h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The German View of November 1918 - A960437
Author: Who? - U202489

Puts a new light on 1918, doesn't it?

Brilliant.

There's a lot there I never knew. I knew about the Kaiser's abdication but nothing about the events leading up to it. It certainly puts the surrender of Germany into perspective.

It is said the Treaty of Versailles made WW II inevitable. It would seem that the state of Germany in 1918 made the Treaty of Versailles just as inevitable.

BTW the link to The German Revolution isn't working properly. Seems to be a mixture of internal and external links.



Stuart

Thanks for the proof reading. Link now OK.

Just an afterthought.

Those few months before and after the War were very worrying and violent in many ways for those living in and around Germany.

Reminds me of an ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

Looks good, so good in fact I could make a pie of it. But instead I'll just nudge it Edited Guideward - if you say I can.

Is it ready?

Go on then....

Can I ask about the final sentence "Be aware.'? What are we being asked to be aware of?

Quite a lot of information about this period can be found from sites which are not what I would call 'safe' sites in that they express views of an extreme nature such as Anarchist, Hard-line Communist or Nazi. Any search engine criteria may bring them up.

The factual content is relatively harmless, if not particularly useful, but the interpretation or commentary is not. I am not supportive of these factions and do not want others to think I am. In addition, I feel that I would be letting down H2G2 readers/surfers if I did not give some indication of the sort of sites a search would uncover. It is one of the hazards of using the Internet.

Anything to do with revolution is political so researchers have to take this on board as they try to uncover the facts behind the myth. The two sites I have given are historical rather than political.

(Steps quietly to avoid the minefield he is entering.)

It might be worth noting that the one portion of the fleet which did not join in the mutinies was the U-boat arm.
With the rise of the Young Turks, surely the Ottoman empire was already effectively at an end?
As an aside - after the turnip winter of 1917, I've seen the speculation that the 1918 offensive, by revealing the relative plenitute of supplies on the Allied side, actually damaged the morale of the German army - whose high command already knew that they had to win the war quickly, before the Americans could arrive in full force, or else they were condemned to defeat.
Regards - another good entry.

I can see this is going to generate a lot of discussion, so I'm going to accept this. Good work, Who?.

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

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Some observations:

The Spring Offensive was Germany's last gasp. It is true that it was timed to try for military advantage before the arrival of the Americans, but the War was still judged to be lost by the German High Command.

Sure, the sight of Allied supplies did not help morale (the advance was held up for a time by combatants helping themselves to supplies of food - and wine!), but the divisions brought in from the East were decimated. Once we had started to push them back, we/they kept on going.

The U-boat fleet were not part of the High Seas Fleet and were at sea for much of the last few years so they did not have time to contemplate rebellion. They were successful and they knew it. Morale was high. The casualties they took were mostly deaths or captured/rescued, so there was little experience of battle casualties. The High Seas Fleet, on the other hand were hotly engaged at Jutland (Skaggerak) and took many casualties. Most of the men in the home ports would have seen this. Morale was low and they also had the time to think about it.

Thanks for the feedback and comments.