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Western Front (World War I)

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   Western Front
   Part of World War I
   Trench warfare on the western front
   For most of World War I, Allied and German Forces were stalled in
   trench warfare along the Western Front.

     Date   1914 – 1918
   Location Belgium and northeastern France
    Result  Allied victory
   Combatants
   Belgium
   British Empire
   Australia
   Canada
   India
   Newfoundland
   New Zealand
   South Africa
   United Kingdom
   France and French Overseas Empire
   Italy
   Portugal
   Russia
   United States Germany
   Commanders
   No unified command until 1918, then Maréchal Ferdinand Foch Moltke -->
   Falkenhayn --> Hindenburg and Ludendorff --> Hindenburg and Groener
   Casualties
   ~4,800,000 Unknown
   Western Front
   Frontiers – Liège – Antwerp – Great Retreat – Race to the Sea – Neuve
   Chapelle – 2nd Ypres – 2nd Artois – Hill 70 – 3rd Artois – Loos –
   Verdun – Hulluch – Somme – Arras – Vimy Ridge – 2nd Aisne – Messines –
   Passchendaele – Cambrai – Lys – 3rd Aisne – Belleau Wood – 2nd Marne –
   Château-Thierry – Hamel – Hundred Days

   Following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the German army
   opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then
   gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The
   tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the
   Marne. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified
   trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with
   France. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war.

   Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this
   front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed
   infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun
   nests, barbed wire, and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe
   casualties on the attackers and counter attacking defenders. As a
   result, no significant advances were made.

   In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of
   new military technology, including poison gas, aircraft, and tanks. But
   it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of
   mobility was restored.

   In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this theatre
   would prove decisive. The inexorable advance of the Allied armies in
   1918 persuaded the German commanders that defeat was inevitable, and
   the government was forced to sue for conditions of an armistice.

1914 — German invasion of France and Belgium

   At the outbreak of the First World War, the German army executed a
   modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, designed to quickly attack
   France through Belgium before turning southwards to encircle the French
   army on the German border. Armies under German generals Alexander von
   Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914. Luxembourg
   had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in
   Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5 August to 16
   August. Liège was well fortified and surprised the German army under
   von Bülow with its level of resistance. Following the fall of Liège,
   most of the Belgian army retreated to Antwerp and Namur. Although the
   German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank.
   Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about the 20 August until
   23 August.
   Map of the Western Front and the Race to the Sea, 1914
   Enlarge
   Map of the Western Front and the Race to the Sea, 1914
   French bayonet charge
   Enlarge
   French bayonet charge

   The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture
   Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities. The main
   offensive was launched on 14 August with attacks on Saarburg in
   Lorraine and Mülhausen in Alsace. In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan,
   the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting maximum losses upon the
   French. The French advanced toward the Saar River and attempted to
   capture Saarburg before being driven back. The French had captured
   Mülhausen but abandoned it to reinforce the greatly weakened forces in
   Lorraine.

   After marching through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Ardennes forest, the
   German army advanced, in the latter half of August, into northern
   France where they met both the French army, under Joseph Joffre, and
   the initial divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, under Sir
   John French. A series of engagements known as the Battles of the
   Frontiers ensued. Key battles included the Battle of Charleroi and the
   Battle of Mons. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more
   clashes such as the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the
   Battle of Guise.

   The German army came within 43  miles (70  km) of Paris, but at the
   First Battle of the Marne ( 6 September – 12 September), French and
   British troops were able to force a German retreat, ending their
   advance into France. The German army retreated north of the Aisne River
   and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front
   that was to last for the next three years. Following this German
   setback, the opposing forces tried to outflank each other in the Race
   for the Sea, and quickly extended their trench systems from the English
   Channel to the Swiss frontier.

   On the Entente side, the front was occupied by the armies of the allied
   countries in lengths according to their respective manpower. From the
   coast in the north, these were Belgium, Portugal, British Empire and
   France. As the war progressed, however, units were moved to strengthen
   the efforts of other nations, mainly on the long French front. Here
   British divisions were fairly prominent and smaller units from Russia
   and Italy were engaged partially as an expression of political
   solidarity. For example, British infantry and Italian artillery
   cooperated with French V Army in the Ardre Valley during the Second
   Battle of the Marne, in July 1918. At this, later stage in the war,
   American forces too, were available to be employed in a similar way,
   though usually in bigger units.

