WORLD WAR ONE 1918: return to a war of movement

1. March 1918 - Russia had surrendered and signed a peace treaty

2. 21st March 1918 - Germany had transferred 44 divisions to the Western front

3. Ludendorf was confident that half a million additional men would make the difference

4. The Germans had developed a technique for breaking the deadlock of trench warfare: a short hurricane bombardment followed by attacking storm troopers

5. German economy was collapsing - high command would soon not be able to re-equip German armies and make up for use and loss of munitions 

• launched against British Fifth Army recovering from third Ypres battle
• the sector, in front of the old somme battlefields and taken over from the French, was regarded as quiet
• offensive nearly reached the crucial rail juction of Amiens, but ran out of steam
• on the northern end the British third army held its ground

• launched in April, south of Ypres and recaptured all the ground lost in 1917
• failed to break through the British lines

• launched on the Chemin des Dames in May
• threatened Paris, but was finally held 56 miles (90km) from the capital
• US divisions were rushed in to hold the line

Successes

• massive breakthroughs were achieved and troops pushed forward

Failures

• three major offensives were followed by two minor attacks which achieved little
• German army was now weakened (800,000 + German casualties) & holding a wider front (before 240 miles/390km; after 320 miles/510km)

• in the weeks before the German spring offensive, Haig had been confidently telling both the government and his officers that the Germans would not dare to attack
• Effect of war - by 1918 British infantry divisions reduced in size 

+ Firepower massively increased; more guns, mortars + light machine guns

+ infantry divisions backed by vast expansion of artillery; by 1918 the Royal Artillery amounted to 25% of BEF

+ by the summer of 1918 losses of military equipment during German offensive more than replaced by new equipment 

Haig put Nawlinson in charge of another offensive on the Somme, starting on 8th August. The contrast with 1st July 1916 could not have been greater:

• Hurricane bombardment began at 4:20am. Intensity of fire was far greater than in 1916
• Accurate counter battery work silenced most of the German artillery
• A creeping barrage went ahead of the attacking infantry
• Infantry and tanks smashed through the German lines to achieve their objectives, taking 18,000 prisoners + 400 field guns. Ludendorf referred to 8th August as the 'black day' of the German army
• As the push stalled, the attack was closed down and fresh attacks were made further north. 
• There was now a rolling series of attacks, pushing the Germans back

A key achievement of the BEF was the capture of the Hindenburg line near St Quentin on 29th September by 46th North Midland Division. 

Here, too, a massive and accurate bombardment was vital to success.

Nearly a million shells were fired in the final 24 hours on a 10,000 yard (9km) front