memorandum and MAJ Wedemeyer’s War Defense Team put together the “Victory Plan”. Next, it will look at the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations with supporting examples. Then, a review of two major meetings between U.S. and Great Britain will identify what strategic decisions were made and the effects they have on the war. Finally, this paper will explore the foundations of strategy (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) by which the allied forces used and
The crushing defeat and ultimate failure of the Axis Powers was caused by significant events that had a great impact on the war. The Allies were victorious in 1945 due to the sheer military power of the United States, the infamous Soviet Transformation and the ‘Battle of Moscow’, the crushing fall of Japan and the vast resource differences between the Axis Powers and the Allies. These major events that took place during World War 2 helped shape the victorious outcome for the Allies, by not only weakening the German’s military force, but also its confidence.
Before World War I, wars were fought with the objective of completely defeating the enemy. However, it was clear that this war could not be one by eradicating the enemy, that objective was virtually impossible to achieve and would have cost the lives of more men. This war would have to be won by the losing side surrendering to the victor. While the Allied forces possessed an abundance of soldiers and provisions, the Central powers were unable to gather the manpower and provisions needed to continue the war. Their own people were starving and began to revolt against the government. By the end of the war,
When most people talk about World War I, they typically only talk about the Western front. The Eastern front was entirely different compared to the Western front but equally as ghastly. Nonetheless, the one thing both fronts had in common was the vitality of the German army, which was the only country that fought a two-front war, as it had to fight in the West against the Entrance powers of France and Great Britain and in the East against the Russia. Germany had to bear the brunt of the fighting on both fronts as Austria-Hungry proved incapable of resisting Russian offensives without German support. The support of the Entrance and Central powers’ home fronts were essential to the war efforts and came in multiple forms such as economic assistance or social acceptance. For instance, the West proved to be an effective adversary against the Central Powers as the Entrance Powers’ approach to economic warfare disheartened the Central Powers’ armies and helped undermined their ability to wage total war. Total war demanded total mobilization of all a nation's resources, but what the most important resources were, differed between the two fronts. For example, vast munitions industries had to be built to provide supplies for the stalled armies on the Western front but in the East, providing transportation and the mobility of such transportation was the most significant challenge. While both fronts faced their own unique challenges, overcoming such challenges was key to military
There were many problems that arise from the war, these were matters, which the German
Another important reason for the defeat of Germany is the effective integration of technologies which the Allies had employed by the end of the war. By the end of the war Allied (particularly British) command had improved technologies and had learnt to use them better than earlier in the war. Technologically, the Allies had a great advantage in 1918 onwards: Germany had some very high quality, but very few tanks and aircraft. By the war's end, Germany had 45 tanks whilst the Allies had almost 3,500, and even Germany's 45 tanks were mostly Allies tanks in disrepair or Germany's notoriously unreliable A7V. The Allies also had an air advantage: by late 1918
During World War II, Germany’s military was superior to anyone else in the world, with far more advanced technology, tactics, and weaponry. They had a fearless leader who would stop at nothing to make his country great again. Their closest rival, the Soviet Union, was almost out of the picture with a death toll of over 26 million. On top of that, Germany had nothing to lose, and would not conceivably stop. So how then, with all odds against them, did the Allies win the war? A combination of factors affected Germany’s downfall, such as lack of morale, unwieldy weapons, and failure to work with its so-called allies.
World War II, the second time of the world war, lasted from September 1th, 1939 to September 2th 1945. There were two difference alliances in the WWII, the Axis and Anti-fascist Alliance. The winner of the WWII was Allies, and there are many reasons that can explain why Allies can win it. The most important reason is that Allies gained most support from the public and citizens because Allies represented the justice side. However, there is also a crucial factor that helps the Allies to win the WWII which is the new invention and technology. Inventors made new weapons such as tanks, proximity fuses and atom bomb. The impacts of these weapons were positive to Allies in WWII and those new inventions make a big step of human progress.
This book written by Paul Kennedy is called “Engineers of Victory” and it discusses how the Second World War was fought and won by the Allied Powers. He discusses five main point that are often talked about actually winning the war by themselves. These topics are how we were able to overcome the “wolf pack” of U-boats to get convoys to Britain, gaining command of the air over the Luftwaffe, the ability to halt the Nazi Blitzkrieg, overcoming the harsh problems with amphibious landings, or finally over coming distance for America when they fought against Japan. Kennedy in this book argues that none of these alone were enough to win the war by themselves but instead working together were able to win the war.