1915 — Stalemate

   Map of the Western Front, 1915–16
   Enlarge
   Map of the Western Front, 1915–16

   Between the coast and the Vosges was an outward bulge in the trench
   line, named the Noyon salient for the captured French town at the
   maximum point of advance near Compiègne. Joffre's plan of attack for
   1915 was to attack this salient on both flanks in order to cut it off.
   The British would form the northern attack force by pressing eastward
   in Artois, while the French attacked in Champagne.

   On 10 March, as part of what was intended as a larger offensive in the
   Artois region, the British and Canadian army attacked at Neuve Chapelle
   in an effort to capture the Aubers Ridge. The assault was made by four
   divisions along a 2 mile (3 km) front. Preceded by a concentrated
   bombardment lasting 35 minutes, the initial assault made rapid
   progress, and the village was captured within four hours. However, the
   assault slowed because of problems with logistics and communications.
   The Germans then brought up reserves and counter-attacked, forestalling
   the attempt to capture the ridge. Since the British had used about
   one-third of their total supply of artillery shells, General Sir John
   French blamed the failure on the shortage of shells, despite the
   success of the initial attack.

Gas warfare

   An artist's rendition of Canadian troops at the Second Battle of Ypres.
   Enlarge
   An artist's rendition of Canadian troops at the Second Battle of Ypres.

   Despite the German plans to maintain the stalemate with the French and
   British, German commanders planned an offensive at the Belgian town of
   Ypres, which the British had captured in November 1914 during the First
   Battle of Ypres. This was in order to divert attention away from major
   offensives in the Eastern Front while disrupting Franco-British
   planning and to test a new weapon. After a two-day bombardment, on 22
   April, the Germans released chlorine gas onto the battlefield which
   drifted into the British trenches. The green-yellow cloud asphyxiated
   the defenders and those in the rear fled in panic creating an
   undefended four-mile-wide gap in the Allied line. However, the Germans
   were unprepared for the level of their success and lacked sufficient
   reserves to exploit the opening. Canadian troops quickly arrived and
   drove back the German advance. This Second Battle of Ypres marked the
   first large-scale use of chemical weapons, where 170 tonnes were
   dropped on the allied lines, resulting in the deaths of 5,000 men
   within minutes, despite being prohibited by the Hague Convention of
   1899.

   The gas attack was repeated two days later and caused a three-mile
   withdrawal of the Franco-British line. But the opportunity had been
   lost. The success of this attack would not be repeated, as the Allies
   countered by introducing gas masks and other countermeasures. An
   example of the success of these measures came a year later, on 27
   April, when 25 miles (40 km) to the south of Ypres, at the Battle of
   Hulluch, the 16th (Irish) Division's troops were able to withstand
   determined German gas attacks.

Air warfare

   This year also saw the introduction of airplanes specifically modified
   for aerial combat. While planes had already been used in the war for
   scouting, on April 1 the French pilot Roland Garros became the first to
   shoot down an enemy plane by using machine guns that fired forward
   through the propeller blades. This was achieved by crudely reinforcing
   the blades so bullets which hit them were deflected away.

   Several weeks later Garros was forced to land behind German lines. His
   plane was captured and sent to the Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker, who
   soon developed a significant improvement, the interrupter gear, in
   which the machine gun is synchronized with the propellor so that it
   shoots rounds when the propellor isn't in the line of fire. This
   advance was quickly ushered into service, in the Fokker E.1 (Eindekker,
   or monoplane, Mark 1), the first true fighter aircraft; Max Immelmann
   scored the first kill in an Eindekker 1 August.

   This started a back-and-forth arms race, as both sides developed
   improved weapons, better engines, etc., which would continue until end
   of the war. It also inaugurated the cult of the ace, the most famous
   being the Red Baron.

Continued Allied attacks

   The ruins of Carency after it was recaptured by France.
   Enlarge
   The ruins of Carency after it was recaptured by France.

   The final Allied offensive of the spring was fought at Artois, with the
   goal of trying to capture the Vimy Ridge. The French 10th Army attacked
   on 9 May after a six-day bombardment and advanced 3 miles (5 km).
   However, they retreated as they had come into sights of machine gun
   nests and the German reinforcements fired artillery at the attackers.
   By 15 May the offensive had ground to a halt.

