Russian Surrender and the Failure of the Ludendorff Offensive

Aims: Identify the reasons why Russia was defeated in 1917. Examine the outcome of the Ludendorff Offensive in 1918.

The Russian Revolution 1917 By 1917 Russia was in trouble: Russian army had suffered heavy losses Russian people faced severe food shortages The Tsar (Russian Emperor) who was not a soldier – was in the charge of the army. The Russian people began to blame the Tsar for all their problems.

The Russian Revolution 1917 In March 1917 the Russian people rioted and no longer wanted to be ruled by the Tsar. The Tsar abdicated (gave up his throne) and a new government was set up. A REVOLUTION had taken place in Russia – a complete change in the government. Russia’s new leader was man called Lenin. He was the leader of a party called the Bolsheviks (later known as Communists).

The Russian Revolution 1917 Lenin realised that people just wanted the war to end and enough to eat. Russia admitted defeat and made peace with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk. Huge areas of land were surrendered to Germany. For the Allies, Russia’s surrender was a heavy blow but for Germany this was a great opportunity to win the war. Why was this the case?

The Significance of Russian Surrender At this point the war quickly tipped in Germany’s favour. She could transfer one million troops from her Eastern border to the west. The Schlieffen plan had been finally been fulfilled three years later than planned and in reverse!!!

The Ludendorff Offensive General Ludendorff was a famous German general who had led the army to victory in previous battles during the war. He planned a final push for the German army to attack along the whole front line with small groups of soldiers attacking. This was successful at first but the Germans failed to capitalise on this victory.

Group Task Read pages 60-62 from your Heinemann textbook. Each person in your group should take a turn to read a section of information to the others. As a group identify FIVE key points about the Ludendorff Offensive which you should aim to remember.

The Implications of Failure German soldiers morale dipped further. There was the realisation that the war could not be won. The German people were facing starvation, a flu epidemic hit Europe and the Allies were pushing Germany back and German soldiers were sick of fighting for no advantage. It was time to surrender….

Events in Germany On 28th October German sailors mutinied (went on strike) after been ordered out to sea for one final attack. Riots and demonstrations spread throughout Germany. On the 9th November the deeply unpopular Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland. A new German government was appointed until elections could take place. On the 11th November an armistice was signed. All fighting ceased at 11am.

Task Collect a copy of the factsheet on the Ludendorff Offensive. Your task is to match the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ and copy them into your jotter. You should also try to write in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. Use Heinemann pages 60 – 63 to help you with this.

Correct Order 6b 3i 5g 7f 2c 9d 8a 1h 4e