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 , 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