Editing German Empire (section)

====1918====
[[File:German Empire in 1918.png|thumb|The German Empire during [[World War I]], shortly before its collapse:
{{Legend|#336733|Home Territory (1871–1918)}}
{{Legend|#48a448|[[Puppet states]] (1917–1918)}}
{{Legend|#77c977|Occupied territory (1914–1918)}}]]
The defeat of Russia in 1917 enabled Germany to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. By retraining the soldiers in new [[infiltration tactics]], the Germans expected to unfreeze the battlefield and win a decisive victory before the army of the United States, which had now entered the war on the side of the Allies, arrived in strength.<ref>{{Harvp|Herwig|1996}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> In what was known as the "Kaiserschlacht", Germany converged their troops and delivered multiple blows that pushed back the allies. However, the repeated German offensives in the spring of 1918 all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped and the Germans lacked the [[military reserve|reserves]] needed to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by the [[Russian Revolution]] and were less willing to continue fighting. The war effort sparked civil unrest in Germany, while the troops, who had been constantly in the field without relief, grew exhausted and lost all hope of victory. In the summer of 1918, the British Army was at its peak strength with as many as 4.5&nbsp;million men on the western front and 4,000 tanks for the Hundred Days Offensive, the Americans arriving at the rate of 10,000 a day, Germany's allies facing collapse and the German Empire's manpower exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offensives destroyed the German army.<ref>{{Harvp|Paschall|1994}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

The concept of "[[total war]]" meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Allied [[naval blockade]], German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. First [[food prices]] were controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=German Historical Museum |author-link=German Historical Museum |title=1914–18: Lebensmittelversorgung |url=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/wk1/wirtschaft/versorgung/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001102140012/http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/wk1/wirtschaft/versorgung/index.html |archive-date=2 November 2000 |access-date=23 July 2007 |language=de}}</ref>

Towards the end of the war, conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. The causes included the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, combined with the overburdened railway system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the "turnip winter", because the people had to survive on a vegetable more commonly reserved for livestock, as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the soldiers' rations.{{Sfnp|Chickering|2004|pages=141–142}} The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink. The population of Germany was already suffering from outbreaks of disease due to malnutrition due to Allied blockade preventing food imports. [[Spanish flu]] arrived in Germany with returning troops. Around 287,000 people died of Spanish flu in Germany between 1918 and 1920 with 50,000 deaths in Berlin alone.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

=====Revolt and demise=====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 175-01448, Berlin, Reichskanzlei, Philipp Scheidemann.jpg|thumb|The [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] leader [[Philipp Scheidemann]] [[Proclamation of the republic in Germany|proclaims the republic for Germany]] from the [[Reichstag building]] on 9 November 1918.]]
Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD) and the more radical [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|Independent Social Democratic Party]] (USPD), which demanded an end to the war. The [[American entry into World War I|entry of the U.S.]] into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-run [[balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] even more in favour of the Allies.

The end of October 1918, in [[Kiel]], in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]]. Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of which [[German workers' and soldiers' councils 1918–1919|workers' and soldiers' councils]] were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

[[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] signed the [[Armistice of Salonica]] on 29 September 1918. The [[Ottoman Empire]] signed the [[Armistice of Mudros]] on 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeated [[Austria-Hungary]] in the [[battle of Vittorio Veneto]], which forced Austria-Hungary to sign the [[Armistice of Villa Giusti]] on 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Allies [[Hundred Days Offensive|advancing toward Germany on the Western Front]], Austria-Hungary falling apart from multiple ethnic tensions, its other allies out of the war and pressure from the German high command, the Kaiser and all German ruling kings, dukes, and princes abdicated, and [[German nobility]] was abolished. On 9 November, the Social Democrat [[Philipp Scheidemann]] [[Proclamation of the republic in Germany|proclaimed a republic]]. The new government led by the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|German Social Democrats]] called for and received an [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|armistice]] on 11 November. It was succeeded by the [[Weimar Republic]].<ref>{{Harvp|Ryder|2008}}.{{Page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as the [[Freikorps]], the [[Organisation Consul]], and the Communists.