The Breaking of Stalemate on the Western Front.

AS and A Level History

Jack Lenox 11C

GCSE History Coursework

The Breaking of Stalemate

Question C: The following were equally important reasons why the stalemate on the Western Front was finally broken:

New technology like the tank.
American entry to the war.
Blockade of German ports.
German offensive.

Explain how far you agree with this statement.

Answer:

The first of the four major headings is the new technology. One of the largest new pieces of technology was the tank. The propaganda of the new tank was actually more affective than the value of its use and was known by the general public as the wonder weapon. The earliest tank was made in Lincoln and was called ‘Little Willie’. But was only good on flat terrain and was not at all effective on the horrendous no mans land. By 1918 the British inventors had learnt from the Battle of the Somme, where tanks were used ineffectively. They were first used in battle in 1916. Despite the tanks failure at the Somme, they were regarded as a success. Negative information about tanks at the time was censored in Britain and France. In all 107 cinemas in London a film about the tank was shown over and over again. It was known by the public as the ‘Tanks’ film. The public loved it and it had great effect on the morale on the home front. But there were many problems with this wonder weapon of attack, mainly for the crew inside. The first was the noise; this made it very hard for the crew to communicate during movement. Secondly was the heat and fumes inside which made it hard to concentrate and made the crew feel very ill. Finally the effects of debris coming from the inside plate which shattered into the tank from the machine gun fire outside which injured the crew. Hundreds of tanks were sent to Flanders at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 where the tank was used most effectively. They made an advance of five miles and over four hundred prisoners were taken just by the tanks. Only the British had the tank in the First World War.

The second new invention was the machine-gun cannon which was used to tremendous effect in defensive tactics as attacking soldiers were quickly and efficiently wiped out and neutralised. Both forces had the machine gun and both used them with devastating effect.

Also the use of gas in the trench warfare side of things was devastating. At the start of the war it was only the Axis forces that used gas as an offensive weapon which came as a shock to the Allies and was thought of as a disgrace but by 1915 both forces were using gases such as mustard gas. But both forces quickly developed gas masks. The first was simply a rag drenched in urine but before very long proper purpose created gas masks were supplied to the front lines on both sides.

Aircraft was used to good effect on both sides but was mainly used just for reconnaissance and spying. However near the end of the war aircraft was used occasionally for bombing raids.

The sea warfare side of things was also rapidly developing. Battleships were becoming quite advanced with built in artillery weapons and anti submarine equipment. Also the German submarines were becoming quite effective to take out battleships and any other craft which was suspected of supplying the Allies with ammunition, medical equipment and possibly troops.

On top of this the transport of troops to and from the Western Front was extremely efficient with railways and roads purpose built for moving troops.

Finally telecommunications were now quite advanced and used to great affect by generals and strategy planning characters on the trench front.

I believe the information prior to this paragraph shows that new technology was a very effective factor to the breaking of stalemate.

The second point on this subject is the American entry to the war. In November 1917 the Battle of Paschendale ended. At the time it seemed impossible that a year ...

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On top of this the transport of troops to and from the Western Front was extremely efficient with railways and roads purpose built for moving troops.

Finally telecommunications were now quite advanced and used to great affect by generals and strategy planning characters on the trench front.

I believe the information prior to this paragraph shows that new technology was a very effective factor to the breaking of stalemate.

The second point on this subject is the American entry to the war. In November 1917 the Battle of Paschendale ended. At the time it seemed impossible that a year and a day later the war would come to an end by Germany surrendering. In April 1917 America declared war on Germany. At first this declaration changed little as America had already been supplying the Allies with war materials. However, it did mean that all of America's vast supplies of manpower and materials were now available for the Allies to draw upon. Although American troops did not go into action until 1 June 1918, they were fresh and not weary of fighting like the other nations involved. The Americans were effective and boosted the morale of the soldiers already fighting and made the morale of the Germans drop rapidly.

The success of the American soldiers thus far in the war had been costly. In the 2nd battle of the Marne alone, they suffered 50,000 killed and wounded, and now that more divisions were entering the fray, these numbers would climb dramatically.

In late July, 1918, the 42nd (Rainbow Div.) attacked the Germans on the heights above the Ourcq River Valley. The heights were finally taken and held when they captured the village of Sergy with severe losses. It was on a scouting party after this battle that Joyce Kilmer (the poet who wrote "Trees"") was killed.

