{"id":877,"date":"2017-04-04T18:39:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=877"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:39:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:39:00","slug":"germany-in-world-war-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/germany-in-world-war-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany in World War I: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Germany was one of the main combatants in the outbreak and fighting of\u00a0World War I<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, Germany was one of the main\u00a0Central Powers<\/a>, alongside\u00a0Austria-Hungary<\/a>,\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>. While the war was primarily a European conflict, it ultimately became a global war due to the involvement of countries from around the world.\u00a0 For example, at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the main European nations had colonies around that world, which they had acquired during the\u00a0Age of Imperialism<\/a>.\u00a0 For its part, German soldiers were present in many of the major battles of the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>\u00a0of World War I and fought in the trenches<\/a> of northern Europe.\u00a0 The war had a profound impact on Germany and led directly to the events of\u00a0World War II<\/a>\u00a0just two decades later.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Germany
Germany in World War I – Infographic (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GERMANY ENTERS WORLD WAR I<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World War I<\/a> erupted during the summer of 1914 in an event that historians refer to as the\u00a0July Crisis<\/a>.\u00a0 In short, this crisis was caused by the\u00a0assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand<\/a>, which led to the major European powers engaging in a conflict.\u00a0 For example, Germany was pulled into the crisis due to its alliance with Austria-Hungary, which was called the\u00a0Triple Alliance<\/a>.\u00a0 Italy<\/a> was also part of this agreement, but remained neutral at the start of the war and then eventually joined the other side when it joined in 1915.\u00a0 During the war, Germany along with its allies faced off against the\u00a0Allied Powers<\/a>, which included:\u00a0Britain<\/a>,\u00a0France<\/a>, and\u00a0Russia<\/a>.\u00a0 Whereas, Germany fought alongside Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Assassination
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand artwork by Achille Beltrame from an Italian newspaper. It shows Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Officially, World War I started on July 28th, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.\u00a0 In response, Russia mobilized its forces further on July 30th and began to prepare for war with Austria-Hungary.\u00a0 Having heard of the Russian mobilization against Austria-Hungary, Wilhelm II<\/a> of Germany ordered German mobilization on August 1st.\u00a0 In fact, Germany had promised its ally, Austria-Hungary, a \u2018blank check\u2019 in support of the conflict.\u00a0 German troops were readied to invade France, through Belgium with the plan of attack known as the Schlieffen Plan<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, Germany formally declared war on August 1st against France, Belgium, and Russia.\u00a0 This caused Britain to enter the fray on August 4th when it declared war against Germany.\u00a0 This was due in part to Germany\u2019s invasion of Belgium, which Britain had promised to protect.\u00a0 However, Britain also wanted to keep its commitments to France as outlined in the their alliance agreement.\u00a0 Finally, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6th in retaliation for its support of Serbia.\u00a0 With that, World War I had begun and Europe was divided.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the driving factors behind Germany\u2019s entry into the fighting of World War I is its history with its European neighbors.\u00a0 For instance, by 1914, Germany felt fairly surrounded and threatened by the alliance system established between France, Britain and Russia.\u00a0 In particular, Germany had a history of conflict with its direct neighboring country \u2013 France. \u00a0Both nations had a history of war against each other and their rivalry caused them to expand their military forces.\u00a0 For example, the Franco-Prussian War<\/a> had occurred just decades earlier from 1870 until 1871.\u00a0 More specifically, Prussia (the largest Germanic Kingdom before the unification of Germany) defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War.\u00a0 As part of its defeat, France gave up a section of its land called Alsace-Lorraine, which bordered with Germany.\u00a0 Germany\u2019s control over Alsace-Lorraine was a major source of frustration for France and led to heightened tensions between Germany and France.\u00a0 In fact, France and Germany both had a deep mistrust of each other in the years before World War I.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the decades before World War I, many European countries began to practice\u00a0militarism<\/a>\u00a0and worked to expand and strengthen their military forces.\u00a0 For example, there was an intense arms race and naval race between several European nations in the buildup to World War I.\u00a0 Specifically, France and Germany were heavily involved in an arms race in which each country doubled their armies between 1870 and 1914.\u00a0 At the outbreak of fighting in 1914, France had approximately 4 million soldiers while Germany had over 4.5 million.\u00a0 This was significant because most other European countries did not have nearly as many soldiers at the ready to fight.\u00a0 At the same time, Germany was also engaged in an intense\u00a0naval race<\/a> with Britain before the start of World War I. Each nation raced to build more ships and capabilities, which led to an extreme increase in tensions between them.\u00a0 As such, historians consider the naval race between these two major European nations to be a main cause of World War I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Militarism
