1917:The Turning Point of World War I

Fatigue

1917 was the decisive year of the war : all the belligerants (countries that were fighting) were war-weary and nearing collapse. In France mutinies occurred in the trenches. Socialist leaders tried to open peace talks with the Germans. In Britain there were factory strikes and in Italy there was a disastrous retreat as soldiers abandoned the war against Austria and Hungary.

Russian Revolutions

In Russia defeats on the Eastern front and a hungry population in Petrograd led to the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917. Although a Provisional Government tried to continue the war , supported by France and Britain, a second revolution led by the Bolsheviks in Nov.1917 led to an armistice (cease-fire) with Germany and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) ending the war in the east. Now Germany could concentrate her forces in the west for a final, mighty assault.

Entry of USA to War

Had German military commanders known that Russia would collapse before the end of the year perhaps they would not have made a critical decision in March 1917 : to open unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships , even neutral ones , approaching Britain. The sinking of American vessels brought the USA into the war in April 1917 but the Germans calculated that it would take at least a year for US troops to be trained , transported across the Atlantic and put into the trenches ; within that time a starving Britain could be forced to negociate an end to the war.

New Prime Ministers

In fact US soldiers began arriving in France in autumn 1917 and quickly proved to be the decisive advantage for the Entente powers. In France Georges Clemenceau and in Britain, David Lloyd-George became the tough new prime ministers, ending all talk of a compromise peace.