Technology Helps the Allied Forces Win World War One

Allied troops pushed back the German attack in a series of bloody battles. The addition of American soldiers greatly increased Allied strength.

The leader of American forces in Europe was General John J. Pershing. General Pershing used a weapon new to the world of war: air power.

General Pershing also used another new weapon of war: tanks. He put these inventions together for his battle plan against Germany.

Pershing's target was the Argonne Forest. It was a tree-covered area Germany had held since nineteen fourteen.

The fighting in the Argonne Forest was fierce. Thousands of men died. Sometimes, troops got lost because the forest was so thick with trees. But day by day, the Allies pushed the Germans back.

Germany's leaders were losing hope. In September, nineteen eighteen, they met with German ruler Kaiser Wilhelm. The army chief reported that the war was lost. Germany had no choice, he said. It must give back all the territory it had seized and try to negotiate a peace agreement.

Kaiser Wilhelm agreed it might be best to seek peace now. . . Before Germany was destroyed completely. He asked his foreign secretary to send a secret message to American President Woodrow Wilson. The message would propose immediate negotiations to end the war.

President Wilson received it. He did not tell the other Allied leaders. Instead, he returned a message to Germany. Wilson asked if Germany was willing to accept the peace proposals he had offered many months earlier.

President Wilson was shocked. He told Germany there could be no peace negotiations with such an inhuman enemy.

In late October, nineteen eighteen, Wilson sent a final message to Germany. He wanted a settlement that would make it impossible for Germany to fight again. Germany, Wilson said, must promise to withdraw its forces from all Allied territory. It also must close its weapons factories.

The new German Chancellor was Maximilian, Prince of Baden. Prince Max received President Wilson's message. He succeeded in getting Kaiser Wilhelm to dismiss the man responsible for German military policy. But he failed to get the Kaiser himself to give up power.

Not all allied leaders supported President Wilson's plan to end World War One. They could not agree on some parts of it.

To solve these differences, Wilson sent his closest adviser to Europe to meet with Allied leaders. The discussions were long and sometimes bitter. Many of the Allies thought Wilson was being too kind to the defeated enemy. But in the end, they all agreed to accept the plan as a starting point for peace talks.

By this time, in early November, the situation in Germany was growing worse. Communists and Socialists were calling for a rebellion. The navy was ordered to go to sea. Sailors refused, and killed some officers. Reports told of rebellion in parts of the German army, too.

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The Germans were shocked when they heard the terms. The list was severe.

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But the German government was falling apart. Kaiser Wilhelm had finally resigned and left the country. A new cabinet had been formed. And a new prime minister had declared a German republic. Yet the situation remained unsettled.

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There were celebrations along the battle lines, too. But these were quiet. Soldiers from both sides climbed out of long trenches dug in the ground. They met the men who, a short while earlier, had been their deadly enemy.

That will be our story next week.

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