On August 8th the 33rd and 80th Divisions, along with the British, attacked and crushed all German opposition in the Somme area. The Attack went across the "no-man's" land behind British tanks. This was the beginning of the end for the German army on the Western front.

Now Pershing demanded that a separate American army be formed. Foch agreed, and on August 10, 1918 the American First Army was officially established. It was headquartered at Neuf-Chateau on the Meuse River, south of St.Mihiel.

At St.Mihiel, the Germans had had a salient deep into the Allied lines since 1914. The first assignment of the newly formed army was to drive the Germans from this salient and straighten out the Allied line. This had to be done before any other offensive could be undertaken on the Western front. This was a hard enough task, but Foch almost made it impossible by ordering the Americans to start another offensive in the Meuse- Argonne area almost simultaneously. This meant two major offensives to be started within three weeks, forty miles apart. Pershing knew the Americans could do it, and the orders were issued.

The St.Mihiel Campaign started on September 9th, and ended on the 16th with an overwhelming American victory. 16,000 Germans were taken prisoner, and the salient was cleared of all German opposition. The Americans suffered 7,000 casualties. It was in this battle that American tanks were first used in combat. The Air Service was also used extensively here.

The Meuse-Argonne area was a very difficult one to attack. To the east was the Meuse River and to the west was the Argonne forest. The river was bordered by high, wooded hills and the Argonne was also hilly and forested. This meant any troops going up the valley would be caught in crossfire, because the Germans had both areas fortified with machine gun nests. In addition, the Germans had a twelve mile deep area of barbed wire, and concrete bunkers (machine gun emplacements) across the valley. It was impregnable, or so the Germans thought. Right in the middle of this area was a fortified hill called Montfaucon. This was a key fortification. Even Foch made the prediction that this hill wouldn't be taken until 1919.

After super human efforts were made getting all the troops and material into place the attack began on the morning of September 26th. Of the nine American Divisions that started the attack, four had no combat experience at all. Most of the experienced divisions were still at the St. Mihiel area. Even so, these untried troops took Montfaucon on the second day of the attack. They made slow progress until October 3rd, when the attack bogged down it was a combination of green troops and bad weather that slowed the attack. (It rained practically every day, turning the area into a quagmire.)

Pershing sent in more experienced units from the St. Mihiel area and the attack went forward again. The Germans put up a fierce resistance and started pulling reserves from other sectors to help hold the area. This slowed the Americans somewhat, but aided the Allies in the sectors they were pulled from.

In the Argonne Forest section of the battle, it was a fierce struggle for each yard. It was here that the famous "Lost Battalion" made its heroic stand. It was a mixed battalion of the 77th Division under the command of a Major Charles Whittlesey. The battalion consisted of 550 men from the 308th and 307th Infantry and the 306th Machine Gun Battalion. The battalion had been ordered to advance as rapidly as possible through the forest without regard for any other units on their flanks. On October 2nd they jumped off and proceeded through the forest hitting only sporadic and light opposition. They bedded down for the night, and when morning dawned they were surrounded by Germans with no allied units in sight.

They fought on for days running out of food and becoming very short of ammunition. At one point, they were even bombarded by friendly artillery. This was stopped when a carrier pigeon got through to the American lines asking for the bombardment to cease. The men were reduced to eating roots and bark, when a Private Krotoshinsky volunteered to try to get through and lead reinforcements back. He made it and on October 7th relief units fought their way to the battalion guided by him. For his efforts the private received the Distinguished Service Cross. Whittlesey was promoted to Lt.Colonel, and given the Medal of Honour. Of the 550 men that started out on the 2nd, 107 were killed, and only 194 were able to walk out. Most of these men immediately volunteered to continue on the offensive with the rest of the 77th.

In the days following, the drive through the Argonne Forest went on relentlessly. It was in this fighting that two men stood out from all the others. They were Corporal Alvin York (later Sergeant) and Lt. (later Captain) Samuel Woodfill. Pershing called York the outstanding civilian-soldier of the war, and Woodfill the greatest of all the American heroes of the war. More will be written of these two after this essay.

In mid October a 2nd Army of the United States was created in France. Pershing was now commander of two armies over a hundred mile front. This was about one quarter of the whole Western Front.

