2 nd Battle of Marne Brooke Wilkes Ava Karami Emmett Gruber Alex Lee

Background  Last major German offensive of the first world war  Took place in the Aisne-Marne Sector  Took place July 15-August 15, 1918  85,000 U.S. troops fought  German and French, then others such as U.S. and Britain join  Major victory for the Allies

Thesis  Allies and US forces working together subdued the last German offensive in World War 1 and led to the demise of German military forces leading to victory for the Allies.

Battle Summary General Erich Ludendorff convinced that an attack in Flanders was the best route to German victory. He wanted to lead the Allie troops away from the main event, the resulting attack in Marne, launched on the back of the German capture of the strategically important Chemin des Dames ridge near the Aisne river on May 27, Ludendorff attempted to divide and conquer the French forces by having 23 divisions of the German 1 st and 3 rd armies attack the French 4 th army east of Reims while 17 divisions of the 7 th army assisted by 9 th army would attack the French 6 th army west of the city. French forces were joined by 85,00 US troops as well as a portion of British Expeditionary Force. Germans had found out the French had set up false trenches when they began their attack. The real trenches lay further on, the deceptive strategy had been put into place by Philippe Petain. As the Germans approached the rel Allied front lines they were bombarded by French and American fire, suffered heavy casualties, setting the Allies up for their major counter attack they would launch on July 18.

Timeline: 5 th Ludendorff Offensive (First Phase)  July 15, 1918= 3 ½ of the German armies attack, the 3 rd division of AEF (American Expeditionary Forces) stands left of Marne  July 17, 1918=Germans take South Marne River bank, they go east, to Reims

Timeline: Aisne- Marne Counter Offensive (Second Phase)  July 18, 1918= French attack from the west, Americans lead on advance on Germans  July 19, 1918= Americans resist while Germans use their Air Force  July 21, 1918= Second Assault from 5 AEF divisions to Germans from the South  July 30- Aug 1, 1918= Battle before Sergy  Aug 4- 22= German army defends Vesle River

Timeline: Oise- Aisne Offensive (Third Phase)  August 18, 1918= French army Offensive on Soisson, France  Aug 28- Sept 2, 1918= US captures Juvigny, France. Germans withdraw before Aisne River  Sept 4, 1918= US divisions advance over Vesle River  Sept 16, 1918= French and US go east to Champagne and Verdun, France.

Importance  First successful use of tanks  Win for the Allies  139,000 deaths  Last German offensive of WWI  First real integration of US troops in WWI

Works Cited  the-marne-begins-with-final-german-offensive the-marne-begins-with-final-german-offensive  