In the end America's entry into the war made the difference. By the middle of 1918, the German army had not actually been defeated, but the German economy had completely collapsed and Germany could no longer continue to supply the troops on the front lines. The Allies, however, were receiving hundreds of thousands of fresh American troops every month. After Kaiser William II abdicated amd fled Germany, the German military leaders agreed to sign a ceasefire (armistice) or agreement to end the fighting with a German surrender on the 9th of November.