   During autumn of 1915, the " Fokker Scourge" began to have an effect on
   the battlefront as Allied spotter planes were nearly driven from the
   skies. These reconnaissance planes were used to direct gunnery and
   photograph enemy fortifications, but now the Allies were nearly blinded
   by German fighters.

   In September 1915 the Allies launched major offensives with the French
   attacking at Champagne and the British at Loos. The French had spent
   the summer preparing for this action, with the British assuming control
   of more of the front in order to free up French troops. The
   bombardment, which had been carefully targeted by means of aerial
   photography, began on 22 September. The main assault was launched on 25
   September and, at least at first, made good progress in spite of
   surviving wire entanglements and machine gun posts. However, forseeing
   this attack, the Germans had developed defensive lines 2 and 4 miles (3
   and 6 km) behind the front lines and were able to defend against the
   French attack which lasted into November.

   Also on 25 September, the British began their assault at Loos, which
   was meant to supplement the larger Champagne attack. The attack was
   preceded by a four-day artillery bombardment of 250,000 shells and a
   release of 5,100 cylinders of chlorine gas. The attack involved two
   corps in the main assault and two more corps performing diversionary
   attacks at Ypres. The British suffered heavy losses, especially due to
   machine gun fire, during the attack and made only limited gains before
   they ran out of shells. A renewal of the attack on 13 October fared
   little better. In December, British General John French was replaced by
   Douglas Haig as commander of the British forces.

1916 — Artillery duels and attrition

   The German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, believed that a
   breakthrough might no longer be possible, and instead focused on
   forcing a French capitulation by inflicting massive casualties. His new
   goal was to "bleed France white".

   As such, he adopted two new strategies. The first was the use of
   unrestricted submarine warfare to cut off Allied supplies arriving from
   overseas. The second would be targeted, high-casualty attacks against
   the French ground troops. To inflict the maximum possible casualties,
   he planned to attack a position from which the French could not retreat
   for reason of both strategic positions and national pride and thus trap
   the French. The town of Verdun was chosen for this because it was an
   important stronghold, surrounded by a ring of forts, that lay near the
   German lines and because it guarded the direct route to Paris. The
   operation was codenamed Gericht, German for "court", but meant "place
   of execution".

   Falkenhayn limited the size of the front to 3–4 miles (5–7 km) to
   concentrate their firepower and to prevent a breakthrough from a
   counteroffensive. He also kept tight control of the main reserve,
   feeding in just enough troops to keep the battle going. In preparation
   for their attack, the Germans had amassed a concentration of aircraft
   near the fortress. In the opening phase, they swept the air space of
   enemy spotters which allowed the accurate German artillery spotters and
   bombers to operate without interference. However, by May, the French
   countered by deploying escadrilles de chasse with superior Nieuport
   fighters. The tight air space over Verdun turned into an aerial
   battlefield, and illustrated the value of tactical air superiority, as
   each side sought to dominate air reconnaissance.

Battle of Verdun

   The remains of German soldiers at Verdun.
   Enlarge
   The remains of German soldiers at Verdun.

   The Battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916 after a nine-day delay
   due to snow and blizzards. After a massive eight-hour artillery
   bombardment, the Germans did not expect much resistance as they slowly
   advanced on Verdun and its forts. However, heavy French resistance was
   countered by the introduction of flamethrowers by the Germans. The
   French lost control of almost all of their forts, including Fort
   Douaumont. Nonetheless, French reinforcements halted the German advance
   by 28 February.

   The Germans turned their focus to Le Mort Homme to the north from which
   the French were successfully shelling them. After some of the most
   intense fighting of the campaign, the hill was taken by the Germans in
   late May. After a change in French command at Verdun from the
   defensive-minded Philippe Pétain to the offensive-minded Robert Nivelle
   the French attempted to re-capture Fort Douaumont on 22 May but were
   easily repulsed. The Germans captured Fort Vaux on 7 June and, with the
   aid of the gas phosgene, came within 1,200 yards (1 km) of the last
   ridge over Verdun before stopping on 23 June.

   Over the summer, the French slowly advanced. With the development of
   the rolling barrage, the French recaptured Fort Vaux in November, and
   by December 1916 they had pushed the Germans back 1.3 miles (2 km) from
   Fort Douaumont.

