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[[File: German Offensive 1.jpg|thumbnail|left|350px|German troops taking an allied trench in 1918]]
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 was one of the last great offensives of the First World War. 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 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.
==Preparation==
==The Offensive==
[[File: German Offensive 2.jpg|thumbnail|300px350px|British Machine gunners 1918]]The Offensive took place over a period of one hundred days and four or five major battles are identifiable during this phase of the war. The first major operation of the Spring Offensive was Operation Michael. On 21 March 1918, the German Stormtroopers launched an attack against the British Fifth Army and against the right wing of the British Third Army. By the end of the first day, the British had suffered some 50,000 casualties and the Germans had broken through at several points. The British Fifth Army after two days was in full retreat and the Third Army was also forced to withdraw from its positions as its commanders feared being surrounded by the Germans. The French dispatched several divisions to halt the German advance and they helped to slow and eventually to halt the German advance. The German attack had achieved real and substantive gains but it was not a decisive defeat for the British in particular, who regrouped and established a new line of defences .<ref> Middlebrook, Martin. <i>The Kaiser's Battle: 21 March 1918: The First Day of the German Spring Offensive</i>. (Hammondsworth, Penguin. 1983), p. 111</ref>. The British had been forced to send their reserves to support the British Third and Fifth Army and this left them very weak on their flanks, especially in the sectors around the Channel Ports. The Portuguese Second Division was targeted by the Germans. The Portuguese were spread very thin and expected to hold a very long line. The Germans launched a brutal artillery assault on their positions and the Portuguese Division fled<ref> Keegan, p. 347</ref>. The Stormtroopers soon entered the breach in the line and pushed several miles towards the Channel Port of Dunkirk. Fearing being outflanked the British Divisions withdrew and they formed a new defensive line on the River Lys. It was feared that if this line did not hold then the Germans could press on and take the Channel Ports and this could have dealt a decisive blow to the Allied war effort. The French again sent reinforcements, but before they even arrived the Germans had come to a halt, as their supply lines were overextended <Middlebrook, p. 114</ref>.
The Germans had so far had some real success. Ludendorff was aware that he needed then turned their attention to inflict a decisive defeat on the allies. They had already received more support from area where the Americans than expected British and this was a worry to the German High Command. They decided on one last all-out assault in order to break the allies will to fight and bring them to the negotiating tableFrench lines met. This attack was called by Ludendorff wanted the Peace Offensive because it was believed that if it succeeded it would lead Stormtroopers to drive a peaceful resolution of wedge between the war, and one in Germany’s favortwo armies. The Germans after a brief, but heavy bombardment, attacked the French and the several weakened British Divisions in and around Reims. They drove them back many miles and the Stormtroopers almost advanced to the River Marne in mid-July 1918, this battle is sometimes known as the Second Battle of the Marne causing people to flee from Paris.<ref> KeeganGray, Randal, Kaiserschlacht, 1918: The Final German Offensive, Osprey Campaign Series 11 (London: Osprey, 1991), p. 337176</ref>. The French had strongly fortified this sector in order Once again the German advance stalled and they were not able to protect push towards Paris. The Germans had lost many of then immediately turned their best men attention to the French army and they were running low launched a surprise attack on suppliesFrench positions near Amiens. MoreoverThis was once again successful at least initialy, they had lost the element of surprise and but a German prisoner had informed them of where and whenFrench counterattack, supported by the attack would take place. This German assaultAmericans, unlike halted the earlier attacks did not yield any significant results and the French lines heldGermans in May 1918. In fact<ref> Gray, Ludendorff had to evacuate some divisions fearing they would be outflanked and this is regarded as the end of the German Spring Offensivep.179</ref>
The Germans had so far had some real success. Ludendorff was aware that he needed to inflict a decisive defeat on the allies. They had already received more support from the Americans than expected and this concerned the German High Command. They decided to try one last all-out assault in order to break the allies will to fight and bring them to the negotiating table. This attack was called by Ludendorff "the Peace Offensive" because they believed that if it succeeded it would lead to a peaceful resolution of the war in Germany’s favor. The Germans attacked the French and the British in and around the River Marne in mid-July 1918, this battle is sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of the Marne.<ref> Keegan, p. 337</ref> The French had strongly fortified this sector in order to protect Paris. The Germans had lost many of their best men and they were running low on supplies. Moreover, they had lost the element of surprise and a German prisoner had informed them of where and when, the attack would take place. This German assault, unlike the earlier attacks did not yield any significant results and the French lines held. In fact, Ludendorff had to evacuate some divisions fearing they would be outflanked and this ended the German Spring Offensive.
==Outcome of the Offensive==
[[File: German Offensive 3.jpg|thumbnail|300px|British and Commonwealth troops in 1918]]
==Reasons for the Failure of the German Offensive==
The Germans failed for a variety of reasons. One was that First, Ludendorff did not failed to set out clear objectives. He constantly changed his mind and he deviated from his original plans and goals. This caused some confusion in the German chain of command. Then there was the overreliance over reliance on the Stormtroopers, they were among the finest soldiers of the First World War <ref> Gray, 212</ref>. However, but after the first assaults the 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 became relatively ineffectivequickly lost their effectiveness due to the high casualty rate. This is best seen 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, there were no . The German army lacked mobile units, such as cavalry mad available, made to reinforce the newly captured territories .<Gray, 214</ref>. This made the Stormtroopers very vulnerable to any counterattacks as in May 1918during the offensive. Furthermore, after the first battles the allies reinforced their defensive positions and this made any German breakthrough even harder to achieve. Then there were The German military during the offensive faced a critical issues shortage of German 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 advance was 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, so much so that . This allowed the allies are able to retain air superiority during the course of the offensives. Then as the German made rapid advances their supply lines are were unable to keep pace and this results in shortages of everything that slowed the advance. On several occasions the Germans simply stopped their advance, not because of ally’s resistance but because they had run out of supplies<ref> Zabecki, p 345</ref>.
==Conclusion==