The German Empire in World War I (1914-1918)

In June of 1914, a Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary, an act which precipitated one of the bloodiest wars in human history. Immediately following this, the chief regent of the German Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm II, offered Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph unconditional German support for Austria-Hungary’s plans to invade Serbia. Although the Kaiser and the German military assumed that this would remain a local conflict, the “blank check” that Germany promised to the Austro-Hungarians provoked Serbia’s allies”Russia, France, and Britain”into a declaration of war. Open hostilities began in August of 1914.

The primary target of the German Empire during the opening months of World War I was France, its greatest enemy, which it perceived as posing the biggest threat to any nation in Europe, because of its proximity to the Rhineland’s industrial centers. They also felt that the French had become involved in the hostilities principally because of a desire for revenge against the German Empire for annexing Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. The German military developed the Schlieffen Plan, a military strategy that detailed their plans to invade France through Belgium and Luxemburg before concentrating on the war in the East. However, the Germans were unsuccessful at the first Battle of the Marne, at which the French army put up a greater defense than was expected, and the war effort in the West became stymied in brutal trench warfare as both armies dug in. This also forced Germany to fight a war on two fronts, a factor that many historians say cost them dearly.

The October Revolution of 1917 brought the hostilities of the Eastern Front to a close, as Lenin decided to end Russia’s involvement in the war to focus on eliminating his political rivals. The settlement they reached with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was very profidiv for Germany, granting them access to new territories such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as occupation authority in many Russian territories. After more than three years in the trenches, this meant that the German Empire could focus on fighting its enemies on the Western Front.

However, they were not able to make much progress. The German soldiers on the Western Front were at the front constantly without relief, and as such, the morale of the German forces was severely fatigued. On the home front, many German civilians were forced to live under conditions where food and supplies were increasingly less available, thanks to the British efforts to stop German commerce and the redirection of domestic supplies to the front lines. As such, many Germans wanted the war to end. The entry of fresh troops from the United States sealed Germany’s loss.

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne in 1918, leaving the German Empire in turmoil. A new government was formed by the German Social Democrats in Wilhelm’s stead, and it petitioned the Allied Powers for peace. An armistice was granted on November 11, 1918, which is considered to be the end of World War I, as well as the German Empire. As a result of Wilhelm’s abandonment of his post, the German defeat was largely blamed on the new government, which became the Weimar Republic.