Abstract
After a continual stalemate in 1916 and 1917 on the Western Front, Germany attempted to break through the deadlock and deliver the fatal blow to the Allies. Why did the Hundred Days Offensive successfully break through the German defenses? The reasons lie in the planning process and the operation process of the German Spring Offensive. Why did the German Spring Offensive of 1918 fail? This question would present the background to the Hundred Days Offensive and the signing of armistice by Germany. This question is often overlooked. Many historical books specifically discuss the Hundred Days Offensive and not the Spring Offensive.
Since this is a broad topic, the essay discusses the answers to this question from both the Allied and the German sides. The analysis does discuss the battles in the Offensive, but it primarily focuses on the situation of the society, industry, and the significant decisions behind the frontlines.
With the assistance of primary and secondary sources, the essay discusses and explains the 5 primary reasons that resulted in the failure of the Offensive. Even before the Spring Offensive, General Ludendorff made serious mistakes concerning the movement of his men and weapons from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. During the Spring Offensive, he made tactical and strategic mistakes. In other words, he missed opportunities that could have won him the Offensive. Germany's weaponry production declined in 1918, and these weapons were crucial to the Germans for the past successes. To maker matters worse, the forces lacked food as well. Ukraine did not live up to their expectations.
In the very end, America's moral, industrial, and military reinforcements, along with the reasons listed above, ultimately halted the German attacks and turned the defense into the offense that eventually won the war for the Allies.
Word Count: 296
Introduction
" We must strike at the earliest moment before the Americans can throw strong forces into the scale. We must beat the British." Erich Ludendorff, the German Commander, decided that the only opportunity for the Germans to be triumphant in World War One was to separate the French and British forces and force them to comply with a peace treaty on the terms of Germany before America was at full strength. Germany appeared to possess the upper hand when the Spring Offense was initiated, and it certainly had opportunities during the Spring Offensive to deliver the fatal blow to the Allies. Why Did the German Spring Offensive of 1918 Fail? This question is significant because the causes of the failure of the Spring Offensive are the underlying grounds for the final outcome of World War One. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of Ludendorff's preparation errors before the Offensive, Ludendorff's strategic and tactical mistakes during the Offensive, Germany's inadequate manufactures of weaponry in 1918, Germany's agricultural shortage in 1918, and America's moral, industrial, and military reinforcements for the Allies during the Offensive.
Background
In 1917, the failures of General Nivelle's offensive and the widespread mutinies radically lowered the French morale. During the period of November 1917 to March 1918, the British forces on the Western Front decreased by 25%. By March 1918, America was beginning to impact the outlook of the Western Front, but it has yet to reach full strength. General Ludendorff saw the opportunities to win the war, and placed the fate of the German people in this last offensive. The Spring Offensive is also known as "Kaiserschlacht" and Illustration 1 describes the progress of the entire Offensive. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 started at 4:50 AM on March 21st 1918 with Operation Michael, as shown in Illustration 2. Germany's Western Front extended from 390 km in March 20th to 510 km by June 25th. However, the Spring Offensive ultimately failed in its purpose to win the war, and the German forces returned to its starting line by July 20th. The counterattack of the Allies eventually defeated the Germans, and Germany eventually signed the armistice on November 11, 1918.