Battle of the Somme

   In the spring allied commanders had been concerned about the ability of
   the French army to withstand the enormous losses at Verdun. The
   original plans for an attack around the river Somme were modified to
   let the British make the main effort. This would serve to relieve
   pressure on the French, as well as the Russians who had also suffered
   great losses. On 1 July, after a week of heavy rain, British divisions
   in Picardy launched an attack around the river Somme, supported by five
   French divisions on their right flank. The attack had been preceded by
   seven days of heavy artillery bombardment. The experienced French
   forces were successful in advancing but the British artillery cover had
   neither blasted away barbed wire, nor destroyed German trenches as
   effectively as was planned. They suffered the greatest number of
   casualties (killed, wounded and missing) in a single day in the history
   of the British army, about 57,000.

   Having assessed the air combat over Verdun, the Allies had new aircraft
   for the attack in the Somme valley. The Verdun lesson learnt, the
   Allies' tactical aim became the achievement of air superiority and the
   German planes were, indeed, largely swept from the skies over the
   Somme. The success of the Allied air offensive caused a reorganization
   of the German air arm, and both sides began using large formations of
   aircraft rather than relying on individual combat.
   British infantry advance near Gingy.
   Enlarge
   British infantry advance near Gingy.

   After regrouping, the battle continued throughout July and August, with
   some success for the British despite the reinforcement of the German
   lines. By August General Haig had concluded that a breakthrough was
   unlikely, and instead switched tactics to a series of small unit
   actions. The effect was to straighten out the front line, which was
   thought necessary in preparation for a massive artillery bombardment
   with a major push.

   The final phase of the battle of the Somme saw the first use of the
   tank on the battlefield. The Allies prepared an attack that would
   involve 13 British and Imperial divisions and four French corps. The
   attack made early progress, advancing 3,500–4,500 yards (3.2–4.1 km) in
   places, but the tanks had little effect due to their lack of numbers
   and mechanical unreliability. The final phase of the battle took place
   in October and early November, again producing limited gains with heavy
   loss of life. All told, the Somme battle had made penetrations of only
   five miles (8 km), and failed to reach the original objectives. The
   Allies had suffered over 600,000 casualties and the Germans over
   460,000, though these figures are disputed.

   The Somme led directly to major new developments in infantry
   organization and tactics; despite the terrible losses of 1 July, some
   divisions had managed to achieve their objectives with minimal
   casualties. In examining the reasons behind losses and achievements,
   the British, and the Colonial contingents, reintroduced the concept of
   the infantry platoon, following in the footsteps of the French and
   German armies who were already groping their way towards the use of
   small tactical units. At the time of the Somme, British senior
   commanders insisted that the company (120 men) was the smallest unit of
   maneuver; less than a year later, the section of 10 men would be so.

Hindenburg line

   In August 1916 the German leadership along the western front had
   changed as Falkenhayn resigned and was replaced by Generals Paul von
   Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. The new leaders soon recognized that
   the battles of Verdun and the Somme had depleted the offensive
   capabilities of the German army. They decided that the German army in
   the west would go over to the strategic defensive for most of 1917,
   while the Central powers would attack elsewhere.

   During the Somme battle and through the winter months, the Germans
   created a prepared defensive position behind a section of their front
   that would be called the Hindenburg Line. This was intended to shorten
   the German front, freeing a number of divisions for other duties. This
   line of fortifications ran from Arras south to St Quentin. British
   long-range reconnaissance aircraft first spotted the construction of
   the Hindenburg Line in November 1916.

1917 — British Empire takes the lead

   Map of the Western Front, 1917
   Enlarge
   Map of the Western Front, 1917

   The staged withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line was named Operation
   Alberich by the Germans. It was begun on 9 February and completed 5
   April, leaving behind a devastated territory to be occupied by the
   Allies. The withdrawal ranged from 6 to 31 miles (10 to 50 km) from the
   original front lines. This withdrawal negated the French strategy of
   attacking both flanks of the Noyon salient, as it no longer existed.
   However, offensive advances by the British continued as the High
   Command claimed, with some justice, that this withdrawal resulted from
   the battering the Germans received during the Battle of the Somme.

