Download World War I, 1914 – 1918: A Source Based Study

World War I, 1914 – 1918: A
Source Based Study
Turning Points: Ludendorff’s Spring Offensive & the
Allied Response
Overview of the Spring Offensive

Throughout November, December and January, 1917 – 1918,
few major campaigns were launched due to winter

However, in 1918 the Allied position was very uncertain; this
is due to:
◦ Low morale in the French camp; mutinies in 1917 reflect this
◦ The German U-Boat campaign against Britain led to a disrupted
naval trade route and thus many shortages (e.g., food and other
essentials). Despite this, the Germans failed to force the British
to surrender
Overview of the Spring Offensive
[Continued]

Russia’s withdrawal from the war freed 52 German divisions
for the Western Front

However:
◦ The USA entered the war in April 1917; its troops and materials
began to reinforce the Allies
◦ Whereas the Germans were assaulting British merchant vessels,
the British in turn had blockaded the Germans only entry into
the world’s ocean trade routes via the North Sea
◦ The Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of collapse
Basic Statistics

In March 1918 on the Western Front
there were:
◦ 3.75 million German troops
◦ 1.2 million BEF troops
◦ 2 million French troops
Operation St. Michael

Ludendorff prepared an enormous final offensive, designed to break through to victory. He
planned an attack using new strategies that were tactically remarkably effective:
◦
Developing élite ‘shock troops’, or sturmtruppen (stormtroopers)
◦
Using portable and light weight mortars, machine guns and flamethrowers
◦
Rapid surprise attacks
◦
Launching rolling barrages, poison gas and night concentrations to break the front line Allied
trenches
◦
Instead of assaulting strongly defended points head on, the Germans begun to surround such places,
leaving them isolated and essentially besieged
The end goal was to attack, divide and consequently defeat the Allies, which in turn would de-motivate
the USA into retiring
The Allied Response

Initially, the Allies responded poorly...:
◦ Pétain and Haig failed to co-operate with one another
◦ Haig in turn took his argument to British Prime
Minister Lloyd George over supreme control of the
Allied forces
◦ Haig was eventually forced to concede and hand
authority to a unified Allied command under Foch, as
a German breakthrough nearly resulted in victory and
defeat over the Allies
The First Spring Offensive

On March 21, the Germans attacked on a 96KM front

Their gas and smoke shells and 6000 field guns forced the British back to Amiens

The Germans advanced towards Paris in the south

They gained 65KM of ground along the front

On March 26, out of desperation, Foch appointed C-in-C of the Allied armies in France

Losses were heavy; they are as follows: the French lost 77 thousand men, the British 163
493, with 80 thousand captured as prisoners and 1000 guns captured

Ludendorff called off the offensive on March 30
The Second Offensive

On April 9, the Germans attacked Flanders, on a smaller scale than
intended

The British position was desperate; this is when Haig issues his
famous order of the day, ‘With our backs to the wall...’ on April 12

However, at the end of April 300 thousand US troops arrive

Thus the Germans failed to break through

Ludendorff calls of the offense, as German troops were by this
stage exhausted
The Third Offensive

On May 26 the Germans began a bombardment
in the Chemin des Dames sector

Met with little to no resistance

They advanced 18KM in one day

On May 30, they reach the Marne River –
Parisians put into a panic with the German army
so close
The Fourth Offensive

Began April 9

An attempt to eliminate a salient failed
and the German advance was halted

German flanks exposed to counter-attack

The advance outstripped available
supplies
The Fifth Offensive
On July 15, the Germans launch an attack
in Champagne
 The French halted to advance successfully
 Thus the Fifth and final Offensive had
failed

The Allied Counter-Attack

Background
◦ On July 18, the allies counter-attacked German salients along the Marne
◦ They achieved this through the use of aeroplanes and light tanks
◦ Ludendorff managed an orderly retreat
◦ The death of the élite stormtroopers reduced German fighting capacity
◦ Thus, German morale plummeted; many even surrendered without a
fight
◦ The German advances had shown the Germans the true defensive
capabilities of the Allies
◦ Declining morale was the result
The Allied Offensive

Foch planned a counter-attack on August 8, labelled the ‘Black Day’
of the German army

British, French, Canadian and Australian troops made surprise
attacks

Tactics included short sharp attacks using tanks and infantry

The Germans were forced back to the Hindenburg Line – the
decline in German power became very evident

On September 12, the US forces routed the Germans at the St.
Mihiel salient
The Allied Offensive [Continued]

On September 26, the Allies made a final asault – Foch ordered ‘everyone
into battle’; there were 100 thousand Allied casualties

Ludendorff loses his resolve; on September 29, he demands the German
Chancellor Prince Max sue for an armistice

On October 3, Germany sues for peace

Up until the end of October however, despite calling for peace, the
Germans were still being pursued in retreat by the French and British

By November 11, almost all of France had been abandoned by Germany