How did the German offensive contribute to the breaking of the stalemate?

In 1918 the ‘Great War’ ended. There had been a stalemate in the war with both sides digging trenches, and staying put for the best part of four years. Earlier, in 1917, the Americans had joined the war. Because of this, the Germans decided to make a last effort at winning the war. It is difficult to disentangle whether the American entry, or the final German offensive brought about the end of the war.

Some historians argue that it have been a combination of a number of factors. There is a controversial argument about the United States’ entry. According to some sources, the reason that Germany made that final effort was they wanted to be on an equal footing with the allies if and when the peace talks came. Other sources say they wanted to try to achieve victory before American troops arrived on European soil. So effectively America could have caused both the German final offensive and the ending of the war.

Ironically it was the Russians that started the chain of events that ended up as planning for the Ludendorff offensive. This was because at home Russia was in the middle of a revolution. They negotiated a separate peace settlement with the Germans (it was known as the Brest-Litovsk Treaty). As a result of that, Germany was only fighting on one front and a million ‘shock’ troops could be diverted to the Western Front. General Erich Ludendorff was chosen to lead an offensive that would involve these troops. His tactics on the Eastern Front had made him famous as he and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg had annihilated entire Russian armies. They had abandoned the idea of a preliminary barrage, and instead, they used the ’creeping barrage’ method. ‘Storm troopers’ would then attack the Russian trenches but while doing so they would avoid strong points. Ludendorff planned to use these tactics when against the Allies on the Western front The allies were weakened by the departure of Russia from the war, although.

The allies’ soldiers were thinly spread out in spring 1918. This was due to the French soldiers having a strike, and the British had not received reinforcements for a considerable period due to political decisions. Ludendorff planned to exploit this in his plan “Operation Michael”. This ‘operation’ involved attacking 50 miles of British defended trenches. The northern Part of the German attack would be against the British Third Army, while the southern and majority of the attack would be against the British Fifth Army. After defeating the British, two of the German armies would merge together, encircling the British troops ...

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The action, which broke the stalemate, was the attack that began on the 27th May 1918, following a preliminary bombardment by 4,000 artillery guns and a , these caused heavy Allied casualties. The British 3rd Army and 5th Army were taken by surprise and divided they turned and fled. This enabled the German troops to rapidly advance across the Somme battlefield towards Amiens.

The one flaw in Ludendorff’s plan was that the attacks were a small, but concentrated area, while the British expected that the attack would be spread out, so that would enable the Germans to outflank them. But due to the disorganized defence, in five days, the Germans recaptured all the land they had lost in the previous two years. This was a disaster for the Allies. They had lost all the land which tens of thousands of men had died for, and what was worse was the Germans were now extremely close to Amiens, a vital rail junction which was defenceless. If the Germans managed to capture that, the allies could loose the war, as Amiens was an essential part of the Allies transport network.

However the allies had managed to halt another part of the offensive. Operation Mars, was successful initially, but was stopped at Arras. The British defenders there were unyielding and prevented any further German advance. Another blow to the Allied lines was a pair of attacks whose combined force drove the Allies south toward Paris, occupying Soissons and nearly cutting off Reims. The spearhead of their advance penetrated as far as Chateau-Thierry, only 56 miles from Paris. This operation however, suffered from a number of flaws: Ludendorff had not actually planned for this offensive to succeed. This was as it had been intended to be a feint! It would have been used to draw French troops away from the main offensive to the north; as a result the surprising achievements were not exploited because of inadequate reserves. Still, the Allied situation was very worrying for both the commanders and the general public, and an extremely successful counterattack was needed quickly.

However, the main German offensive continued and by 30th May, the Germans had captured 50,000 soldiers and 800 guns and were only 90km from Paris. It looked, worryingly for the allies, as though the German offensive was to break the stalemate and win the war.

This devastating success actually helped contribute to its own downfall. The German troops were far too fast, and making such good ground that their supplies could not keep up with them. Germany also had few reserves left so there would not be any reinforcements. So when the troops who had survived the Allied defences reached the River Marne, they had little food, ammunition, will and strength left for digging trenches and defending the land that they had captured. Soldiers from the United States had also started to arrive, almost 50 000 a month. These troops although inexperienced in trench warfare, and fresh from training, helped the defence of Paris.

The allies had also suffered a large blow in spring 1918. Large numbers of soldiers in the trenches in France became infected with 'three-day fever'. Although it was highly infectious, recovery was rapid. However a second bout of the ‘flu’ later on that year caused over 70,000 American troops to be hospitalized and one third of these men failed to recover. For a considerable period it was unrecognized, but doctors recognized it as a type of influenza. It was named Spanish Flu but it is not believed to have originated there. By the end of the summer Influenza reached the German Army. The virus created more serious problems for the German military than the allies, as they could not replace their sick and dying soldiers. The infection had already killed over 400,000 civilians in Germany.

The Allies also made an extremely successful counterattack. Ludendorff’s troops were in a rather small bulge. This had surprised the Allied defences but it allowed them to attack the Germans flanks and capture scores of troops and a substantial amount of weapons. There were a large amount of casualties too further reducing the number of soldiers available to fight. With the U.S troops supporting them, British and French forced the weary, and remaining few; German soldiers all the way back to the Hindenburg line. The tank was instrumental in forcing the Germans to do this.

As a result of a revolution spreading to Berlin, Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate on 9 November 1918. Chancellor Max von Baden announced his abdication to the public. Wilhelm sought exile in Holland, where he lived for the rest of his life. Holland refused to hand over Wilhelm as a war criminal to the. The new Government requested an armistice with the Allies and on November 11th 1918 the war ended.

Concluding then, Germany’s attempt to win the war in 1918 successfully broke the stalemate and nearly won them the war. Briefly both sides made huge advances. After that failure, with real U.S. involvement in the war just beginning, it became clear that Germany was set to lose the war. Shortages for the people at home and Germany’s industries were one of the factors that worked for the allies. The Germans broke the stalemate because they introduced ‘shock’ warfare. The influenza pandemic both helped and hindered the Germans. As the allies were severely hit by it the German attacks met with less resistance. However the Germans losses could not be replaced as they now had inadequate reserves. Another fault with the German offensive was the supply line- it really let down their soldiers, as they could not keep up with the advance. The rapid advance also tired the soldiers and when they had to ‘dig in’ and defend their gain, they lost their ‘shock’ and the American troops really made the difference. If the Germans had an adequate supply and reserves, some historians believe they could have got to Paris or at least held onto the vast gains of land they had captured. But as they didn’t the Americans, by now were pouring troops across the Atlantic, helped the allies’ counterattack.

Laurence Oglesby

10M5

07/05/07

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