For 3 years from the end of 1914 to early 1918, the western front never moved more than a mile or so. In 1918 considerable movement occurred as first the Germans and then the Allies advanced. Why did these changes happen so quickly?”

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Tom Ilett 5B

“For 3 years from the end of 1914 to early 1918, the western front never moved more than a mile or so.  In 1918 considerable movement occurred as first the Germans and then the Allies advanced.  Why did these changes happen so quickly?”

There were a number of reasons, which prompted the sudden return to a war of movement and the breakdown of the stalemate that had existed for so long between the two opposing armies on the western front.  The tactics used by each army had been developed from the battles which had taken place earlier in the war, such as The Somme and the many campaigns at Ypres, generals had learned from mistakes made previously and new methods were used, partially enabling the return of the war of movement.  The imminent arrival of American troops was also a key factor for both sides; Germany felt she must win the war with a final push before the Americans arrived in large numbers, as victory would be impossible for Germany if she had to fight the keen and well equipped American forces as well as the British ones.  The western front experienced a huge influx of German troops after the withdrawal of Russia from the war due to the Communist revolution of 1917; these soldiers were experienced and provided the extra troops that attrition required and helped Germany to move the front line on the western front and return to the war of movement.  The failure of Germany’s U-boat campaign showed that the allies were not going to be defeated by starvation, and that a victory could only be achieved by defeating the Allied armies directly on the western front.  The Allied blockades however were succeeding and Germany was desperately short of food and she felt that she had to defeat the Allies quickly to stop starvation from taking hold in Germany; this would have made the German troops more desperate to achieve a breakthrough and therefore it would have helped prompt the return to a war of movement.

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Ludendorff’s tactics in the planned “Operation Michael” used the element of surprise very effectively, troops were moved into position overnight, their sound concealed by shunting trains and a long bombardment was not used; a light attack of storm troopers went in to find weak spots in allied defence.  These tactics worked very effectively and the allied lines were smashed through at The Somme in two hours, however the lines did not break.  The reasons behind this huge offensive and its timing lay in the factors above, Ludendorff recognised that even with the added 52 divisions from the eastern front ...

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