Spring Offensive
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The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, which marked the deepest advance by either side since 1914. The German authorities had realised that their remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the overwhelming human and matériel resources of the United States could be deployed. They also had the advantage of nearly 60 divisions freed by the Russian surrender (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).
There were four separate German attacks, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, and Blucher-Yorck. They were initially intended to draw forces away from the Channel ports that were essential for British supply and then attack the ports and other lines of communication. The planning process, however, diluted the strategy.
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[edit] Tactics
By this stage of the war, both sides had refined their tactics.
The German army had developed stormtrooper units, with infantry trained in Hutier tactics (after Oskar von Hutier) to infiltrate and bypass enemy front line units, leaving these strongpoints to be "mopped-up" by follow-up troops. The stormtroopers' tactic was to attack and disrupt enemy headquarters, artillery units and supply depots in the rear areas, as well as to occupy territory rapidly.
To enable the initial breakthrough, Lieutenant Colonel Georg Bruchmuller[1], a German artillery officer, developed the Feuerwalze, an effective and economical artillery bombardment scheme. There were three phases: a brief attack on the enemy's command and communications, destruction of their artillery and lastly an attack upon the enemy front-line infantry defences. Bombardment would always be brief so as to retain surprise.
In their turn, the Allies had developed defences in depth, reducing the proportion of troops in their front line and pulling reserves and supply dumps back beyond German artillery range. In theory, the front line was an "outpost zone", held by snipers, patrols and machine-gun posts only. Behind was the "battle zone", where the offensive was to be resisted, and behind that again, was a "rear zone", where reserves were held ready to counter-attack or seal off penetrations.
Unfortunately, in the sector held by the British Fifth Army, which they had recently taken over from French units, the defences were not completed and there were too few troops to hold the complete position in depth. The rear zone existed as outline markings only, and the battle zone consisted of battalion "redoubts" which were not mutually supporting (allowing stormtroopers to penetrate between them).
[edit] Michael
see also First Battle of the Somme (1918)
On March 21, 1918 the Germans launched a major offensive against British and British Imperial forces. By the end of the first day, the Germans had broken through at several points on the front of the British Fifth Army, and after two days Fifth Army was in full retreat.
Erich Ludendorff, the German commander, failed to follow the correct stormtrooper tactics, as described above. His lack of a coherent strategy to accompany the new tactics was expressed in a remark to one of his Army Group commanders, Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, in which he stated, "We chop a hole. The rest follows". Ludendorff's dilemma was that the most important parts of the allied line were also the most strongly held. Much of the German advance was achieved where it was not strategically significant.
Because of this, Ludendorff continually exhausted his forces by attacking strongly entrenched British units. At Arras on March 24, he launched a hastily-prepared attack (Operation Mars) on the left wing of the British Third Army, and was repulsed. Overall, he was unable to attain a decisive victory, despite impressive advances into Allied territory.
The Allies reacted by appointing the French Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch to coordinate all Allied activity in France and then as generalissimo of all Allied forces everywhere.
Ludendorff called off Operation Michael on March 25. By the standards of the time, there had been a substantial advance. It was, however, of little value - a Pyrrhic victory in terms of crack troops casualties, as Amiens, an important rail centre, remained in Allied hands. The newly-won territory was difficult to traverse, as much of it consisted of the shell-torn wilderness left by the Battle of the Somme, and difficult to defend against Allied counterattacks.
The Allies lost nearly 255,000 men (British, British Empire, French and American). Also lost were 1,300 artillery pieces and 200 tanks. All of this could be replaced, either from British factories or from American manpower. German troop losses were 239,000 men, largely specialist shocktroops (Stosstruppen) who were irreplaceable.
[edit] Georgette (Battle of the Lys)
Michael had drawn British forces to defend Amiens, leaving the rail route through Hazebrouck and the approaches to the Channel ports of Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk vulnerable. German success here could choke the British into defeat.