General Ludendorff's Planning Mistakes
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of General Ludendorff's planning mistakes for the Offensive. In December of 1918, the Central Powers signed an armistice with Russia and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3rd, 1918. As a result, over 60 German divisions were freed from the Eastern Front. Over 1 million troops and 3000 artillery pieces were added to the German forces on the Western Front from the Eastern Front before March. However, approximately 1.5 million soldiers along with 270,000 horses were stationed on the Eastern Front in 1918. General Ludendorff did not even relocate the elite Eighth Army to the Western Front, and this army was responsible for decisive victories at the Battle of the Masurian Lakes and at the Battle of Tannenberg. Ludendorff also insisted that the Austro-Hungarians should continue with their campaigns to attack Italy rather than assisting the Germans in the Spring Offensive. Just as Crown Prince Rupprecht stated, "Ludendorff is a man of absolute determination, but determination alone is not enough, if it is not combined with clear-headed intelligence." Ludendorff was definitely one of the most talented and determined generals in World War One. Unfortunately, Ludendorff's mistakes during the planning process eventually resulted in the Offensive's failure. People supported Ludendorff by saying that Germany need 1.5 million people to stabilize Romania and Russia, but some historians claim that at least half of the Eastern Front army could be transferred to the Western Front. General Ludendorff undeniably overestimated the effectiveness of his forces in the Western Front so he was confident enough to leave 1.5 million men on the Eastern Front and ask no help from Austria-Hungary. These 1.5 million men require food and materials that the forces in the Spring Offensive could have used. He did not consider the predicament that the German troops would encounter if the Allies were able to successfully defend Germany's assaults in the early or middle stages of the Offensive. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because General Ludendorff made critical mistakes during the planning process for the Offensive.
General Ludendorff's Strategic and Tactical Mistakes during the Operations
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of General Ludendorff's strategic and tactical mistakes during the operations. Oskar von Hutier developed the Hutier (Infiltration) Tactics, and these tactics were effective at the Battle of Riga and Caporetto. It eliminated the enemies by having the storm troopers infiltrate the front lines of the enemies and destroy key infrastructures like communication and transportation systems, as shown in Illustration 3. Afterwards, the troops and the infantry will attack. Ludendorff utilized this tactic in the operations, but his strategy did not correspond with the tactic. According to Rupprecht, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Ludendorff's strategy was: "We chop a hole. The rest follows". As a result, their attack at Arras and other locations were repelled. In Operation Michael, the British Fifth Army was obliterated and General Hutier's 8th army broke through the defense line. The Encarta Reference, concerning this situation, states that: "If Ludendorff had concentrated all his reserves to exploit the gap Hutier had opened, the plan might have succeeded. Instead, he launched three separate new attacks." Even the British recognized the opportunities of victory for the Germans of the gap that Hutier created. Kingsley Martin, a British soldier, described their thoughts of the German attempts for a breakthrough in March of 1918: "French soldiers shouted at us, 'What's happened to the bloody Fifth Army?' The British had lost the war. It was said not to be safe to go out because the French were so angry." During Operation Michael, Germany lost 239,000 men and most of these soldiers were storm troopers. Hew Strachan, in his book called The First World War, described Ludendorff, concerning his final plans to defeat France, as a person that "had lost all grasp of strategic reality." Officers around Ludendorff claimed that he possibly worked for over 19 hours a day and the psychological strain could have been a cause for his tactical mistakes, and his hardworking efforts are displayed in Illustration 4. His successes cannot be denied at the Battle of the Somme and other battles in the Offensive. However, his wrong perception of the Hutier tactics and his missed opportunities of attacking the weak defenses, like in the example of the gap that General Hutier created, were reasons that resulted in the failure of the Spring Offensive. Some people praised Ludendorff for the progression of his army despite the economics obstacles, but it has to be remembered that the German army did nevertheless have the opportunities to win the Offensive and Ludendorff missed it. Ludendorff overrated the effectiveness of the Hutier Tactic to an extent that he became idealistic about his tactics of infiltration. The German Spring Offensive failed because of Ludendorff's strategic and tactical mistakes during the Offensive.