   Meanwhile, on 6 April the United States declared war on Germany. Back
   in early 1915 following the sinking of the Lusitania, Germany had
   stopped their unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic because of
   concerns of drawing the United States into the conflict. With the
   growing discontent of the German public due to the food shortages,
   however, the government resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in
   February 1917. They had calculated that a successful submarine siege of
   Britain would force that country out of the war within six months,
   while American forces would take a year to become a serious factor on
   the western front. The submarine had a brief period of success before
   Britain resorted to the convoy system, bringing a dramatic reduction in
   shipping losses.

   In April 1917 the British Empire forces launched an attack starting the
   Battle of Arras. Despite the success of the Canadian Corps and the
   British 5th Infantry Division, in breaking through German lines at Vimy
   Ridge, the Allies could not capitalize due to the refusal to provide
   reinforcements to the region.

   During the winter of 1916–17, German air tactics had been improved, a
   fighter training school was opened at Valenciennes and better aircraft
   with twin guns were introduced. The result was near disastrous losses
   for Allied air power, particularly for the British, who were struggling
   with outmoded aircraft, poor training and weak tactics. As a result the
   Allied air successes over the Somme would not be repeated, and heavy
   losses were inflicted by the Germans. During their attack at Arras, the
   British lost 316 air crews compared to 114 lost by the Germans. This
   became known to the RFC as Bloody April.

French morale

   The same month, French General Robert Nivelle ordered a new offensive
   against the German trenches, promising that it would be a war-winner.
   The attack, dubbed the Nivelle Offensive (also known as Chemin des
   Dames, after the area where the offensive took place), would be 1.2
   million men strong, to be preceded by a week-long artillery bombardment
   and accompanied by tanks. However, the operation proceeded poorly as
   the French troops had to negotiate rough, upward-sloping terrain. In
   addition, detailed planning had been dislocated by the voluntary German
   withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, secrecy had been compromised, and
   German planes gained control of the sky making reconnaissance
   difficult. This allowed the creeping barrage to move too far ahead of
   the advancing troops. Within a week 100,000 French troops were dead.
   Despite the heavy casualties and his promise to halt the offensive if
   it did not produce a breakthrough, Nivelle ordered the attack continued
   into May.

   On 3 May the weary French 2nd Colonial Division, veterans of the Battle
   of Verdun, refused their orders, arriving drunk and without their
   weapons. Their officers lacked the means to punish an entire division,
   and harsh measures were not implemented. The mutinies afflicted 54
   French divisions and saw 20,000 men desert. Instead, appeals to
   patriotism and duty encouraged the soldiers to return to defend their
   trenches, although they refused to participate in further offensive
   action. By 15 May Nivelle was removed from command, replaced by General
   Henri Philippe Pétain, who suspended large-scale attacks. The French
   would go on the defensive for the next year, leaving the burden of
   attack to Britain and her Empire.

British offensives, American troops arrive

   On 7 June a British offensive was launched on Messines ridge, south of
   Ypres, to retake the ground lost in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914.
   Since 1915 engineers had been digging tunnels under the ridge, and 455
   tonnes (1,000,000  lb) of ammonal explosives had been planted in 21
   mines under the enemy lines. Following four days of heavy bombardment,
   the explosives in 19 of these mines were set off resulting in the
   deaths of 10,000 Germans. The offensive that followed again relied on
   heavy bombardment, but these failed to dislodge the Germans. The
   offensive, though initially stunningly successful, faltered due to the
   flooded, muddy ground, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

   On 11 July 1917 during this battle, the Germans introduced a new weapon
   into the war when they fired gas shells delivered by artillery. The
   limited size of an artillery shell required that a more potent gas be
   deployed, and so the Germans employed mustard gas, a powerful
   blistering agent. The artillery deployment allowed heavy concentrations
   of the gas to be used on selected targets. Mustard gas was also a
   persistent agent, which could linger for up to several days at a site,
   an additional demoralizing factor for their opponents. Along with
   phosgene, gas would be used lavishly by both German and Allied forces
   in later battles, as the Allies also began to increase production of
   gas for chemical warfare.

   On 25 June the first U.S. troops began to arrive in France, forming the
   American Expeditionary Force. However, the American units did not enter
   the trenches in divisional strength until October. The incoming troops
   required training and equipment before they could join in the effort,
   and for several months American units were relegated to support
   efforts. In spite of this, however, their presence provided a
   much-needed boost to Allied morale.

