Hello and welcome to a history of Europe, Geabattles podcast.

My name is Cardo Reilat, and today I'll be continuing the story of the First World War.

We're now approaching the end of our story of the First World War.

This is part 18 of 19, entitled The End Game.

In spring 19, 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 their major counter-attack in the late summer and autumn.

And on the 26th of September, the Allies launched a general offensive along the entire Western Front.

The German commander, Eric Ludendorff, panicked and told Kaiser Wil Wilhelm he thought the war was lost and if

catastrophe was to be averted an armistice must be concluded as quickly as possible.

The situation of the other central powers looked even worse than that of the Germans.

When the Austrian Emperor Karl de First had ascended the throne in November 1916, he had

symbolized hope to an empire in distress.

He had good intentions, recognising the urgent need for internal reform, and was prepared

to work to set his stamp on government.

However, he made mistakes, including on the first day of his reign, when he agreed to an early coronation as King of Hungary.

In so doing, he had to respect the provisions of the dualist system between Austria and Hungary,

which therefore made reform of the empire impossible without reneging on this oath.

Pressure was building for greater autonomy, even independence for the various ethnic groups in the empire. There was a growing movement for Slavs to unite under one separate nation,

another for Czechs to join with the neighbouring Slovaks,

and another for Romanian speakers in Hungary to join Romania.

Austrian Galicia was in complete chaos,

with native Poles and Ukrainians divided, but both increasingly less inclined to look for a future within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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