The Loss of Bulgaria

By the end of summer in 1918 Germany’s troops were fed up, over exhausted and hungry. Since March of that year Germany had lost almost a million men. Those that remained felt they hadn’t been given adequate supplies or leadership. The final blow came in September of 1918 with the loss of Bulgaria to the Allies. Bulgaria was Germany’s stronghold for the Balkan Front.

Germany Requests Armistice

In early October Germany approached U.S. President Woodrow Wilson requesting that America arbitrate an Armistice between the Central Powers and the Allies. Unfortunately, the war raged on for another six weeks as the politicians argued a peace treaty. The Allies wanted nothing less than to force Germany to surrender unconditionally. Admitting total defeat would make Germany responsible for paying for the costs of war. The closer to Armistice the harder it was to bear the losses, yet some of the fiercest fighting of WWI took place in the last few weeks of the war.

The Kaiser Abdicates. While the Armistice conditions were being handed over to the German officials 45 miles outside of Paris, the people of Germany were rebelling against the Kaiser and screaming for democracy. The Kaiser ordered the military to fire on the civilians and when the military refused the Kaiser was forced to abdicate his power and exiled to Holland shortly thereafter.

Armistice (перемирие). The ceasefire (прекращение огня) of the First World War took effect on the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The war was over. Peace and safety was new and a difficult concept for many to grasp.

Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1919, precisely 5 years to the day after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Treaty was meant to end the war, bring peace and to hold Germany responsible for paying for the war. British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon felt the the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were unreasonable and would only set the stage for a Second World War.