The Paris Peace consisted of a group of distinct treaties, but the main concern of the delegates was the settlement with Germany, embodied in the Treaty of Versailles signed in June 1919.

Germany’s eastern frontiers presented far greater problems. 

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Music composed by Edward Elgar, Enigma variations, Variation IX (Adagio) Nimrod

Picture - Treaty of Versailles, Big Four

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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In Spring 1918 a massive German offensive made significant territorial gains, but ultimately not the intended breakthrough, and the Allied forces stood firm. Exhausted and demoralised at the scale of casualties, the Germans were pushed back in a major counter-attack in the late Summer and Autumn. And on 26 September, the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire Western Front.

Meanwhile, the Habsburg empire was fast falling apart as various nationalities declared independence. 

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Music composed by Alexander Scriabin, Etude in C sharp minor. Courtesy of musopen.org

Picture - US 64th regiment celebrate the Armistice

Theme tune for the podcast by Nico Vettese, www.wetalkofdreams.com

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After the Russian withdrawal from the frontlines following the October revolution, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk is negotiated between Germany and Russia.

The Germans sought to conclude war on the Eastern Front as quickly as possible, while at the same time trying to establish an informal empire in east-central Europe, one composed of newly independent nation states on Russia’s western periphery. However, back on the German home front, after four harsh winters and widespread hunger, political unity was fraying, and riots and strikes occurred across the country. 

Everything now depended on the success or failure of a German Spring Offensive on the western front. 

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Picture - German Spring Offensive - British Lewis gun team at the Battle of Hazebrouck 1918

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