Germany's Defeat (1917-1918) | 德国的战败（1917-1918）

📚 Germany’s Defeat (1917-1918) | 德国的战败（1917-1918）

By early 1917, Germany had been at war for two and a half years. The Schlieffen Plan had failed in 1914, and the war had become a brutal stalemate on the Western Front. Germany’s military leadership, under Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, faced a critical strategic dilemma: how to break the deadlock before Germany’s resources ran out.

到1917年初，德国已经打了两年半的战争。施里芬计划于1914年失败，西线战争陷入残酷的僵局。在保罗·冯·兴登堡和埃里希·鲁登道夫领导下的德国军事指挥层面临一个关键的战略困境：如何在德国的资源耗尽之前打破僵局。

1. The American Entry into the War (1917) | 美国参战（1917年）

In January 1917, Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare, aiming to starve Britain into surrender within five months. This proved to be a catastrophic miscalculation. The sinking of American ships, combined with the Zimmermann Telegram (which revealed a German proposal to ally with Mexico against the USA), pushed the United States to declare war on Germany on 6 April 1917.

1917年1月，德国宣布实施无限制潜艇战，意图在五个月内将英国饿到投降。这被证明是一个灾难性的误判。美国船只被击沉，加之齐默尔曼电报（揭露了德国企图联合墨西哥对抗美国的提案），促使美国于1917年4月6日对德国宣战。

Although American troops did not arrive in significant numbers until 1918, the mere prospect of American entry fundamentally changed the strategic balance. The Allies now had access to unlimited American money, food, and eventually manpower. German leaders knew they had to win the war before American strength could be fully deployed.

尽管美军直到1918年才大规模抵达，但美国参战的前景本身就根本性地改变了战略平衡。协约国由此获得了美国的无限资金、粮食以及最终的人力。德国领导人明白，他们必须在美国的力量完全部署之前赢得战争。

The U-boat campaign itself also failed strategically. Although German submarines sank over 6 million tons of Allied shipping in 1917, the introduction of the convoy system drastically reduced losses, and by 1918 the U-boats had been largely neutralised.

潜艇战本身在战略上也失败了。尽管1917年德国潜艇击沉了超过600万吨协约国船只，但护航制度的引入大幅降低了损失。到1918年，潜艇战已基本失效。

2. The Failure of the Spring Offensive (1918) | 春季攻势的失败（1918年）

In the spring of 1918, Germany launched its final gamble: the Spring Offensive (Kaiserschlacht), beginning with Operation Michael on 21 March 1918. Germany had transferred troops from the Eastern Front after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia. This was a decisive advantage in the short term: 50 divisions were moved westwards, giving Germany a temporary numerical superiority.

1918年春天，德国发动了最后的赌注：春季攻势（皇帝会战），以1918年3月21日的米夏埃尔行动打响。在与俄国签订布列斯特-里托夫斯克条约后，德国将部队从东线调回。这在短期内构成了决定性优势：50个师被调往西线，德国获得了暂时的人数优势。

The offensive achieved impressive early gains, advancing up to 40 miles in some places, and the German forces captured enormous quantities of Allied supplies. However, the advance outran its supply lines, and the German troops — exhausted, hungry, and poorly supplied — were unable to maintain the momentum. The attack was halted at the Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918, where the Allies, now reinforced by American troops, counter-attacked.

攻势初期取得了可观进展，在某些地方推进达40英里，德军还缴获了大量协约国物资。但推进超出了补给线的范围，精疲力竭、饥饿且物资匮乏的德军无法维持势头。1918年7月，进攻在第二次马恩河战役中被阻止，协约国军队（此时已有美军增援）发动了反攻。

The failure of the Spring Offensive was absolute and catastrophic. Germany had committed its last reserves, suffering nearly 700,000 casualties. In the words of Ludendorff, it was a strategy that had been ‘a gamble’. When the gamble failed, the German army could no longer fight an offensive war.

春季攻势的失败是彻底而灾难性的。德国投入了最后的预备队，伤亡近70万人。用鲁登道夫自己的话说，这是一场”赌局”。赌局失败后，德军再也无力打一场进攻型战争。

3. The Hundred Days Offensive | 百日攻势（1918年8-11月）

On 8 August 1918, the British Fourth Army launched a major attack at Amiens with tanks and Australian and Canadian forces. The German front collapsed, and Ludendorff would call 8 August ‘the black day of the German Army’. From that point, the Allies pushed steadily eastward, breaking through the Hindenburg Line in late September 1918.

1918年8月8日，英国第四集团军在亚眠发动大规模进攻，投入坦克以及澳大利亚和加拿大部队。德军战线崩溃，鲁登道夫将8月8日称为”德军最黑暗的一天”。从那时起，协约国稳步向东推进，于1918年9月底突破了兴登堡防线。

The Hundred Days Offensive lasted 95 days until the armistice. Germany’s army suffered over 400,000 casualties during this period, while American troops kept arriving at a rate of over 10,000 per day. By November 1918, the German army was in full retreat and had effectively been beaten in the field. The Western Front had moved from a static war of trenches back to a war of movement — but now the momentum lay entirely with the Allies.

