WW32+Ludendorff

=Ludendorff’s Spring Offensive and the Allied response=


 * Focus questions**:
 * Why did Germany launch a major offensive in spring 1918?
 * What was the impact of this offensive on Germany and the Allies?
 * What effect did the Allied counter-offensive have on the Germans?


 * Why did Germany launch a major offensive in spring 1918?**


 * In March 1917, the Germans had fallen back to the heavily defended Hindenburg Line. This reduced the front line by 50 miles and reduced the number of men needed to defend it.
 * The major offensives of 1916-17 had taken a heavy toll on both sides. The Germans were suffering as well from the impact of the British naval blockade which was causing shortages of food and war materials. They needed a decisive action before morale collapsed.
 * In April 1917, the USA had declared war on Germany. The Spring Offensive was an attempt to secure victory before the full impact of fresh American troops was felt.
 * The defeat of Russia meant that Germany was no longer fighting a war on two fronts. They could bolster their western front with troops transferred from the east.

21 March – **Operation Michael** – the Germans launched a massive offensive, preceded by a huge artillery barrage, along a forty mile front in Picardy (the Somme region).
 * The Spring Offensive**

The **aim** was to break through the line north of the Somme, take the strategically important town of Amiens and move on to the North Sea. This would cut off supplies from Britain across the English Channel. They would then be able to turn on Paris and overwhelm a weakened French army. They were more successful in the advance south of the Somme which created difficulties. This advance in Picardy towards Amiens was halted on 25 April when two Australian brigades successfully retook the town of **Villers-Bretonneux**. This was the end of the Somme offensive for the Germans

26 March – **General Foch** was given supreme command of all Allied forces, allowing a more coordinated response.

9 April – **Operation Georgette** – a secondary assault was launched by the Germans around Armentières in northern France. The aim was to capture Hazebrouck and cut off British supplies from the Channel ports.

27 May – **Operation Blücher** – a major attack in Champagne against the French. The Germans continued to advance in this area for the next six weeks. They were finally halted at the **Second Battle of the Marne** in July.


 * Result of the Spring Offensive**

The German Spring Offensives had nearly succeeded but, ultimately, their failure now meant inevitable defeat for the Germans. Germany had suffered over 1,000,000 casualties, lost over 100,000 men as prisoners, and much of their artillery captured. By July, American troops were joining battle in large numbers.

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 * Commonwealth War Graves Commission website: The German Offensives **


 * The Allied Response**

8 August – a major counter-offensive against the Germans was launched in the Somme. Infantry supported by tanks broke the German lines and continued to push the Germans back. Ludendorff called 8 August the “**black day of the German army**”.



**Source A – Erich von Ludendorff’s Official Statement – 4 August 1918**

Foch's plan was undoubtedly to cut off the entire arc of our front south of the Aisne by a breakthrough on the flank. But with the proved leadership of our Seventh and Ninth Armies that was quite impossible. We figured with an attack on July 18th and were prepared for it. The enemy experienced very heavy losses, and the Americans and African auxiliary troops, which we do not underestimate, suffered severely. By the afternoon of the 19th we already were fully masters of the situation and shall remain so. We left the abandoned ground to the enemy according to our regular plan. "Gain of ground" and "Marne" are only catchwords without importance for the issue of the war. We are now, as before, confident.

//Source Records of the Great War//, Vol. VI, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923

**Source B – Extract from Ludendorff’s War Memoirs, written in 1919**

August 8th was the black day of the German army in the history of this war. This was the worst experience that I had to go through, except for the events that, from September 15th onwards, took place on the Bulgarian Front and sealed the fate of the Quadruple Alliance.

We had to resign ourselves now to the prospect of a continuation of the enemy’s offensive. Their success had been too easily gained. Their wireless was jubilant, and announced – and with truth – that the morale of the German army was no longer what it had been. The enemy had also captured many documents of inestimable value to them. The Entente must have gained a clear idea of our difficulty in finding reserves, a further reason why they should pursue the offensive without respite.

This brilliant plan, concerting the separate national thrusts into a grand strategy of offence, took full advantage of Germany’s lack of reserves, as well as of her advanced front-line positions. Foch won tactical advantage by the use of tanks. All through September his blows fell according to plan.
 * Source C – David Thomson, //Europe Since Napoleon//, 1957**

**Source D – Gordon A. Craig, //Europe Since 1815//, 1961**

Then, on August 8, General Rawlinson’s Fourth Army, supported by French units, struck with dramatic suddenness east of Amiens, and masses of Allied tanks tore the German lines to shreds. This was “the black day of the German army”, and it recoiled, never to seize the initiative again. By the beginning of September, the Allied armies were sweeping forward in every sector: the British were through the Somme and hammering at the Hindenburg line; the French were pushing forward in the Champagne; and the Americans, whom the German navy had vowed to keep out of Europe, had won their first fight at St Mihiel and were advancing in the Meuse-Argonne.

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 * Commonwealth War Graves Commission website: Advance to Victory **