Changes

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. Germany had to defeat Britain and France 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. Ludendorff 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>

==Preparation==

==The Offensive==

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>

==Conclusion==

The great German Spring Offensive was a failure. It failed to inflict a decisive defeat on the allies and force them to negotiate a peace settlement. The Germans offensive was well planned but its goals had been poorly defined and they often changed. The German army by 1918 was poorly supplied and this greatly constrained its ability to fight and to press home its early gains in the Spring of 1918. The offensive was a partial success in terms of territorial gain, but it proved very costly. The allies had been badly hit but they had not been broken. At no time did the French or the British consider negotiating with Berlin, partly because they knew that the Americans would soon flood the western front with men and material. The German army after the demands and losses of the offensive was very weak and when the allies launched a massive Autumn offensive they simply collapsed and this led to the end of the war and an allied victory.

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