Was Field Marshall Douglas Haig more important that the allied blockade of German naval ports in bringing about the victory on the western front in 1918?

by natgilbert28gmailcom (student)

Natalie Gilbert

History

“Was Field Marshall Douglas Haig more important that the allied blockade of German naval ports in bringing about the victory on the western front in 1918?”

Although Haig was important in bringing victory to the Allies, he was not as important as the allied blockade. The blockade caused German shortages in food and supplies (which in turn lowered morale.)The blockade subsequently brought the Americans into the war. The blockade was effective as it meant that German troops were too weak to defeat the allied forces, the troops began to contract many diseases such as scurvy and dysentery, related to malnutrition. When compared, Haig’s impact was a lot smaller; however he did make many progressions in battlefield techniques.

In February 1916 the Germans began a determined battle to capture strategic French forts surrounding Verdun. To relieve the pressure, the British led by Haig launched their long-planned offensive at the Somme. After the week long artillery bombardment of German trenches, British troops advanced. In doing so, taking the pressure off the French and allowing them to meet their objectives. This was a success for Haig and showed that he did have some success during the war. During the battle of the Somme Haig greatly weakened the German army. This is supported by figures from the Battle. British Casualties were at 420,000, French casualties at 200,000 and German casualties at 500,000.

A quote by a German Captain also supports this by showing that even the German Officials believed that the Somme was a disaster for the Germans. Showing that Haig was partially successful in his objective:

“Muddy grave for the German army”

However during the Somme it is also argues that Haig hindered the British. I do agree with this statement. As I feel that Haig was outdated in most of his techniques, and was largely unused to this sort of warfare. The techniques and weapons used at the time were better suited to defence, rather than attack. It was much easier to defend a position, than to attack one. This was due to barbed wire, trenches and mud rendering cavalry charges ineffective. This was a blow to the British as Haig rather favoured cavalry and believed them to be very effective, despite the evidence before him. Machine guns could mow down charging infantry, meaning any attacks made by troops would be completely ineffective. Especially as Haig insisted that his troops should walk across no man’s land in columns. They were commonly referred to as cannon fodder. The colossal new guns of artillery could kill the enemy supplies but were unable to make a breakthrough. Artillery could also destroy enemy guns. But the supply of weapons to both sides quickly became inexhaustible. Factories back home in each country were soon geared up to produce all the extra munitions needed. However the naval blockade hindered Germany’s production as it cut off supplies of nitrates, which is vital for explosives. Germany could not produce food or weaponry necessary for the troops.

Many military mistakes made by Haig and other Generals at the time were to do with tactics, historian David Stevenson wrote:

“At this point, all commentators agree, Haig should have halted. But he insisted on carrying on.”

This quote emphasises the old tendency to press assaults long after the position had become hopeless. The rise of new generals such as Rawlinson and John Monash came at the expense of old, “bad” generals such as Hubert Gough, sacked in March 1918. Another problem with old tactics was that not enough power was given to ground forces. Captains or Generals on the ground could not go against their direct orders, even when it was inevitable that they would fail, later on during the war, more responsibilities were given to the ground troops. For instance if they saw that something was not going to go as planned then they could question or call off the attack.

During the Battle of the Somme, the British planned to attack on a 24 km (15 mile) front, between Serre, north of the Ancre, and Curlu, north of the Somme. Five French divisions would attack a 13 km (8 mile) front south of Somme, between Curlu and Peronne. To ensure a rapid advance, allied artillery pounded German lines for a week before the attack, firing 1.6 million shells. British commanders, like Field Marshall Haig, were so confident they ordered their troops to walk slowly towards the German lines. Once they had been seized, cavalry units would pour through to pursue the fleeing Germans. However, unconcealed preparations for the assault and the week long bombardment gave the Germans clear warning. Happy to remain on French soil, German trenches were heavily fortified and, furthermore, many of the British shells failed to explode. When the bombardment began, The Germans supply moved underground, and waited. Around 7:30 on July 1, whistles blew to signal the start of the attack. With the shelling over the Germans left their bunkers and set up their positions. If ground troops had been using new tactics then they might not have had these issues. Instead of just bombarding the enemy, then walking across to the trenches, they should have followed the bombardment, so that when it was over they would already be at the trench (Known as a creeping barrage). Unfortunately they didn’t do this, and as the 2 British divisions walked towards the German lines the machine guns started and the slaughter began. Although a few units managed to reach German trenches, they could not exploit their gains and were driven back. By the end of the day, the British had suffered 60,000 casualties, of whom 20,000 were dead: Their largest single loss. Sixty per cent of all officers involved on the first day were killed. Many “pals” battalions, comprising of men from the same town, had enlisted together to serve together. They suffered catastrophic losses; whole units died together and for weeks after the initial assault, local newspapers would be filled with lists of the dead, wounded and missing. The French advance was considerably more successful. They had more guns and faced weaker defences, yet were unable to exploit this advantage without British backup and had to fall back to earlier positions. With the “decisive breakthrough” now a decisive failure, Haig accepted that advances would be more limited and concentrated on the southern sector. The British took the German positions there on 14 of July, but again could not follow through. The next two months saw bloody stalemate, with the allies gaining little ground. On 15 September Haig renewed the offensive, using tanks for the first time. However, lightly armed, small in number and often subject to mechanical failure they made little affect. Torrential rains in October turned the battlegrounds into a muddy quagmire and in mid-November the battle ended, with the allies having advanced only 8 km (5 miles). The British suffered around 420,000 casualties, the French 195,000 and the Germans around 650,000. Only in the sense of relieving the French at Verdun can the British have claimed any measure of success.

