The First Total War in the History of Europe ended on November 11th, 1918, when the Armistice of Compiegne was signed. Although it was not perceived as such, the armistice was, in effect, a German surrender to the Allies. Because of the Allied offensive in the summer and autumn of 1918, the troops of the Kaiserreich were systematically defeated on French territory. At that point, the German leadership became aware of the fact that it tactically lost the fight. Germany may seem victorious, but the US enters the war At the end of 1917 and the beginning of 1918, Berlin was very close to a resounding victory over the Western Great Powers owing it also to the separate peace signed with Soviet Russia at Brest Litovsk on March, 3rd, 1918. The US entered the war as an Associate Power and initially, it did not deliver a crushing defeat on Germany. However, it limited the German, but extended the French and English possibilities of winning the war. Moreover, the US destroyed the 4-year-deadlock between the almost equal forces of the Central Powers and the Entente. The fresh American forces first participated in the French counteroffensive on the Marne in July 1918. It was obvious that the exhausted troops of the Central Powers could not even begin to compete with them. This way, for the first time, the German soldiers deserted in large numbers, because they acknowledged to have been fighting in a war they had already lost. Under these circumstances, the German officers were unable to control their forces on the ground and this made the general Erich Ludendorff relinquish planning a counteroffensive against the superior armies of the Entente. The Entente is superior in troops and arms Before the American entrance in the war, Berlin was superior in troops on the Western Front with 300,000 more soldiers than the Entente. However, the US brought almost 1,600,000 troops which m