TY - RPRT T1 - Germany T2 - 1914-1918-Online International Encyclopedia of the First World War AU - Hirschfeld, Gerhard DO - 10.15463/IE1418.11126 UR - https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/germany/2017-07-17?version=1.0 AB - When war broke out, in light of increasingly inflexible constellations and alliances among European powers, Germany was initially hoping to keep the war limited to Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Soon the conflict involved Russia, Germany, France, and Great Britain, and early war enthusiasm soon declined. In 1915, German armies in the west faced a series of major enemy offensives, which they would repel. 1916 saw military defeats and crises, with supplies deteriorating due to the British naval blockade and severe losses suffered by the German forces. German operational and strategic concepts changed in 1917. Ground forces successfully went on the defensive, while unrestricted submarine war was unsuccessful. When armistice in the east ended the two-front war in late 1917, Germany focused on the spring offensive of 1918. It was a failure, not least due to American forces. At home, military defeat in 1918 allowed for revolutionary constitutional reforms. KW - Deutschland KW - Weltkrieg [1914-1918] KW - World War, 1914-1918 KW - Germany PY - 2017 PB - BSB - Bavarian State Library LA - en ER -