“The French reached and even exceeded most of their first day objectives: the British except in the Southern sector, made no gains whatsoever.”

The British had been blockading German ports since 1914. The blockade was supposed to strangle” German industry so that it could not supply the German army. It reduced German trade from $5.9 billion in 1914 to just $0.8 billion in 1917. By 1917 civilians in Germany were experiencing severe shortages.

“It was in food supplies that Germany was most vulnerable. The blockade ensured that this problem would worsen steadily the longer the war continued. Whereas ...

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“The French reached and even exceeded most of their first day objectives: the British except in the Southern sector, made no gains whatsoever.”

The British had been blockading German ports since 1914. The blockade was supposed to strangle” German industry so that it could not supply the German army. It reduced German trade from $5.9 billion in 1914 to just $0.8 billion in 1917. By 1917 civilians in Germany were experiencing severe shortages.

“It was in food supplies that Germany was most vulnerable. The blockade ensured that this problem would worsen steadily the longer the war continued. Whereas France by mid- 1916 had only to tighten his belt, Germany was approaching a desperate state of shortage. Bread rationing had been introduced as early as January 1915 and potato and meat supplies were also firmly regulated so that, for a while, rising prices rather than scarcities constituted the main worry”

By the end of 1914 the British had succeeded in their overall aim of sealing off the German North Sea pole. But this had very little apparent effect on the execution of war on the Western front, or elsewhere. The British were compelled to consider what further measures they could put into effect. In March 1915 the allies “crossed the Rubicon” and formally decided to prohibit all international import and export trade with the central powers, including that of the neutrals. To ensure the efficiency of this measure, the allies also imposed on the Northern European Neutrals a virtual monopoly on trade in the prohibited items.

There were huge losses for the allied forces as a result of the Battle of Passchendaele, this is also true of the German forces, and they too faced huge casualties. It has been agued by many historians that the impact on German forces was two fold. Firstly by greatly weakening their men which meant that during the allied 100 days counter offensive the British and French forces found it easier to defeat the Germans as they lost a lot of their best men. It is also argued that a main reason why the Germans launched the German March Spring Offensive was because they simply knew that they could not withstand an allied offensive like Passchendale a second time. Therefore, the Germans felt it was now or never with regard to winning the war. This is important because the German March Spring Offensive was their big mistake and cost them the war as they finished off the best of their army in making breakthroughs they could not sustain. Another important factor to consider about the battle of Passchendale was that during 1917 the French army were undergoing mutiny and that they were on the verge of collapse. Therefore Haig launched the Battle in order to distract the German army which brought the French arm time to recover and stop the mutiny. If Haig had not launched this offensive then the French army may have collapsed which would have enabled Germany to walk through to certain victory. Conversely Haig also greatly weakened the British army.

Many military mistakes made by Haig and other Generals at the time were to do with tactics, historian David Stevenson wrote:

“At this point, all commentators agree, Haig should have halted. But he insisted on carrying on.”

This quote emphasises the old tendency to press assaults long after the position had become hopeless. The rise of new generals such as Rawlinson and John Monash came at the expense of old, “bad” generals such as Hubert Gough, sacked in March 1918. Another problem with old tactics was that not enough power was given to ground forces. Captains or Generals on the ground could not go against their direct orders, even when it was inevitable that they would fail, later on during the war, more responsibilities were given to the ground troops. For instance if they saw that something was not going to go as planned then they could question or call off the attack.

