Ending the War Practice Questions

Study Source A below, then answer the question.

Source A: From an editorial in an American newspaper, published in early April 1917 while Congress was debating whether the United States should declare war on Germany.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

For two and a half years this country has stood aside from Europe's quarrel. Germany has now ended our neutrality for us. Since February her submarines have sunk without warning any ship sailing to Britain, our own merchant vessels among them, and American lives have again been lost at sea. We have learned, too, that Berlin offered Mexico American territory in return for an alliance against us. A nation whose ships are sunk and whose neighbours are turned against it is no longer neutral in anything but name. Our ships, our factories and, if need be, our soldiers belong now beside the Allies.

Study Sources B and C below, then answer the question.

Source B: From a letter written by a British infantry officer serving with the Fourth Army in France, sent to his family a few days after the attack at Amiens, August 1918.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

We went forward at dawn behind a creeping barrage, with the tanks ahead of us in the mist. In four hours we were further forward than in four months on the Somme. The Germans we took were tired men who gave themselves up readily, and some told us their units had no reserves behind them. Our aeroplanes were over their batteries all morning. After three years of trenches it is strange to march across open country. The men believe that this time we shall not be pushed back.

Source C: From a report sent to headquarters by a German battalion commander on the Western Front, October 1918, explaining the condition of his unit.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

Since the enemy broke our positions on the Hindenburg Line my battalion has fallen back twice. I have fewer than two hundred men fit to fight, and the drafts sent to me are boys or men returned from hospital. There are no reserves. The American divisions opposite us are fresh and seem to have no end of guns and ammunition. Letters from home speak of nothing but hunger, and this is doing more harm to discipline than the enemy's shells. I cannot promise that the next position will be held.

Study Sources B and C below, then answer the question.

Source B: From a letter written in February 1918 by a woman living in Hamburg to her son, who was serving in the German army on the Western Front.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

My dear boy, do not worry about us, but I will tell you the truth. There has been no fat in the shops for three weeks and the bread is grey and heavy. We queue from before dawn and often come away with nothing but turnips, which we have eaten in every form since the turnip winter of 1916–17. There is no coal, so the whole family sits in one room. People in the queue say openly that the English ships are starving us and that the war must be brought to an end.

Source C: From a report prepared in October 1918 by an official of the British Ministry of Blockade, for ministers considering the terms to be offered to Germany.

Written for practice: not a real historical source.

The effects of the blockade are now decisive. Imports of fertiliser, fats and fodder have been cut off for four years; the German harvest has fallen year on year and the civilian ration cannot be met. Our agents report strikes in Berlin and Hamburg, open complaints against the government, and unrest among the crews of the High Seas Fleet, which has not fought a fleet action since Jutland. The enemy's armies are short of rubber, oil and motor fuel. The blockade should on no account be relaxed until Germany has accepted the terms of the Allies.