   Beginning in late July and continuing into October the struggle around
   Ypres was renewed with the Battle of Passchendaele (technically the
   Third Battle of Ypres, of which Passchendaele was the final phase). The
   battle had the original aim of pushing through the German lines and
   threatening the submarine bases on the Belgian coast, but was later
   restricted to advancing the British Army onto higher (and drier) ground
   around Ypres, no longer constantly under observation from German
   artillery. Canadian veterans from the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the
   Battle of Hill 70 joined the depleted ANZAC and British forces and took
   the village of Passchendaele on 30 October despite extremely heavy rain
   and casualties (suffering around 16,000 casualties). Again the
   offensive produced large numbers of casualties for relatively little
   gain, though the British made small but inexorable gains during periods
   of drier weather. The ground was generally muddy and pocketed by shell
   craters, making supply missions and further advancement very difficult.
   Both sides lost a combined total of over a half million men during this
   offensive. The battle has become a byword for bloody and futile
   slaughter among British historians, whilst the Germans called
   Passchendaele "the greatest martyrdom of the War". It is one of the two
   battles (the other is the Battle of the Somme) which have done most to
   earn British Commander in Chief Sir Douglas Haig his controversial
   reputation.

Battle of Cambrai

   On 20 November the British launched the first massed tank attack during
   the Battle of Cambrai. The British attacked with 324 tanks, with
   one-third held in reserve, and twelve divisions, against two German
   divisions. To maintain surprise, there was no preparatory bombardment;
   only a curtain of smoke was laid down before the tanks. The machines
   carried fascines on their fronts to bridge trenches and 4 m-wide
   (12-foot-wide) German tank traps. Except for the 51st (Highland)
   Division, who did not advance in columns behind the tanks but as a line
   across the field, the initial attack was a success for the British. The
   British forces penetrated further in six hours than had been achieved
   at the Third Ypres in four months, and at a cost of only 4,000 British
   casualties.

   However, the advance produced an awkward salient and a surprise German
   counteroffensive on 30 November drove the British back to their
   starting lines. Despite the reversal, the attack had been seen as a
   success by the Allies as it proved that tanks could overcome trench
   defences. The battle had also seen the first massed use of German
   stosstruppen on the western front, which used infantry infiltration
   tactics to successfully penetrate the allied lines.

1918 — Final offensives

   Map of the final German offensives, 1918
   Enlarge
   Map of the final German offensives, 1918

   Following the successful Allied attack and penetration of the German
   defences at Cambrai, Ludendorff determined that the only opportunity
   for German victory now lay in a decisive attack along the western front
   during the spring, before American manpower became a significant
   presence. On 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, and
   Russia withdrew from the war. This would now have a dramatic effect on
   the conflict as 44 divisions were now released from Eastern Front for
   deployment to the west. This would give them an advantage of 192
   divisions to the Allied 173 divisions, which allowed Germany to pull
   veteran units from the line and retrain them as sturmtruppen. In
   contrast, the Allies still lacked a unified command and suffered from
   morale and manpower problems: the British and French armies were sorely
   depleted, and American troops had not yet transitioned into a combat
   role.

   Ludendorff's strategy would be to launch a massive offensive against
   the British designed to separate them from the French and drive them
   back to the channel ports. The attack would combine the new storm troop
   tactics with ground attack aircraft and a carefully planned artillery
   barrage that would include gas attacks.

German spring offensives

   Operation Michael, the first of the German spring offensives, very
   nearly succeeded in driving the French and British armies apart,
   advancing about 40 miles (65 km) during the first eight days and moving
   the front lines more than 60 miles (100  km) west, within shelling
   distance of Paris for the first time since 1914.

   As a result of the battle, the two Allies finally agreed on a unified
   system of command. General Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander of
   all Allied forces in France. The unified Allies were now better able to
   respond to each of the German drives, and the offensive turned into a
   battle of attrition.

   In May the American divisions also began to play an increasing role,
   winning their first victory at Cantigny. By the summer, 300,000
   American soldiers were arriving every month. A total of 2.1 million
   American troops would be deployed on this front before the war came to
   an end. The rapidly increasing American presence served as a counter
   for the large numbers of redeployed German forces.

