Last time we discussed the rise of Germany. A lot of details were left out, but I'm not sure how else to keep it concise. We left the story around 1900 or so. If you haven't read part 1. Click on this first before continuing with Part 2. As we go along, I would like the reader to know that I don't want to portray Germany as being "the good guy." I really don't believe any nation should be so militaristic and cruel as Germany was here. Yet, it's hard to say that they were much if any worse than most of the other nations who were actively attacking in this war.
Bismarck was fired by the new young king. Before he left, he had a complex system of alliances. This protected Germany from the type of situations you will soon read about. The new young king never learned this, and whoever he surrounded himself with didn't either. There was unrest throughout Europe. In 1914 a prince from Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian. There was lots of bad feeling between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. They were apt to go at it at any moment, and this was merely the tipping point. Perhaps in the future, I will write a series on World War 1, but for now, I'm going to keep it tight, because this is about Germany.
2 things that were particularly alarming about Europe now that pertain to this situation. 1. It seemed like everyone in Europe was greedy and spoiling for a fight. 2. The alliances were alarming if things escalated. Let's try to work through this. Serbia and Russia were allies. Russia and France were allies. Britain had guaranteed Belgium that it would protect Belgium's neutrality. Germany and Austria-Hungary were allies as well. So let's blow it up, here's how it became the great European war. Serbia assassinated Austria-Hungary's prince. Germany agreed to back Austria-Hungary up if they sought to get "justice". Russia agreed to protect Serbia from Austria-Hungary. This immediately puts us in a situation where Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia are at war.
Germany's war strategy was thought out with the knowledge that they were in a desperate predicament, being stuck between Russia and France. Both were planning to attack them because France was going to help Russia. Germany decided to invade France and quickly knock them out before Russia had time to get going, and then turn and face Russia. France had great border defenses along the border they shared with Germany. Germany bypassed this border and invaded Belgium, and then into France from Belgium. The problem was, Belgium didn't cooperate. They saw it as an invasion and fought it. This brought Britain into the war on the side of France and Belgium. Germany advanced to about 20 miles from Paris and both sides tried to outflank each other, they dug trenches running from the English Channel to Switzerland and sat in a state of trench warfare for the rest of the war on that front. Hat tip to the British. The situation got so dire in France that their army mutinied and looked like they would lose to Germany again, but the Brits held the line for them. Germany also was unaware that France had mutinied and so didn't press their advantage.
Russia mobilized and Germany's worst fear was realized. They had to hold their ground in France while beating back the Russians. They actually beat Russia. Partly by being way better militarily and because they helped Lenin get into Russia. Lenin started the revolution that created the Soviet Union. Germany also tried to attack various points of the British Empire in Africa and possibly a few other places to draw Britain away from France. Austria-Hungary really struggled, not only did they have Serbia, Italy attacked them, and so did Russia. Germany had to bail them out at various points. Germany talked the Ottoman Empire into coming in on their side, but the Ottomans were weak and not much help. Ultimately, Germany had a real chance of winning the war when they knocked Russia out, but, America came in.
America bankrolled Britain's war efforts. America got rich by continually building goods and sending them to British Canada for distribution and loaning money. This protected Britain from the financial ruin Germany was facing. Germany got desperate and used their submarines to sink merchant ships. One time they sunk a passenger ship called the Lusitania, and many civilians, including Americans, died. American sentiment was turned against the Germans. They kept bankrolling Britain, but Woodrow Wilson the president kept saying that all parties should sit down and work out an equitable deal for everyone. When Germany tried to talk Mexico into attacking America to distract them from the British support, their telegram was intercepted and given to the Americans. So it was that about the time that Germany had knocked Russia out and was prepared to mass her troops to deliver the knockout blow to France, fresh well equipped Americans arrived in France and held the line.
Germany remembered Wilson's talk of a fair deal and asked America for a truce. America entered talks with Britain and France. America listened to their sob story and believed it. In short, Germany was told to not only give up a lot of territories, but to disarm, she and her allies were to take responsibility for the whole war, and Germany was to pay an outrageous sum to the others for the damages incurred. Germany protested vehemently. They were told to sign or expect to be attacked. Since America now tipped the scale against them, Germany signed. Germany was awful in this war, but so was everyone else. Germany was never conquered in this war. She had fallen and even been beaten, but not vanquished. The people were angry. The stage was set for a radical to sway the populace, and for a dark menace to take hold. Germany would recover, Germany would rebuild, and then all these people would rue the day! All the German soldiers went home that day, and many were bitter and angry. For now, though they had lives to rebuild. One young Austrian-born German was especially angry, he survived the war, but he was obscure. One day everyone would know his name. It was Adolf Hitler.
Ferdinand Foch, the leader of French, British, and American troops saw the penalties on Germany as being too lenient. He feared that if Germany were not completely vanquished then there would be a problem in the future, he said, “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years!” He was right. The deal was harsh enough to anger Germany, but not harsh enough to break them. I see now with how long this has gotten that there will need to be a part 3, let's call it "The Evil End."
-Loren
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