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The General Erich Ludendorff's German Spring Offensive of 1918 was one of the last great offensives of the First World Warand an abject failure. The When the offensive ultimately failed, and the allies were able to beat back the German attacks. The German Spring Offensive of 1918 was the last effort by Germany to win the war, and its failure meant that the Central Powers had effectively lost. If the Spring Offensive had succeeded in the outcome of the war and the course of history in the Twentieth Century would have been very different. The German Spring Offensive stalled for a variety of reasons including inadequate supplies, stubborn Allied defensive tactics, an over-reliance on German Stormtroopers, and the German military overestimation of their offensive capabilities.

After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Russians had withdrawn from the war , and the Germans had secured new territory in the east. Romania had been defeated , and Italy and Greece were no longer a threat. By 1918, it was clear that the Great War would be decided on the western front.<ref> Zabeck, p. 57</ref> The German command knew that after America joined the war , they could potentially tip the balance in favour favor of the allies. By early 1918, the Americans had already begun to make a difference on the western front. Germany was concerned that if they were allowed to build up their strength , the allies could inflict a decisive defeat on Imperial Germany.

Furthermore, as a result of the allied naval blockade, Germany was on the brink of starvation. Unrest and labor strikes had become common in German cities.<ref> Pitt, Barrie, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1783461721/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1783461721&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4e188665c596836086b502c71ce49de0 1918 The Last Act,]</i> Pen & Sword Military Classics. Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 1962, p. 45</ref> Ludendorff was in a race against time because Germany had to defeat Britain and France quickly or they faced almost certain defeat. Ludendorff believed that they had only one last chance to strike a decisive blow against the allies before it was too late. He was a realist and knew that the situation was grave for Germany.<ref> Pitt, p. 47</ref> The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk allowed the German Army to transfer some 50 divisions from the eastern to western front, in early 1918. Ludendorff decided to use these divisions in his last offensive and force the Allies to sue for peace.<ref> Pitt, p. 13</ref>

Germany first shifted fifty divisions by rail from the east to the western front. Ludendorff decided that the goal of the offensive would be to divide the British and the French armies. The British were mainly based in northern France, while the French army was located in the center and east of France. The Germans wanted to drive a wedge between the British and the French. They intended to drive the British back to the Channel Ports. Concurrently, the German command planned to seize the remaining ports in Belgium. They hoped that by defeating the British that they would seek peace terms with Germany and after capitulating, the French would be forced to negotiate with Berlin. This Also, this outcome would, in turn, persuade the Americans to also seek a negotiated settlement with the Germans. The Germans knew that it was almost impossible for them to achieve outright victory and that their only hope was some form of advantageous negotiated settlement.<ref> Keegan, John. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375700455/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375700455&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=db56d7558b1712170cfe13c1af2e9f2c The First World War]</i> (London, Pimlico, 1999), p. 345</ref>

This series of attacks yielded large territorial gains for the Germans, at least when compared to previous offensives. The Germans did not inflict a decisive defeat on the allies , and they failed to drive a wedge between the British and the French. Additionally, they utterly failed to force them to the negotiating table.<ref> Gray. , p 213 </ref> The territory that the Germans had gained meant that they had an extended their supply lines. Their army was thinned across the front and was susceptible to Allied counterattacks.

It has been argued that despite the territorial gains that the Germans were left in far weaker positions after the Spring Offensive than before the attacks. The Germans lost many men during the battles in the Spring of 1918. It has been estimated that the strength of the German army had fallen from just over five million in March 1918 to just over four million by the Autumn of 1918. The allies had also suffered many losses , but these were made alleviated by reinforcements from the United States. By Autumn, the German army had all but collapsed, leading to the Armistice of 1918 and the defeat of the German Empire.<ref> Keegan, p. 401</ref>

The Germans failed for a variety of reasons. First, Ludendorff failed to set out clear objectives. He constantly changed his mind and deviated from his original plans and goals. This caused some confusion in the German chain of command. Then there was the over-reliance on the Stormtroopers, they were among the finest soldiers of the First World War, but after the first assaults they suffered heavy casualties and the Germans could not effectively replace them with the same quality of troops.<ref> Gray, 212</ref> This meant that the Stormtroopers quickly lost their effectiveness due to the high casualty rate. This reality was demonstrated at the Second Battle of the Marne, when they failed to achieve any sort of breakthrough. Ludendorff also failed to support the Stormtroopers when they did advance. The German army lacked mobile units, such as cavalry made to reinforce the newly captured territories.<ref>Gray, 214</ref> This made the Stormtroopers very vulnerable to any counterattacks during the offensive. Furthermore, after the first battles the allies reinforced their defensive positions and this made any German breakthrough even harder to achieve.

The German military during the offensive faced a critical shortage of supplies. The German economy was on the verge of collapse, and it could barely feed its people. This was perhaps the main reason why the German Offensive in Spring 1918 ultimately failed. The German army was often hungry , and its advances were often slowed as hungry troops pillaged captured allied supply depots. There was also a critical shortage of fuel for tanks and the German planes. This allowed the allies to retain air superiority during the course of the offensives. Then as the German-made rapid advances , their supply lines were unable to keep pace , and this results in shortages of everything that slowed the advance. On several occasions , the Germans simply stopped their progress, not because of ally’s resistance but because they had run out of supplies.<ref> Zabecki, p 345</ref>