Why did the Stalemate on the Western Front end?

Alex Lines

The stalemate on the Western Front had been going on for several years, and the morale of the Allies was pretty low. Woodrow Wilson had Americans arriving however, but before any actually died, he offered peace to the Germans in an attempt to end the war before any did die. Ludendorff, however, had some new tactics in operation, and the Germans were winning. They now had the advantage of around 1,000,000 more men from the Eastern Front where the Russians had mutinied and overthrown their Royal family and become communists. He rejected what is known as ‘The Fourteen Points’, confident that the Germans could end the war soon. His plan involved sending ‘Storm troopers’, highly trained and equipped soldiers, as reinforcements during offensives. Inevitably, there were going to be some breakthroughs, and some halts. Instead of following the old tactics of sending reinforcements to help attack these areas, Ludendorff sent the storm troopers to capitalise on the breakthroughs, and then sweeping throughout the trenches. On the 21st of March, the Germans assaulted the Somme front, the weakest part of the Allied trench line. The new tactic was more successful than Ludendorff or anyone else could have hoped for. The Germans attacked with the element of surprise on their side, since there was a thick fog, and there had been no German offensive for two years. The Germans suddenly started shooting several thousand artillery guns at once along a 40-mile front, and kept firing for five hours. The Germans set off explosives under the British lines, and the Germans went started attacking with soldiers. The weakened British line was pushed back. Over the course of the next few weeks, the Germans advanced until they were within 35 miles of Paris. They had advanced further in two weeks than they had during the whole of the stalemate, which had lasted for several years.

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However, the Germans had exhausted themselves. They had also outpaced their supplies and artillery. Many Germans also stopped to loot the French towns and villages, and many Germans also became drunk. Germany’s first effort to win the war in 1918 had failed. The next German offensive took place in April near Ypres. The salient flattened out by withdraws maid voluntarily by the British, and hardened defences eventually held the Germans. In May 1918, the Germans attacked across the River Aisne. Several British and French troops were crammed into the front lines, with no defence in depth, and had only about half a day’s warning of the attack. An extremely destructive bombardment was created, and then 30 divisions of Germans overwhelmed the Allied lines, and they advanced 10 to 12 miles in the first day alone. Soon they came to within 50 miles of Paris, but were once again slowed down by looting and drunkenness, and were soon stopped by counter-attacks. By this time, American troops were arriving in quite large numbers, and their arrival was a great morale booster for the Allies. After around a month (in which there was an international influenza epidemic), the Germans made a final offensive. However, the French were now deploying their defence in depth, and the advances were soon halted. These attacks were meant to absorb Allied reserves, but instead they absorbed the reserves of the Germans. The Germans had lost over 1,000,000 men, and thereby lost their advantage in numbers, while the Americans were arriving constantly. This offensive proved to be Germany’s last attack of the war.

Counter-attacks soon followed, using the element of surprise. There was no previous bombardment, so the Germans weren’t alerted in advance, and the Allies also used nearly 350 small Renault tanks. The Germans held them near Soissons, and checked other attacks near Rheims, preventing the salient from being cut off. The Germans then made a controlled withdraw from the salient. This was the turning point in 1918. The Allies then attacked at Amiens. The attack was planned in the utmost secrecy. Deceptions were created such as digging rear defence lines. The attack was made without any prior bombardment, with 430 tanks, 10 Canadian and Australian divisions, 4 British divisions, and 1 American division moving behind a ‘creeping barrage’. Low flying aircraft were used to cover the noise of the tanks. The Germans were defeated by the tanks, and Allies made a 7 mile advance. Ludendorff called this day the ‘black day of the German army’ (8th August 1918). He soon realised how low German morale was when many disgraceful surrenders and retreats were made. The Germans despaired at the thought of the power the Americans were building, and they soon realised that the war could not be won, only ‘ended quickly’. Yet more Allied attacks followed. Eventually, thanks to the new tactics and strategy of Haig, the Allies were able to break through the Hindenburg Line. Ludendorff now had the problem of evacuating his armies from France in the face of Allied superiority. He later suggested that an armistice was made, which was signed 11:00, 11/11/18. The war was over.

There are many reasons for the break of the stalemate, but I believe the most important reason was the change in tactics. Ludendorff started using new tactics, and these helped the Germans break through the Allied lines. However, Ludendorff followed the old strategy of advancing as far as possible, and this proved to be his downfall. His troops became separated from the artillery guns, and without their support, the German troops were halted. Haig, however, used similar tactics to Ludendorff soon afterwards, but he changed his strategy. Instead of steaming ahead, the Allies advanced a few miles, and then waited for the artillery to catch up. Thus the Allies kept the support of artillery with them. Thus the Allies were able to break through the Hindenburg Line, and keep their positions. However, the Germans could have kept fighting, if it weren’t for the very low morale of troops and civilians. They simply lost their fighting spirit after the failed attacks, and seemed resigned to losing the war. Haig and other war generals helped this by wearing down the morale of the Germans by winning a vast majority of the battles once the Allies had started attacking. The arrival of the Americans also helped by boosting the morale of the Allies, and lowered the morale of the Germans even further. They also put pressure on the German generals to win the war quickly, and this may have caused them to make mistakes. However, I believe another reason (though maybe not as important) for the stalemate’s end was the arrival of the ‘Tank’. It would have been terrifying for the Germans to see these machines coming towards them. The armour of the tanks also held against machine gun fire, so that these weapons of defence (which I have previously stated in another essay helped cause the stalemate) were countered. With infantry support, the tanks were almost unstoppable if used correctly. These tanks helped with the success of offensives. However, tanks were useless without large numbers of infantry in support, which with the arrival of the Americans, was easily made possible. The numbers of the Americans also meant that offensives were possible for the Allies, while the Germans, though they once held this advantage after the surrender of the Russians, didn’t have enough men or equipment to mount many attacks. Combined with the new tactics and strategies of their generals, the Allies could really make their numbers count, while the Germans were forced to defend for most of the time, and they couldn’t afford the casualties caused. So, in conclusion, I feel that the main reason for the breaking of the stalemate was the new strategies and tactics used by the Allies, but I also realise that the arrival of the Americans and the tanks were also important (though not as important).