914 Ch. 22 • The Great War
officials became more common. In July, the Reichstag passed a resolution
by a large majority asking the government to repudiate a policy of annexa
tion and commit itself to seeking a peace of reconciliation. But the Reich
stag had little influence in what amounted to a military government. In
Germany, when William III dismissed Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg in
1917, he gave Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff even more power.
The Final Stages of the War
In 1917, two events of great consequence changed the course of the war.
Reacting in part to the German campaign of unrestricted submarine war
fare against Allied shipping, the United States entered the war in April on
the Allied side. And Russia, where the February Revolution toppled the
tsar (see Chapter 23), withdrew from the war after the Bolsheviks seized
power in October. Meanwhile, the French armies seemed on the verge of
collapse. Widespread mutinies occurred. And a massive German offensive
that began in March 1918 pushed Allied forces back farther than they had
been since 1914, before grinding to a halt in the face of stiff resistance.
The stage was set for the final phase of the war.
The United States Enters the WarIn 1916, Woodrow Wilson had been re-elected president of the United
States on the platform “He kept us out of war.” The U.S. government had
adopted a declaration of neutrality, but American popular sympathy gener
ally lay with the Allies, even though the German government tried to capital
ize on American resentment of the British blockade, which entailed searches
of American ships. U.S. bankers made profitable loans to both sides, but
far more funds went to the Allies than to the Central Powers.
On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank the British cruise liner Lusi
tania off the coast of Ireland. The ship was, despite U.S. denials, carrying
American-made ammunition to Britain; 128 U.S. citizens were among the
almost 1,200 killed. The United States, already outraged by the recent Ger
man introduction of mustard gas into combat, protested vigorously, and on
September 1 the German government accepted the American demand that
it abandon the unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany, wanting to keep
the United States neutral, adopted a policy of warning liners before sink
ing them, providing for the safety of the passengers.
The fact remained that only with submarines could Germany prevent
Britain from maintaining total control of the high seas. In 1916, the Ger
man fleet left port to challenge the British Royal Navy. The German admi
ralty hoped to entice part of the main British fleet into a trap by offering a
smaller fleet as a target off the Norwegian coast. German submarines lay
in wait, along with a sizeable surface fleet. The British, who had broken