EconAir

  Erich Ludendorff This is a summary of the reasons Germany lost World War I. The Allies, sometimes called the  Entente,  was the alliance of France, Russia, and England, later including the United States. INTRODUCTION   Before the war began, Germany could be optimistic about its prospects. The German economy, based on new technology and manufacturing (steel and chemicals), was the largest and most modern in Europe. The two largest manufacturers of heavy artillery were in Germany (Krupp) and Austria-Hungary (Skoda). Germany had the best army in Europe and a detailed strategic plan to quickly win the war.   What Germany lacked was the national resources to win a long war of attrition. The new weapons produce by industrialized countries tended to give defensive  positions with machine guns and barbed wire an advantage over massed infantry attacks. Kaiser Wilhelm’s bombasts and threats had alienated Europe and created enemies. Germany’s only major ally, Austri...

SVG  Map_Europe_alliances_1914-fr.svg   ORIGINS OF THE WAR This is an extraordinarily complicated story. One reason is that it is difficult for the modern reader to understand the mentality of the key decision-makers – their prejudices, mental frameworks, how they reacted to threats and stress. Fortunately, there are several excellent books that attempt to describe the key players’ assumptions, mentality and motivations.   World War I was started by the decisions of a very small number of men, often in secret, implementing secret agreements and understandings, who represented the most reactionary, nationalistic or conservative groups in their countries and governments. Most were incompetent, narrow-minded, myopic and/or delusional. They thought going to war - appealing to nationalist sentiments - would solve or subsume social problems and political challenges that were mostly the result of industrialization and rapid economic  and social change. All planned to w...