How the Allies were able to win WW1

World War one took place in Europe between 1914 and 1918, it involved battles between the allied forces which consisted of England, France, Italy, Serbia Montenegro, Russia and The United States. The allies fought the Triple Alliance which consisted of Germany, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. The allies won the war when a revolution engulfed Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire surrendered. On November 11th on the 11th hour fighting stopped when Germany signed an armistice. The allies were able to win the war for many reasons. The three main reasons for the allied victory were the strong navy that Brittan had which held the Germans off of the water. Two other reasons for the victory were The American women who helped out on the home front as well as on the battle field with nursing and taking care of the troops, lastly the allied soldiers were better equipped as well as better fed and clothed which was a key factor in the victory.

In the early 1900’s there was a naval race between great Brittan and the Germans. Both countries were racing to build warships that would keep their countries safe on the water because there was a constant threat of naval attack. The naval race caused heavy tension between Great Brittan and Germany. Although the Germans had the clear advantage by having the U-boats functioning underwater first, Great Brittan proved to be the victor of the naval race by mass producing ships to overwhelm the small fleet of U-boats. This was a huge part of the allies winning the war because the Germans were not attack Great Brittan at all due to their massive fleet, also the Germans were not able to get around France and attack the North Western or Western parts of France because of the British Navy, so the French focused all of their men on the Eastern border of France.

This advantage of the focusing all of their soldiers on the eastern front with the protection of the British Navy helped the Allies push the Germans back into Germany. With the help of the Russians, who were pushing the western front, we were able to surround Germany and force them to initiate a two front war. This put the Allies and the Russians at a clear advantage because each army had to focus on one front while the Germans were forced to stretch their resources and soldiers to stop the advances from both fronts.

World War one was the first war in which women officially served in the armed forces, although they did not serve in combat positions. As the military prepared for war in early 1917 it faced a severe shortage of clerical workers because so many men were assigned to active duty. Early on the Navy authorized the enlistment of women to meet its clerical needs. By the end of the war over 11,000 women had served in the Navy. Although most performed clerical duties, others served as radio operators, electricians, pharmacists and photographers. The army still did not enlist women. Instead it hired them as temporary clerical workers. The only women to actually serve in the army were in the army nursing corps. Army nurses were the only women sent overseas during the war. Over 20,000 nurses served in the army including more than 10,000 overseas.

The final major aspect to the allied victory was the mass production of food, ammunition, clothing and fuel. The allied forces were much better equipped and prepared for the war than the opposing countries. Perhaps the most successful government agency was the food administration run by Herbert Hoover. This agency was responsible for increasing food production while keeping civilian consumption down. Instead of rationing, Hoover encouraged Americans to save food on their own as well as grow their own fruits and vegetables so the government could send more food overseas. While Hoover took care of food production the fuel administration which was run by Harry Garfield tried to manage the nation’s use of coal and oil. To conserve energy Garfield introduced daylight savings time and shortened work weeks for factories that did not produce war materials.

In closing, the allies had a number of distinct advantages over the Germans. Due to the great use of Americans vast amount of resources both natural and man made the allies was able to win the war. The British navy was able to contain the Germans and keep the French and Russians battling on their respective fronts and stretching the German army. The use of women in the Navy and Army worked very well allowing more troops to get out on the battlefield. Also it allowed more nurses to come overseas and help the sick and wounded troops back to health. Also the encouragement from the government for the people to save their food and energy so it could be used overseas worked very well because it allowed the troops to have more food as well as more ammunition and clothing. These three points were the three major influences that led to the allied victory in the Great War. The Germans could not battle all of the forces that were up against them thus their surrender on November 11th 1918.