The German offensives of 1918 were possible because Germany had achieved numerical superiority on the Western Front for the first time since 1914. The Allies scrambled to increase their own numbers and better coordinate their forces, but over all this activity hung the big question: “Where are the Americans?”

The US hustled to get as many soldiers as possible into the trenches quickly, but there were also difficulties at home in producing enough weapons and equipment. With a mid-term election looming, the Wilson Administration had to fend off accusations that it had bungled the war effort.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“U.S. Field Artillery March”
Composed in 1917 by Edmund Gruber and John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the end of the war on the Eastern front freed up large numbers of German soldiers for use elsewhere.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff chose to redeploy those soldiers to the Western Front in a final effort to end the war with a German victory.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fantasie from Siegfried
Composed in 1876 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

Leon Trotsky challenged the Allies either to enter peace negotiations or state what great purpose justifies continuing the fighting. Socialists in Germany have called for peace without annexation or indemnities. The new Austrian Emperor has put out peace feelers.

So what are the Allies fighting for? What do they require in exchange for peace? On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson lays out his Fourteen Points, a set of Allied demands that must be met to end the fighting.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Florentiner Marsch
Composed in 1907 by Julius Fučík. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

In the United Kingdom, its dominions, and in France, 1917 sees the same kinds of erosion of democracy and civil liberties as we have seen in the USA.

Is this the price a free society has to pay to fight a modern war?

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Valse de Paris

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

In the United States, the war brings change. New Federal agencies are created to coordinate military production and distribution of food and fuel.

More troubling are attacks on anti-war expression, including the Espionage Act of 1917.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Kismet Rag
Composed in 1913 by Scott Joplin and Scott Hayden. Public domain.
Performed by Tony Wilkinson and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The peace terms were so extreme, even may Bolsheviks resisted agreeing to them. But when the Germans, their patience exhausted, began marching deeper into Russia, virtually unopposed, Lenin persuaded the Central Committee to agree to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Domestically, the Constituent Assembly had been forcibly dissolved. Bolshevik rule over Russia can now only be contested by force of arms.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

String Quartet No. 2
Composed in 1907 by César Cui. Public domain.
Performed by Steve’s Bedroom Band and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

The new Bolshevik government installed in Russia by the October Revolution was not regarded at the time as permanent, but merely as a new provisional government.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks, however, were intent on keeping power. One means of accomplishing this would be to end the war, which was the Bolsheviks’ signature campaign promise. And so, an armistice was quickly arranged.

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Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G
Composed in 1880 by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

In the nation of Iran (which English speakers of the time called “Persia”), both Britain and Russia have a military presence, with Turkish troops crossing the border. As a result, Iran suffered famine, disease, and hardship during the war, despite formally remaining neutral.

In Greece, the question of whether to join the Allies split the government and led to what is known as the “National Schism.”

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

String Quartet in F Major
Composed in 1903 by Maurice Ravel. Public domain.
Performed by The Musicians from Marlboro and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.