The attack started on April 4th after a Feuerwalze. The Portuguese defenders at the point of attack were rapidly overrun but the British resistance on either flank held and threatened the German breakthrough. Despite this and other Allied actions, the Germans made rapid progress and, without French reinforcement, it was feared that the remaining 15 miles to the ports could be covered within a week. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) commander, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, issued an "Order of the Day" on April 11th stating, "With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end."
However, the German offensive had stalled because of logistical problems and exposed flanks. Counterattacks by British, French, American, Canadian and ANZAC forces had slowed and stopped the German advance. Ludendorff ended Georgette on April 30th.
As with Michael, losses were roughly equal, approximately 110,000 men wounded or killed, each. Again, the results were disappointing for the Germans. Hazebrouck remained in Allied hands and the flanks of the German salient were vulnerable. The British abandoned the territory they had captured at vast cost the previous year around Ypres, freeing several divisions to face the German attackers.
[edit] Blucher-Yorck (Third Battle of the Aisne)
While Georgette ground to a halt, a new attack on French positions was planned to draw forces further away from the Channel and allow renewed German progress in the north. The strategic objective remained to split the British and the French and gain victory before American forces could make their presence felt on the battlefield.
The German attack took place on May 27, between Soissons and Rheims, after another Feuerwalze. The bombardment was very effective and the Allied front, with a few notable exceptions, collapsed. Despite French and British resistance on the flanks, German troops advanced to the Marne River and Paris seemed a realistic objective. However, U.S. Army machine-gunners and Senegalese sharpshooters halted the German advance at Château-Thierry, with U.S. Marines also heavily engaged at Belleau Wood.
Yet again, losses were much the same on each side: 137,000 Allied and 130,000 German casualties (up to June 6). German losses were again mainly from the difficult-to-replace assault divisions.
Ludendorff sought to extend Blucher-Yorck westwards with Operation Gneisenau, intending to draw yet more Allied reserves south and to link with the German salient at Amiens.
The French had been alerted of this attack by information from German prisoners and their defence in depth reduced the impact of the artillery bombardment on June 9. Nonetheless, the German advance was impressive, despite fierce French and American resistance. At Compiègne, a sudden French counter-attack on June 11 caught the Germans by surprise and halted their advance. Gneisenau was called off the following day.
Losses were approximately 35,000 (Allied) and 30,000 (German).
[edit] Strategic Impact
The Kaiserschlacht series of offensives had yielded large, in First World War terms, territorial gains for the Germans. However, the strategic objective of a quick victory was not achieved and the German armies were severely depleted, exhausted and in exposed positions. In six months the strength of the German army had fallen from 5.1 million fighting men to 4.2 million. Manpower was exhausted. German High Command predicted they would need 200,000 men per month to make good the losses suffered, but even by drawing on the next annual class of eighteen year olds, only 300,000 recruits would be available for the year
The Allies had been badly hurt but not broken. The lack of a unified high command was partly rectified and coordination would improve in later Allied operations. American troops were for the first time used as independent formations and had proven themselves. Their presence counterbalanced the serious manpower shortages that Britain and France were experiencing after four years of war.
Allied offensives in July (Second Battle of the Marne) and August (Hundred Days Offensive) 1918 made rapid gains and pushed the Germans back to their original defence lines and beyond. This time, German reserves were inadequate and the German High Command advised their government to give up the war.
[edit] References
- John Keegan, (1999) The First World War, Pimlico ISBN 0-7126-6645-1
- Stanley Chodorow, Mainstream of Civilization
- Martin Marix Evans, (2002) 1918: The Year of Victories, Arcturus Military History Series ISBN 0-572-02838-5
- Randal Gray, (1991) Kaiserschlacht, 1918: The Final German Offensive Osprey Campaign Series ISBN 1-85532-157-2
- Gregory Blaxland, (1968), Amiens 1918, W. H. Allen ISBN 0-352-30833-8
[edit] See also
- Journey's End, a play set during the early stages of the offensive
- Spring Offensive, a poem by Wilfred Owen