百日攻势一直持续到停战，共95天。德军在此期间损失超过40万人，而美军持续以每天超过1万人的速度抵达。到1918年11月，德军已全线溃退，在战场上实际上已经被打败。西线从静态的堑壕战重新变成了运动战——但现在的主动权完全掌握在协约国手中。

4. The British Naval Blockade and Economic Collapse | 英国海上封锁与经济崩溃

From the beginning of the war, the British Royal Navy maintained a distant but highly effective blockade of Germany. The German submarine campaign failed to break it. By the winter of 1916-17 (known in Germany as the ‘turnip winter’), German civilians were surviving on turnips instead of bread. The blockade caused an estimated 300,000 to 762,000 civilian deaths from starvation and related diseases.

从战争一开始，英国皇家海军就对德国实施了远距离但极为有效的封锁。德国的潜艇战未能打破这一封锁。到1916-17年冬天（德国人称之为”萝卜冬天”），德国平民只能吃萝卜代替面包来维生。封锁导致约30万至76.2万平民死于饥饿及相关疾病。

By 1918, the German economy was in a state of collapse. War production fell of necessity, and workers’ morale was shattered. The blockade also directly contributed to the German revolution: when the navy was ordered out for a final suicidal sortie in October 1918, the sailors mutinied, triggering the revolution that brought the Empire down.

到1918年，德国经济已处于崩溃状态。战争生产不得已而下降，工人的士气低落。封锁也直接促成了德国革命：当海军在1918年10月被命令进行最后一次自杀式出击时，水兵们叛变了，由此引发了推翻帝国的革命。

5. The Collapse of the Alliance System | 同盟体系的崩溃

Germany’s allies were collapsing one by one. Bulgaria surrendered on 29 September 1918, signing the Armistice of Thessalonica. The Ottoman Empire signed an armistice on 30 October 1918. Austria-Hungary disintegrated entirely, signing its own armistice on 3 November 1918 after defeat in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

德国的盟友一个接一个地崩溃。保加利亚于1918年9月29日投降，签署了萨洛尼卡停战协定。奥斯曼帝国于1918年10月30日签署停战协定。奥匈帝国则在维托里奥-维内托战役战败后彻底瓦解，于1918年11月3日签署了自己的停战协定。

This left Germany completely isolated, fighting on a single front against an ever-growing coalition of enemies, including the USA, Britain, France, Italy, and its own former partners. The collapse of the alliance system made Germany’s strategic position hopeless. Austria-Hungary’s collapse was particularly damaging, as it opened up the southern approaches to Germany itself.

这使得德国处于完全孤立的状态，在一条战线上对抗一个日益壮大的敌人联盟，包括美国、英国、法国、意大利以及它昔日的伙伴。同盟体系的崩溃使德国的战略处境毫无希望。奥匈帝国的瓦解尤其致命，因为它打开了通往德国南部的通道。

6. Military Exhaustion and the Decline of the German Army | 军事消耗与德军衰落

The German army in 1918 was not the army of 1914. The collapse of the German war economy meant shortages of everything: food, horses, ammunition, and uniforms. During the Spring Offensive, troops had been able to capture Allied supply depots — which is itself evidence of how desperate their own supply situation was. German veterans remembered 1918 as a period of hunger and sickness.

1918年的德军并非1914年的那支军队。德国战时经济的崩溃意味着一切物资的短缺：食物、马匹、弹药、军服。在春季攻势中，德军能够缴获协约国的补给仓库——这本身就是其补给状况多么绝望的证据。德国老兵回忆起1918年是一段充满饥饿和疾病的时期。

Meanwhile, Allied strength was growing steadily. American troops arrived in France at a peak rate of over 300,000 per month by the summer of 1918. The balance of numbers was decisive: in August 1918, German forces were outnumbered by a ratio of approximately 1:4 or 1:5 on the Western Front. Moreover, German soldiers were increasingly refusing orders. An estimated 800,000 to 1 million German soldiers were absent without leave or evading return to the front by autumn 1918.

与此同时，协约国的力量正在稳步增长。到1918年夏天，美军抵达法国的峰值速度已超过每月30万人。人数对比是决定性的：1918年8月，西线的德军兵力已处于大约1比4至1比5的劣势。此外，德军士兵越来越拒绝执行命令。到1918年秋天，估计有80万至100万德国士兵擅离职守或逃避返回前线。

7. The German Revolution (October–November 1918) | 德国革命（1918年10-11月）

On 28 October 1918, the German naval command ordered the High Seas Fleet to sail out for a final, desperate battle against the Royal Navy. The sailors at Kiel mutinied rather than die in a pointless gesture. The mutiny spread quickly through the fleet and then to workers across Germany.