Militarism was one of the M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, alongside alliances, imperialism and nationalism.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GERMANY IN WORLD WAR I – ARMY AND COMMAND<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the start of World War I, in 1914, Germany had one of the most powerful armies in Europe.  This was due, in part, to the arms race that Germany and France competed in before the start of war.  However, Germany was also a militaristic nation by nature and was well known for its military practices and strength in the decades before the start of World War I.  In all, Germany had a force of about 4.5 million soldiers in 1914.  The use of conscription (mandatory military service) and the calling up of reserve forces allowed Germany to quickly expand its army once the war had begun.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaiser Wilhelm II<\/a>, the German Emperor, was the commander of the German Army throughout World War I.\u00a0 With that said, the field operations of the German Army during the war were handled by the Supreme Army Commander.\u00a0 At the start of World War I, the Supreme Army Commander was Helmuth von Moltke.\u00a0 He served in the position until September of 1914, and was eventually replaced by Erich von Falkenhayn, who served until August of 1916.\u00a0 Finally, Paul von Hindenburg<\/a>, took over the role in 1916 and held it until after the end of World War I.\u00a0 These commanders each oversaw the major operations of the German Army during the war and organized the German war effort.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wilhelm
‘Kaiser Wilhelm II’ by Max Koner (1890).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Millions of Germans eventually served in the Germany Army as the war progressed.\u00a0 The ever-increasing demand for soldiers was due to Germany\u2019s two-front war that it faced throughout World War I.\u00a0 For instance, Germany fought on both the Western Front<\/a> and the Eastern Front<\/a>.\u00a0 By the end of the war, in 1918, the German Army totaled 13.2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Battle
German soldiers during the Battle of Caporetto in World War I. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GERMANY IN WORLD WAR I – NAVY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u200bNot only did Germany possess a powerful army in 1914, but they also had a capable navy.\u00a0 In fact, in Europe, Germany was only outpaced by Britain, which had the largest navy in the world at the time.\u00a0 The two nation participated in a\u00a0naval race<\/a>\u00a0in the years before World War I, which included a drive to increase naval technology.\u00a0 One such naval advancement was the \u2018dreadnought<\/a>\u2019.\u00a0 The dreadnought was a class of battleship that existed in the timeframe of World War I.\u00a0 However, the first dreadnought was the HMS Dreadnought from the British Royal Navy.\u00a0 The name is meant to refer to a sense of \u2018fearlessness\u2019.\u00a0 It was first launched in 1906, and completely changed the history of naval warfare at the time.\u200b\u00a0 Germany responded by developing its own fleet of dreadnought-class ships.\u00a0 In fact, by the start of World War I, the German Navy had 17 dreadnoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Naval
Kaiser Wilhelm II on the naval race before World War I. (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another important factor of the German Navy during World War I was its U-boat Campaign from 1914 until 1918.\u00a0 The term \u2018U-boat\u2019 refers to the German submarines<\/a> that were used in World War I.\u00a0 In general, the U-Boat Campaign by Germany was an attack against the merchant shipping routes of the Allied nations.\u00a0 As the war progressed, Germany attempted to push the war in its favor by limiting the supplies and raw materials that Britain and France received from their colonies.\u00a0 As such, Germany used its U-boats to attack and sink merchant ships as a means of hurting the war effort of these nations.\u00a0 In fact, since Britain was an island nation it required a steady supply of outside resources and shipments.\u00a0 As such, the goal of the British Royal Navy was to maintain these supply lines, while the German Navy attempted to sink transport ships as a means of hurting the British war effort.\u00a0 Historians estimate that as many as 5,000 transport or merchant ships were lost to German U-boat attacks in World War I.\u00a0 The British, and their allies, responded by grouping merchant ships into convoys that were defended by ships from the British Royal Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dreadnought
German Dreadnought ‘SMS Kaiser’. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GERMANY IN WORLD WAR I – MAJOR BATTLES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

German forces participated in some of the most significant battles of World War I, and were most active on the\u00a0Western Front.\u00a0 In general, the landscape of Europe in World War I was divided into a few different \u2018fronts\u2019.\u00a0 For instance, the Western Front<\/a> was located on the western-half of Europe and included a line of trenches<\/a> that stretched throughout much of northern France and Belgium.\u00a0 With that said, German forces also participated in some battles along both the\u00a0Eastern Front<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Italian Front<\/a> (Alpine Front).\u00a0 However, the primary focus of the German Army was generally on the trenches of the Western Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As stated above, German forces participated in many battles of World War I.  Some of the most significant events of World War I that Germany participated in included:\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n