Haig was convinced that the German army was now close to collapse and once again made plans for a major offensive to obtain the necessary breakthrough. The opening attack at Passchendaele was carried out after a 10 day preliminary bombardment, with 3000 guns firing 4.25 million shells, the British offensive started at Ypres at 3:50 am on 31st of July. Allied attacks on the German front line continued despite very heavy rain that turned Ypres lowland into swamp. This situation was made worse by the fact that the British heavy bombardment had destroyed the drainage system in the area. This heavy mud created terrible problems for the infantry and the use of the tanks became impossible. This is supported by the following quote:

“Floods of rain and a blanket of mist have clouded the whole of the flounders plain. The newest shell holes, already half filled with sewage, are now full to the brim. The rain has so fouled this low , stone less ground, spoiled of all natural drainage by shell fire, that we experienced the double value the early work, for today moving heavy material was extremely difficult and the men could scarcely walk in full equipment, much less dig. Every man was soaked through and was standing or sleeping in a marsh. It was a walk of energy to keep the rifle in a stat fit to use”

During the British blockade the USA was officially neutral but was supplying loans and equipment to the allies. The Germans attacked and destroyed many American ships, which the suspected of carrying supplies to the allies. They also sank passenger ships, Killing many American civilians. When the USA discovered that Germany hoped to ally against them with Mexico it was the final straw. And the USA declared war on Germany on April 1917. Even though this caused allied morale to boost, and that of Germanys to reduce, it was not sufficient enough to force a breakthrough on the Western front. When the armistice came, the German army was still holding its position in the Hindenburg line. Allied commanders had already drawn up military campaign plans for 1919. The US entry was caused partly by the U-boat campaign, and also by the discovery that Germany was trying to persuade Mexico to declare war on the USA, promising them Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in return. The Americans had hesitated about siding with autocratic Russian government but the overthrow of the Tsar in the March Revolution removed this obstacle.

The Germans launched the German March Spring Offensive because they knew that they could not withstand an allied offensive like Passchendaele a second time. Therefore, the Germans felt it was now or never with regard to winning the war. This is important because the German March Spring Offensive was their big mistake and cost them the war as they finished off the best of their army in making breakthroughs they could not sustain.

The Battle of Amiens, which started on August 8th 1918, proved to be the most decisive battle against the Germans on the Western Front. The Battle of Amiens was the first to incorporate an all armed coordinated attack, bringing together artillery, tanks, infantry and aircraft. Amiens was of immense importance to the allies as it was a major rail hub used to receive supplies for the front line and from there these supplies were moved out to where they needed to be. In early 1918, Ludendorff ordered a major attack on the city. The German Army had been greatly strengthened by tens of thousands of troops who had moved from the Eastern front to the Western front after Russia pulled out of the war. These men had spent time fighting in Russia and were experienced and battle hardened. Ludendorff planned to concentrate his forces in just one area of the Western front and punch a hole through it that would force the allies to move troops from else where to support those facing the advancing Germans. Ludendorff planned to target British troops and push them to the English Channel. He believed that the shock of the French at losing there ally would be so great that they would surrender. At 9:40, storm troopers attacked. Such was their preparation that these men had maps of British positions sewn into the sleeves of there uniform. They only attacked weak spots and swiftly moved on. Infantry units followed on behind. By 12:00 one third of British troops facing the attack have been last and it took until April 5th for the allies to hold up the advance. Between March 21st and April 5th the Germans had advanced 28 miles, as far as the town of Ullers. Bretonneux. Rawlinson co-ordinated an attack using everything in his disposal of a commander. The Canadian and Australian troop advanced 5 miles by midday. British troops in the hillier northern sector fared worse but still advanced. Such was the success of the attack; Rawlinson ordered 20,000 cavalry troops to advance.

“The Germans were surrendering everywhere. We knew it was going to be the end of the war”

Major S. Euers, Australian Corpse. The Battle of Albert represented a new phase in the fighting that had begun on 8 August- a northward extension of the British advance to include the Third Army; so as to support fourth Army’s Eastward and South- Eastward progress. With the initial aim of gaining the line of Arras- Albert railway, third Army’s battle preparations were undertaken with the utmost secrecy; additional divisions were filtered into the battle zone, new artillery positions concealed, infantry units trained in talk co-operation and air support co-ordinated. At 4:55am on the densely foggy morning of Wednesday 21 August, infantry of 5 divisions, advanced on a 7 mile front in the wake of a precise creeping barrage, completely surprising the enemy. VI corpse gained its objective by 5:40am; IV corpse facing resistance took its first objective 20 minutes later. Varying success met the renewed attacks towards the railway. With less ground to cross in the North, guards units and 3rd division infantry gained their objectives by 11:30am; but to the South, 63rd and 5th divisions became involved in much exhausting fighting and failed to make headway, though on the extreme right V corpse captured Beaucourt and advanced beyond Baillescourt farm. Bying decides to pause the attack on Thursday 22 August to allow his forces to regroup; as series of German counter attacks were beaten off during that intensely hot summer’s day. Fourth Army advances, resulted in the occupation of Albert. On 23rd August Third and Fourth British Armies participated in a huge general allied attack which, with French assaults on the right, extended over a battle front of 33 rules. The days fighting saw Third Army edge significantly nearer Bapamme, this would remain its principle objective in the days immediately following.