On November 1st the final phase of the Meuse-Argonne campaign began with assaults by the 1st Army on the Hindenburg line, the last line of the German defence system. The advance went rapidly forward and the heights above Sedan were taken. This cut the main German supply line and on the 6th the German high command asked for terms for an armistice.

On the 11th of November an armistice was signed and the war was over the fighting ended almost a year to the day after the Americans suffered their first casualties at Bathe Lemont. Since that day they met the enemy on a dozen fields of battle, and lost to him on none.

The third main point on this subject is the blockade of the German ports. As things began to get desperate on the German side of the war, the infamous U-Boats were dispatched to torpedo merchant vessels regardless of their nationality. Although all of the combatants had large navies and considerable influence overseas, after the brief and successful campaigns against German colonies there was surprisingly little naval conflict. An Anglo-French blockade of Germany was enforced, with shipping headed for Germany redirected away from German ports and shipping intended for the neutral countries neighbouring Germany strictly limited in order to remove the possibility of surreptitious German imports of vital raw materials. As the First World War gradually progressed, Germany quickly began to run short on many of the raw materials that it needed to maintain its industrial-era military, not to mention its national economy. As food shortages became common across Austria and Germany, the German government saw Russia as a stop-gap and perhaps even long-term substitute. If Germans controlled the granaries of Ukraine, the oil fields of the Caucasus, and the forests of northern Russia, Germany could not only gain most of the resources it needed but could then promptly redirect German forces westward for a crushing offensive against the Western Allies. The population of Germany was suffering from the effects of acute food shortages. Although the German U-Boat campaign had led to food shortages in Britain the British naval blockade that prevented supplies from getting into German ports hit Germany harder. An influenza epidemic hit the German cities causing large numbers of deaths amongst a people already weakened by food shortages. Strikes and demonstrations paralysed Berlin and in November the socialists tried to seize control. After the failure of his offensive Ludendorff resigned and the German fleet then mutinied.

The blockade of German ports was disastrous for the Germans and this was a huge factor in the final breaking of the stalemate.

The final factor of this argument is the initial success and then disastrous failure of the Ludendorff offensive. In spring 1918 Ludendorff began his Kaiserschlacht, which is German for Kaiser’s Attack. It was designed to shock and surprise the French armies by the speed of it and simply barge through the area where the British and French borders met along the trenches. Its three main aims were to knock Britain out, separate them from the French and enable them to negotiate peace. Its original name was Operation Michael. The attack consisted of three armies, the first two were part of the Rupprecht, and they were commanded by Generals Fonder Marwitz and Von Below. The third army were part of the Crown Prince and was commanded by General Hutier. There were 74 divisions involved behind lines and 800,000 of the men were heavily trained. The German armies consisted of the three ranks. The mobile, which were also known as the stormtroopers, they were the spearhead of the attack and extremely well trained and equipped. The attack, these troops were trained equipped similarly to that of the mobile but were there to mop up the remainders. Finally the trench, these men were not particularly well trained for battle or well equipped and were there simply to fortify the newly occupied trenches. Over one and a half million shells were fired in four hours, 80% of which contained gas. The offensive lasted a total of 16 days and the allies gave up vast amounts of land. However they retreated strategically to give them the upper hand in the counter attack which would be launched when the German troops became exhausted. Most of the troops retreated to supply trenches where food, medical and ammunition supplies were plentiful. Some German forces also came across several of the abandoned allied supply dumps. This deeply effected their morale as they could not believe how well supplied the allies were and many of the soldiers drunk and ate themselves into a stupor. By the end of the 16 day attack over 1200 square miles of land had been gained by the Germans but none of it had been of real strategic importance. The German troops were now exhausted and demoralised. The land they had taken was not very well fortified and the troops had taken the land too rapidly and the flow of troops had stopped. The allied counter attack was now staged and the German forces were pushed straight back again and lost more land than they had gained, not long after the Germans surrendered and the Versailles Peace Conference began.

It is now possible to view all of the factors mentioned in the question in great depth and detail. All of the factors connect to make a chain of events. Firstly, Ludendorff’s offensive was not very well planned as it was done in haste. This is because he knew that the attack had to be staged before the US troops arrived. The new technology helped greatly to defeat Ludendorff. The other allied successes on the Eastern Front meant that Germany lost the support of her allies. Finally the conditions in Germany due to the blockade of her ports and the loss of her allies meant that she had no choice but to surrender.

Overall I believe that each factor is equally as important, as each of them rely on another in order to be successful.