How Did the First World War End?

By 1917, the First World War had been going on for three long years, and things were starting to change quickly. In 1917, Russia tried one last major attack on the Eastern Front (called the Kerensky Offensive), but it failed. At the same time, the country was going through serious internal problems — a revolution had started. Because of this, Russia decided to leave the war and signed a peace treaty with Germany in March 1918. This was called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and it officially ended the fighting between Russia and the Central Powers on the Eastern Front.

In 1917, the United States joined the war on the side of the Allies. This was mostly because Germany had begun using unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking American ships without warning. One famous example was the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, which had already angered Americans. In April 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany. Although German submarines were successful at first, the Allies soon began protecting their ships with convoys, making it harder for U-boats to attack.

Meanwhile, with Russia out of the war, Germany focused all its troops on the Western Front. In early 1918, they launched a huge attack and got close to Paris, reaching the Marne River. But just in time, fresh American troops arrived and helped stop the German advance. This marked the beginning of the end for Germany.

In the summer of 1918, the Allies began launching big offensives of their own. The British won the Battle of Amiens, and the French were successful at the Battle of Rheims. Germany was running out of soldiers and supplies. Many of their troops were young boys, only 15 or 16 years old. On the Austro-Hungarian front, the Central Powers suffered another defeat at the Battle of the Piave.

One by one, Germany’s allies began to surrender. Bulgaria gave up on September 29, the Ottoman Empire surrendered on October 30, and Austria-Hungary surrendered on November 3. Meanwhile, a revolution broke out in Germany. The Kaiser (Wilhelm II) was forced to step down on November 9, and just two days later, on November 11, 1918, Germany signed an armistice in a train carriage in the French town of Compiègne. The Great War was finally over.

Before the war ended, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had come up with a peace plan called the Fourteen Points. His ideas included:

• No more secret treaties

• Freedom to sail on the seas and trade freely

• Reducing weapons and armies

• Fair treatment for colonies

• The right for people to choose their own governments (self-determination)

• Creating an organization to keep peace in the world: the League of Nations

In 1919, the victors of the war met in Paris to decide what to do next. The leaders were known as “The Big Four”:

• Woodrow Wilson (USA)

• David Lloyd George (UK)

• Georges Clemenceau (France)

• Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

However, there were disagreements. France and Britain wanted Germany to be punished. Italy wanted the land it had been promised. Many small nations in former empires wanted independence.

The most important treaty was the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919. Germany had to accept full blame for the war and agree to harsh conditions: Germany lost land to France, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland. The region of Alsace-Lorraine went back to France. The Polish Corridor was created, cutting off East Prussia. All of Germany’s colonies were taken and given to Britain, France, or Japan. Germany’s army was limited. It wasn’t allowed to have submarines or an air force. The Rhineland (a border region) had to stay free of German troops. Germany had to pay about $31 billion in reparations (compensation) for the damages caused by the war.

Besides Germany, other Central Powers also had to sign peace treaties. Austria signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919). It accepted the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, and was banned from uniting with Germany. Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Neuilly (1919) and lost land to its neighbors. Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon (1920). It lost two-thirds of its land, and three million Hungarians now lived in other countries. The Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). Its lands were divided into mandates run by Britain and France (like Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon). The Turkish nationalist leader Kemal Atatürk led a rebellion and later signed a new treaty in 1923 — the Treaty of Lausanne — which created modern Turkey.

Wilson’s dream of keeping peace became a reality with the creation of the League of Nations in 1919. Its goals were to prevent future wars, solve international problems through discussion but the League had big weaknesses. The USA didn’t join, because the U.S. Senate said no. Germany and Russia were not allowed to join at first. It had no army and couldn’t enforce its rules.

Because of these problems, and because many countries were bitter about the peace terms, the League was not strong enough to stop new conflicts in the future. That’s why many people later said that the peace after World War I was built on “quicksand.”