However, the battle of Meuse-Argonne was another success of World War 1. This was the USA’s greatest achievement during the war, and could not have happened if the USA had not joined the war. When the first army attacked on September 12, it found an enemy in retreat-The Germans had decided to abandon the salient. The Americans captured 16,000 largely second rate troops at a cost of only 7000 casualties. The Americans managed to shift more than 400,000 troops from St MIhiel to the Argonne, and attack at dawn on September 26, after an all-night barrage from 3,928 guns. The 250,000 men who went forward into a dense fog were expected to advance no less than 10 miles up the valley, clearing the enemy from the forest of the Argonne and bursting two of the three German defences lines-bearing the Wagnerian names of Giselher, Herimhilde and Freya. Pershing hoped to accomplish this with a combination of mass and movement. Against his 9 double strength armies Germany mustered only 5 understrength divisions perhaps 50,000 men. By the end of the battle Pershing had 26,277 dead and 95,786 wounded. American losses were exacerbated by the inexperience of many of the troops and tactics used during the early phases of the operation. However, German losses numbered 28,000 killed and 92,250 wounded. Coupled with British and French offences elsewhere on the Western front, the assault through the Argonne was critical in breaking German resistance and concluding WW1. However, The British and French regarded the battle with disdain and were very unimpressed with the slow gains made by the Americans and the Meuse-Argonne battle was quoted to be:

"Probably the bloodiest single battle in U.S. history,”

Despite the good news of the Russian surrender, the allies blockade of German ports had starved the economy of raw materials and the population (including the soldiers) of food. Worse still, the USA was moving troops to France at a rate of 50,000 per month. Above all, the German army was not the quality fighting machine it had once been. Germany needed a quick victory and the surrender of Russia gave the Germans one last opportunity to achieve a military breakthrough and end the stalemate. Through the early months of 1918 Germany transferred troops from east to Western front. In March 1918 the German Commander Ludendorff launched the great gamble to win the war. It started with the typical huge bombardment and gas attacks. However, instead of the usual ‘wave’ of infantry, he followed up with attacks by smaller bands of specially trained and lightly equipped “storm troops” who struck during a heavy fog along the entire front line. The idea was to stop the Allies massing their defence in a single place. It was very effective. The Germans broke through the allied lines in many places, advanced 64 Km and Paris was now in range of heavy gunfire. The Ludendorff Offensive had so far gone very well. However, the German army lost 400,000 men in making this breakthrough and they had no reserves to call on. The troops of 1918 did not compare well with those of 1914. Their discipline was poor and they were badly fed and supplied. Many of the planned German advances were held up as troops stopped to loot food and supplies from captured trenches or villages. They also came up against well-led and well-equipped Allied forces. The blockades had prevented the Germans from making similar technological improvements. Between May and August the Germans made no further progress and it was clear that they had run out of time and resources. The Germans had ended trench warfare but it was the Allies who eventually gained the benefit. By now, they had large numbers of well-fed and well-equipped troops. These troops were supported by tanks, aircraft and improved artillery. By 1918 the big guns were capable of hitting targets with impressive accuracy as well as laying down smokescreens or giving covering fire for attackers. On August 8 the Allies counterattacked along much of the Western Front. It was now just a matter of time before the Allies defeated Germany. By late September they had reached the Hindenburg Line. By October the Germans were in full retreat. This period has become known as ‘The Hundred Days’. Finally, on 11 November 1918 the Armistice came into effect. About 750,000 German civilians died from starvation caused by the British blockade during the War, meaning the German population were willing to surrender.

In an interview, Hindenburg stated,

"So I must really say that the British food blockade and the American blow in the Argonne decided the war for the allies." "...without the American troops and despite a food blockade ... the war could have ended in a sort of stalemate."

Therefore whilst Haig was important, his actions were reliant, and would not have been successful had the financial power of the German not been weakened. Had they been able to import enough food and nitrate, it would have been possible for Germany to defeat Britain and France, or for the stalemate to carry on. If it wasn't for unrestricted submarine warfare then America may not have got involved in the war and would not have supplied the British army with all the money, firepower and men they needed to win the war.