All Quiet on the Western Front

The most significant roles in the war effort belonged to Kaiser Wilhelm II, who sought to annex land for Germany, and his top general, Paul von Hindenburg, who faced off against the British commander General Douglas Haig. By April 6, 1917, Germany's aggressive push to bring the United States into the war succeeded. Under President Woodrow Wilson, General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing led two million troops into France, where General Henri Petain headed up local forces. Rapid shifts of loyalties and loss reached a critical point in 1918, after Russia, sunk in its own revolution, deserted the Allied cause. The French reaped their sweetest victory on August 8, with the Second Battle of the Marne, which severely weakened the western front. As fall approached, first Bulgaria, then Turkey and Austria-Hungary surrendered. Germany, crumbling under the weight of severe losses and lack of supplies and reinforcements, capitulated on November 11, a month after the fictional death of Paul Bäumer. Of the more than sixty-four million combatants, eight million died in battle, twenty-one million were injured, and over six and a half million noncombatants were killed.