German surrender and armistice

Who's who: before and after 9 November

Power sits with one group before 9 November and a different one after. Spot who is who.

Why was the war unwinnable?

Tap a strain to see how it pushed Germany's leaders towards the same conclusion.

Predict, then check

Think about what ordinary Germans had been allowed to read for four years.

Press censorship had led many Germans to believe the war effort was going well. So how did many soldiers and civilians react when the armistice came?

What you need to know

• In 1914 Germany was a constitutional monarchy under Kaiser Wilhelm II, who delegated power to his military generals, Hindenburg and Ludendorff.
• Have a goYour mate Sam insists the Kaiser personally ran everything in 1914. Fix Sam's sentence in one line.

  He delegated power to his military generals, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, and other elite advisors.

  Sam has mixed up being head of the monarchy with holding all the power: the Kaiser handed a lot of it to his generals.

• Germany buckled under three strains: shortages (the British naval blockade stopped food and supplies arriving), economic collapse and debt, and sinking morale.
• Germany mobilised 11 million troops, and half of them were killed or wounded on the battlefield.
• By autumn 1918 the army hadn't been formally defeated, but its leaders knew the war was unwinnable, so Germany sought peace.
• Have a goFinish it: Germany's leaders sought peace because the war was ____, not because the army had been ____ in battle.

  Unwinnable; defeated.

  It is easy to flip these. The leaders' point was that Germany could not win, which is different from an army losing a battle.

• The Allies (Britain, France and the United States) offered peace if the Kaiser stepped down and Germany embraced democracy. He refused.
• In early November sailors mutinied at Kiel; revolts spread from Hamburg to Munich, and workers and soldiers formed their own councils.
• Leaders feared a violent communist revolution like Russia's in 1917, and the Kaiser's advisors urged Wilhelm to abdicate.
• Have a goWhich comes first in the chain: leaders fearing a Russian-style revolution, or the advisors urging Wilhelm to abdicate?

  The fear comes first, and the advisors' push to abdicate follows it.

  The fear is the pressure and the advice is the result; swap them and the story stops making sense.

• On 9 November 1918 Wilhelm abdicated and fled Germany, a republic was declared, and Friedrich Ebert became chancellor.
• Two days later, on 11 November, the new republic signed the armistice, officially ending the First World War.
• Press censorship had led many Germans to believe the war was going well, so many felt betrayed.

The big picture

Germany's leaders saw by autumn 1918 that the war was unwinnable. Then the dominoes fell: the Kaiser refused to go, sailors mutinied, revolts and councils spread, leaders feared revolution, and Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November. The new republic signed the armistice two days later, and many Germans, told for years that victory was coming, felt betrayed.

⚠ Watch out

Putting the armistice before the abdication. The order is the Kaiser first (9 November), then the new republic signing (11 November). Get the order wrong and it starts to look as though the Kaiser signed.

Memory hook

Nine then eleven: the Kaiser goes on the ninth, and a government only two days old signs on the eleventh.

Check yourself

Explain why Germany's leaders sought peace in autumn 1918 even though the army had not been formally defeated. Use at least two of the strains on Germany.