the shattered ranks of the battered survivors

At the start of 1918 the Germans were faced with a simple problem. They had a temporary numerical advantage on the Western Front, given to them by the Russian collapse. Fifty first class divisions were free to move west, transforming the balance of numbers in the west. 192 German divisions faced 189 Allied divisions. However, both sides knew that millions of fresh American troops would soon reach France. By March 1918 General Pershing had 318,000 men in France, although they had not yet entered the line. Pershing was determined to keep his men together and form an American Army that would fight as a unit, rather than see his men dissipated amongst British and French units. The British and French would have the face the first of Ludendorff’s offensives without American support, but by the start of June American divisions were playing a major role in the fighting. By August Pershing had 1,300,000 men in France, and would be able to play a major role in the final Allied offensives of the war.

canadians.

crescent

After examining a number of different options for attacks from Flanders to Verdun, Ludendorff decided to make his war winning attack on the Somme front. The attack would be launched around St. Quentin. It would advance to the line of the Somme, which would then be held against any French counterattack, while the main attack continued to the north west, cutting off the BEF and allowing the Germans to defeat the British before their allies could come to their aid. If things went really well, the Germans hoped to reach the sea, perhaps at Abbeville where the Somme enters the English Channel. The battle would be known as the “Kaiserschlacht”, or Kaiser’s Battle