Final allied offensives

   Map of the final Allied offensives, 1918
   Enlarge
   Map of the final Allied offensives, 1918

   In July Foch initiated a planned offensive against the Marne salient
   produced during the German attacks. This attack was successful in
   eliminating the salient by August. A second major offensive was
   launched two days after the first ended at Amiens to the north. This
   attack would include Franco-British forces, but was spearheaded by
   Australian and Canadian troops along with a mass of 600 tanks and
   supported by 800 aircraft. The assault proved highly successful,
   leading Hindenburg to name 8 August as the "Black Day of the German
   Army".

   The German army's manpower had been severely depleted after four years
   of war, and its economy and society were under great internal strain.
   The Hundred Days Offensive beginning in August proved the final straw,
   and following this string of military defeats, German troops began to
   surrender in large numbers. As the Allied forces broke the German lines
   at great cost, the German Imperial Monarchy collapsed, and the two
   near-dictatorial commanders of the army, Hindenburg and Ludendorff,
   stepped aside. Battles were still raging when the German Revolution put
   a new government in power that quickly signed an armistice which
   stopped all fighting on the Western Front on Armistice Day ( 11
   November 1918).

Consequences

   The war along the western front led the German government and its
   allies to sue for peace in spite of German success elsewhere. As a
   result the terms of the peace were dictated by France, Britain and the
   United States, during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The result was
   the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919. The original terms of
   the treaty would cripple Germany as an economic and military power, so
   the military delegation refused to sign. Instead, it was agreed to by a
   delegation of the new German government.

   The Versailles treaty returned the border provinces of Alsace-Lorraine
   to France, thus limiting coal required by German industry. It also
   severely limited the German armed forces by restricting the size of the
   army to 100,000 and disallowing a navy or air force. The navy was
   sailed to Scapa Flow under the terms of surrender but was later
   scuttled as an act of defiance by its crews. The west bank of the Rhine
   would be demilitarized and the Kiel Canal opened to international
   traffic. The treaties also drastically reshaped Eastern Europe.

   CAPTION: Comparison of Casualties from
   Major Western Front Battles

    Battle   Year  Allies   German
   1st Marne 1914 263,000  250,000
   Verdun    1916 377,000+ 336,000+
   Somme     1916 623,907  465,000+
   2nd Aisne 1917 187,000  168,000
   Michael   1918 255,000  239,000

   Germany in 1919 was bankrupt, the people living in a state of
   semi-starvation, and having no commerce with the remainder of the
   world. The allies occupied the Rhine cities of Cologne, Koblenz and
   Mainz, with restoration dependent on payment of reparations. Among the
   German populace, the myth arose that the German army had not been
   defeated, which would later be exploited by Nazi party propaganda to
   partly justify the overthrow of the Weimar Republic. (See
   Dolchstoßlegende.)

   France suffered heavy damage in the war. In addition to loss of life,
   the industrial north-east of the country had been devastated by the
   war. (Once it was clear that Germany was going to lose, Ludendorff had
   ordered the destruction of the mines in France and Belgium. His goal
   was to cripple the industries of Germany's main European rival.) France
   would later build a massive series of fortifications along the German
   border known as the Maginot Line, banking on these structures to
   prevent future German aggression.

   The war in the trenches left a generation of maimed soldiers and war
   widows. The unprecedented butchery had a lasting effect on popular
   attitudes toward war, resulting in an Allied reluctance to pursue an
   aggressive policy toward Adolf Hitler (himself a decorated veteran of
   the war). The repercussions of that struggle are still being felt to
   this day.

Dramatizations

     * All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque (1929 novel)
     * All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)
     * All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 TV film)
     * The Big Parade (1925 film)
     * Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks (1994 novel)
     * Blackadder Goes Forth (1989 TV series)
     * " The Dawn Patrol"" (1930 and 1938 film)
     * " The General", C.S. Forester (1932 novel)
     * Generals Die in Bed, Charles Yale Harrison (1936 novel)
     * Johnny Got His Gun (1971 film)
     * Legends of the Fall (1994 film)
     * The Lost Battalion (1919 film, 2001 TV remake)
     * Passchendaele (2006 film)
     * Paths of Glory (1957 film)
     * The Rage of Angels, Alan Fisher (1997 novel)
     * " Sergeant York" (1940 film)
     * The Wars (1983 film)
     * What Price Glory (1926 and 1952 films)
     * Wings (1927 film)
     * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1996 TV series)

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