Germany's Agricultural Shortage in 1918
The General Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of Germany's agricultural shortage in 1918. From 1913 to 1918, the area of Germany under cultivation fell by 15% and the farming productions were in continual declines because mobilization took horses and over 3 million agricultural workers. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 33% of Russia's pre-war population, 33% of arable land, 40% of coal output, and 24% of stell making capacity primarily belonged to Germany. A Corps Commander in Kiev reported to Ludendorff on March 23, 1918 concerning Ukraine, "The administrative structure is in total disorder, completely incompetent and in no way ready for quick results." Ottakar Czernin, the foreign minister of Habsburg Empire, stated in 1918, "The hopes, which the settlement at Brest-Litovsk had universally raised, were not remotely fulfilled." After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany expected that their new regions would produce sufficient food for the soldiers. However, these territories did not provide enough materials for the soldiers in 1918. At the times when the German forces broke through the Allied defenses in the Spring Offensive, the supply line's food shortage forced the Germans to retreat. The German troops were starving, and this directly resulted in their low morale and their awful performances on the battlefield in the Offensive. The Spring Offensive failed because of Germany's inadequate production of foodstuffs to sustain the German troops.
Germany's Industrial Unproductiveness during the Offensive
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of Germany's inadequate manufactures of weaponry in 1918. The British Navy started a Naval Blocade in August 1914 of Germany and had finished enclosing all the German sealine on the north by the end of 1914. It has been estimated that over 750,000 German civilians have died due to malnutrition and the blockade is a primary reason for the deaths. The German War Food Department announced in May 1918 that the flour allocation has to be reduced and it stated:
"The daily flour ration...will be reduced from 200 to 160 grams...The re-establishment of the old rations will take place as soon as sufficient imports from the Ukraine are in the hands of the Reich Grain Department."
At the same time, metal was so scarce that coins were melted and new forms of paper money called Notegeld circulated the market. For Germany, the deliveries of new guns fell from 3000 per month in 1917 to 2000 in February 1918. To make matters worse, German production of artillery shells in mid 1918 was merely half of the monthly output of 1917 and Germany was still fighting in WW1, in which artilleries are responsible for 70% of casualties. By 1917, industrial output had fallen 53% from 1913, and it continued to decline in 1918. Even the newly received Donets in Ukraine was only able to produce 5 million tons of coal in the first half of 1918 so transportation speed of these resources were decreased. By the time the former Russian territories produced enough resources, the railway network was unable to transfer them to the Western Front to support the forces. Strikes occurred in Germany at the beginning of 1918 and social unrest permeated through corners of the society. On January 28th, 100,000 demonstrated on the Berlin streets and there is an estimate that 4 million workers went to the streets around Germany in this period of time and the chaos are shown in Illustration 5. In the Offensive, German forces advanced their positions, but they were not able to secure it because of their lack of tanks and motorized artillery. Its production was not capable of producing sufficient weaponry for Germany because numerous workers were sick or died of malnutrition. Due to the lack of workers, many companies were shut down and this directly decreased the industrial production. At many times during the Offensive like Compeigne, mobilized weaponry could have easily opened new opportunities for the Germans, but they were forced to retreat because they did not have artillery backup to continue the offense. Towards the end of the Offensive, German forces mainly consisted of infantry and they stood no chance against the Allies that had modern tanks, artillery, and airplanes. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of Germany's inadequate manufactures of weaponry.
America's Reinforcements for the Allies
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of America's reinforcements for the Allies. In 1916, Britain was spending 250 million dollars per month in America and once America entered the war, the Allies possessed global monopolies in the purchases of chief foodstuffs and other crucial products to the war. With the assistance of the United States, France and France was able to jointly produce an average of 11,200 machines and 14,500 aero engines every month in the last year of 1918. While Germany lost 350,000 men in the spring, approximately American 180,000 troops arrived in France during the same period. The AEF was crucial in stalling the German attacks in the Battle of Lys and halting the Offensive in the Third Battle of Aisne at Chateau-Thierry. They even drove the Germans out of Belleau Wood on June 26th. Throughout the Offensive, the morale of the American army distinguished them from the rest of the Allies; General Pershing somehow vitalized and trained them into qualified soldiers, as shown in Illustration 6. On April 15th at the Battle of the Lys, General Pershing said to his 900 officers of the American first division:
" You are going to meet a savage enemy, flushed with victory. Meet them like Americans. When you hit, hit hard and don't stop hitting. You don't know the meaning of the word 'defeat'."
