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All (Finally) Quiet on the Western Front |
- By TomStar81
By 1918, with the loss of most of the Central Powers to internal strife as opposed to military conquest, the Imperial German Government found itself in an untenable position of having almost no geographically close allies and insufficient military strength to repel the oncoming Allied Powers advance, which had progressively forced the Imperial German Army to withdraw to the Hindenburg line. With the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria out of the war via armistices signed with the Allied Powers and with the Hundred Day Offensive now taking its toll politically on the German Empire, it was only a matter of time before this last remaining Central Power would collapse to internal strife, be decisively defeated militarily, or would be forced to sue for peace to end the war on something akin to "favorable conditions". Seeing the inevitable end of the war on the horizon, the German Government began taking steps to secure whatever end to the war it could get with favorable conditions.
The conclusion of the German war effort began in late October 1918 with a formal suspension of its submarine campaign on October 20, followed by removal of General Erich Ludendorff. Ludendorff had devised the Spring Offensive, but its failure and his apparent drive to take all the credit for successes regardless of whether he had earned the credit or not ultimately resulted in demands that he be removed from his post for his failures in directing the war effort. Wilhelm Groener, who had earlier been recalled from his post for what many perceived as his views on the war, was reinstated and on October 29 appointed as Ludendorff's successor as First Quartermaster General (Deputy Chief of the General Staff) under Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg. Groener was appointed at a time when civil unrest, mutiny, and internal strife were reaching the point of a self-sustaining reaction; there were growing fears that a revolution was brewing in the German Empire and this combined with Germany's ongoing withdrawal was thought to be pushing the nation to the brink of either a full-blown revolution, or worse, a civil war.
On October 29, sailors of the Imperial German Navy mutinied, setting into motion the German Revolution of 1918–19. As the revolution spread through Germany in early November, Groener began to see the Emperor, Wilhelm II, as an impediment to saving the monarchy and the integrity of the army. On November 6, Groener had reacted indignantly to the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert's suggestion that the Emperor should abdicate, yet Groener himself advised Wilhelm II on November 9 that he had lost the confidence of the armed forces and recommended abdication after Emperor Wilhelm suggested using frontline troops to crush the revolution at home. Groener's goal was to preserve the monarchy, but under a different ruler. He was also in favor of accepting the Allies' armistice conditions, despite their severe nature.
On November 9, in the absence of support from the military and the people of the nation, and with uprising and mutiny in the ranks breaking out, the Kaiser - who had up to that point held out some hope of retaining the crown for Prussia - reluctantly accepted abdication of the throne of the Empire of Germany. The abdication was announced by Prince Maximilian of Baden, who would later be forced to resign his position as well when it became clear that effective power of control for the Empire of Germany rested in the hands of Friedrich Ebert. Informed that as long as Hindenburg was in command of the army it would follow its orders, and with no other option left to him save departure, Wilhelm took his leave of the German Empire on November 10, bound for the Netherlands and his exile from politics. Meanwhile, with Ebert at the helm of the Empire, the German Republic was proclaimed on November 9. This in turn transformed the Empire of Germany into the Weimar Republic, which would continue until the proclamation of the Third Reich. The push for a ceasefire now became a matter of national survival for Germany as opposed to an exercise in diplomacy.
On November 8, with the war effort collapsing all around them and fearful of a socialist uprising such had occurred in Russia in 1917, a German delegation led by Matthias Erzberger had crossed the front lines of the Western Front and entered France, where they proceeded to a railroad siding housing a train of five cars belonging to Ferdinand Foch. In the following 72 hours a brief and hurried negotiation for ceasefire occurred as Allied and German personnel went over a brief list of demands associated with the requested ceasefire. Short of correcting a few points and clarifying a few positions, Germany could not realistically hope to alter or obtain better terms, and at the encouragement of the government in Berlin did not attempt to make a fuss or delay on issues presented. Consequently, the Armistice of 11 November 1918 (also known as the Armistice of Compiègne) came into force at 11 AM Paris Time ( UTC+01:00) and for all intents and purposes ended the combat phase of World War I which had begun in July 1914 with the opening of various theatres of war across Europe.
In contrast to the ceremonies and the celebrations found at the outbreak of the war, its ending with the armistice was very, very quiet. Neither side saw much celebration or jubilee, having long run out of that over the course nearly 52 months of vicious combat, much of it at close range. As the hour of the ceasefire drew near, the final casualties of the ground war began to manifest as troops vied for positions in the event that the conflict flared up again. In some cases, such as with artillery units, forces did not want to have to haul the heavy munitions back and intentionally fired them in order to jettison the ammunition ahead of the ceasefire. In all cases, having received word of the ceasefire and wishing to ensure it came about unimpeded, Allied and Central Power forces made very concerted efforts to ensure that all shots to be fired were fired and all long-range munitions to be expended landed before the ceasefire came into effect. Having struggled in the war up to this point - and in particular on the Western Front of the war - neither side was anxious to have a hard-fought armistice deteriorate over shots fired after the ceasefire came into effect.
While the Armistice of 11 November 1918 would not formally end the war, it did effectively end the conflict by allowing all nations and forces engaged to stand down and return to their home nations. Efforts to build a permanent peace resulted in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, although the terms would not be settled officially by all belligerents until 1923, when the Treaty of Lausanne came into force.
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