For much of 1917, things went the Germans’ way. With the Bolshevik Revolution underway, the Germans were able to move soldiers to the Western front as the Russians quit the war. Moreover, the Allied powers had failed badly in its Nivelle Offensive in May 1917 and suffered a defeat in November against at the Battle of Caporetto in Slovenia. Unbelievably, the French and British had not bothered to coordinate their commands until after those defeats: they finally formed a Supreme Council to coordinate their armies’ movements and strategies. However, the Allied Powers began a counteroffensive known as the Hundred Days Offensive in August 1918 that was highly successful in pushing the Germans backward. In September, Bulgaria reached a separate armistice with the Allied powers, ceding control of the Balkans and cutting off German supplies. The defeated Ottoman Empire surrendered in late October. As the fortunes of the Central Powers waned, several lands in Austria-Hungary’s empire began declaring independence. Finally, in November, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced into exile, and the Germans reached an armistice with the Allied powers at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. World War I had finally ended.

After the successful amphibious invasion on D-Day in June 1944, the Allies began racing east toward Germany and liberating France along the way. The Allies had landed along a 50 mile stretch of French coast, and despite suffering 8,000 casualties on D-Day, over 100,000 still began the march across the western portion of the continent. By the end of August 1944, the German Army in France was shattered, with 200,000 killed or wounded and a further 200,000 captured. However, Adolf Hitler reacted to the news of invasion with glee, figuring it would give the Germans a chance to destroy the Allied armies that had water to their backs.