Between June and July of 1918, America sent over 584,000 men to the battlefield and these men decisively stopped the advancement of the Offensive. America's entry into World War One reinforced the forces of the Allies, as well as foodstuffs, weapons, and morale. The incoming troops in the next few months overwhelmed the German forces. The American soldiers were vigorous because most of them were new soldiers to the battlefield. The additional American forces in the upcoming months were crucial to the halt of the Offensive. Their addition also lifted the spirits for the French and British soldiers. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 failed because of America's moral, industrial, and military reinforcements for the Allies.
Conclusion
"A crushing disappointment. Once again war's end had receded into the distant future, once again heart combs had done no more haplessly lengthen the front; and how could what had not been achieved in the first great blow, struck with every resource, full surprise, and tremendous barrages, now be won with far weaker forces, consisting largely of decimated and exhausted divisions?"
By this time, the Offense was considered to be a failure, and this passage displays the disappointment of the soldiers by then. Why did the German Spring Offenses of 1918 fail? The reasons that resulted in the failure of the Germany Spring Offenses of 1918 were the faulty preparations of General Ludendorff, the tactical mistakes of General Ludendorff during the operations, the scarce production of German foodstuffs, the inadequate manufactures of German weaponry, and the reinforcements of America into World War One. Other reasons like the continuous deaths of soldiers, as shown in Illustration 7, and the decrease of the German forces, were important factors for the failure too. In conclusion, only one or two of these five causes may not have resulted in the failure of the Offensive, but the combination of all 5 causes was enough for the failure of the German Spring Offensive of 1918.
Word Count: 2498
Bibliography
Gilbert, Martin. A History Of The Twentieth Century: Volume One: 1900-1933. U.S.A.: First Avon Books Trade Paperback Printing, November 1998.
McDonough, Frank. Conflict, Communism and Fascism: Europe 1890-945. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2001
Hamlyn. The Hamlyn Pictorial History of the 20th Century. Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London: Reed Consumer Books Ltd, 1989.
Upshur, Jiu-Hwa., Terry, Janice., Holoka, James., Goff, Richard., Cassar, George., and Lowry, Bullitt. World History: Comprehensive Volume: Second Edition. United States of America: West Publishing Company, 1995.
Strachan, Hew. The First World War. United States of America: Penguin Groups, 2004.
Yan, Li and Ming, Gao. The First World War. Beijing: Beijing TongZhou Jing Hua Shua Zhi Ban Chang, 2005.2.
Kaiserschlacht 1918: The Final German Offensive Of World War One. Randal Gray. <http://www.ralphmag.org/CW/new.html>
The German Spring Offensive of 1918.
World War I. <http://www.answers.com/topic/world-war-I>
Australian Military Units: German Spring Offensive.
<http://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_65.asp>
United States in the War and Last Battles.
<http://www.germannotes.com/hist_ww1_late_stage.shtml>
The Victories and Defeats of the Russian Army: 1914. Patrick Murphy. <http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/russianarmy1914.aspx>
Stormtrooper Tactics of World War I.
<http://www.johnsmilitaryhistory.com/stormtrooper.html>
Spring Offensive. <http://www.answers.com/topic/spring-offensive>
Spring Offensive. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWspring.htm>
Germany's Spring Offensive WW1 (Kaiserschlacht).
Feature Articles: Deceit Used by the High Command: An Unexpected Peace. 3 January, 2006. <http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/highcommanddeceit.htm>
The Effect Of The British Naval And Economic Blockade: On The Western Front In The Great War. Dr. David Payne. The Western Front Association. <http://web.westernfrontassociation.com/thegreatwar/articles/research/effectbritishnnavalblockade.htm>
German Historical Banknotes: Notegeld WW1: Emergency Money. <http://www.germannotes.com/faq_notgeld_ww1.shtml>
"World War I." Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005. 2005.
No comments:
Post a Comment