1918年10月28日，德国海军指挥部命令公海舰队出海与皇家海军进行最后一场绝望的海战。基尔的水兵拒绝在一场毫无意义的挣扎中送死，发动了兵变。兵变迅速蔓延到整个舰队，进而波及全德国的工人。

Within two weeks, revolution had broken out across Germany. Soldiers’ and workers’ councils were formed in the style of the Russian Soviets. On 9 November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate, and a republic was proclaimed from the Reichstag in Berlin. The collapse of the home front mirrored the collapse of the army in the field. It was the home front that finally removed the obstacle to seeking peace.

在两周内，革命在德国各地爆发。按照俄国苏维埃的模式，士兵委员会和工人委员会纷纷成立。1918年11月9日，威廉二世皇帝被迫退位，共和国在柏林的国会大厦宣告成立。国内战线的崩溃与战场的崩溃相互映照。正是国内战线最终扫除了寻求和平的障碍。

8. The Armistice of 11 November 1918 | 1918年11月11日停战协定

With the army in retreat, the government in chaos, and revolution spreading, the new German government under Friedrich Ebert sent a delegation to negotiate an armistice. The armistice was signed at Compiègne on 11 November 1918, and went into effect at 11:00 that day. Germany’s war was over.

在军队溃退、政府混乱、革命蔓延的局势下，弗里德里希·艾伯特领导的新德国政府派出代表团谈判停战。停战协定于1918年11月11日在贡比涅签署，并于当天11时生效。德国的战争结束了。

The terms were severe: the naval blockade remained in force, Germany had to evacuate all occupied territory and Alsace-Lorraine, hand over its fleet and vast quantities of military equipment, and agree to pay compensation. Moreover, the military leadership was quick to claim that the army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by revolutionaries — the famous Dolchstosslegende (‘stab-in-the-back myth’) which would poison the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic.

停战条款是苛刻的：海军封锁仍然有效，德国必须撤出所有占领区和阿尔萨斯-洛林，交出舰队、大量军事装备，并同意支付赔偿。而且，军方领导人很快就声称军队是被革命者”从背后捅了一刀”——这就是著名的”背后一刀”传说（Dolchstosslegende），它毒害了魏玛共和国的合法性。

9. The Significance of the Russian Front and Brest-Litovsk | 东线战局与布列斯特-里托夫斯克条约的意义

The collapse of Russia had given Germany a temporary advantage. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed on 3 March 1918, removed the two-front war that had haunted German strategy since 1914. Germany transferred over 500,000 troops and vast amounts of artillery to the West. Yet this transfer was, in the end, insufficient.

俄国的崩溃曾给德国带来短暂的优势。1918年3月3日签订的《布列斯特-里托夫斯克条约》结束了自1914年以来困扰德国战略的两线作战。德国向西线调集了超过50万军队和大量火炮。然而，这一调集最终仍是不够的。

The very act of transferring troops east-to-west also weakened Germany’s long-term position. It emphasised the fact that Germany was running out of replacement reserves, whereas the Allies could draw upon the endless manpower of the British Empire, the French colonial territories, and the United States. Germany’s numeric strength in March 1918 was a peak from which there was no future growth.

从东线向西线调兵这一行为本身，也削弱了德国的长期地位。它凸显了一个事实：德国的补充兵员正在枯竭，而协约国却可以依靠大英帝国、法国殖民地和美国无穷无尽的人力。1918年3月德军的人数优势是一个再也没能超越的顶峰。

10. Conclusion: Why Germany Lost the War | 结论：德国为何战败

Germany’s defeat in 1918 was not caused by a single factor, but by the interaction of all of them. The American entry tipped the demographic and resource balance decisively; the failure of the Spring Offensive destroyed Germany’s last strategic hope; the blockade undermined the moral and physical strength of the German people; the collapse of the allies isolated Germany; and the revolution removed the old leadership’s capacity to continue.

1918年德国的战败并非由单一因素造成，而是所有因素相互作用的结果。美国参战决定性地改变了人口和资源的平衡；春季攻势的失败摧毁了德国的最后战略希望；封锁削弱了德国人民的士气和体力；盟友的崩溃使德国孤立；革命则使旧的领导层无力继续战争。

All these factors were interrelated: the blockade, the casualties, and the Allied buildup made the Spring Offensive fail; the failed offensive, in turn, exposed the army to the revolutionary aftermath. The German Empire thus ended not in defeat alone, but with its army broken, its economy in ruins, its people starving, its ruler in exile, and its democracy born from a defeat that many Germans refused to accept.

所有这些因素都是相互关联的：封锁、伤亡和协约国的扩军使春季攻势失败；而攻势的失败反过来又使军队暴露在革命余波之中。德意志帝国因此不仅以战败告终，而且是军队瓦解、经济崩溃、人民饥饿、统治者流亡，其民主制度则诞生于一场许多德国人拒绝接受的失败之中。

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Germany’s Defeat (1917-1918) | 德国的战败（1917-1918）