User:Razorflame/Western Front

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Western Front
Part of World War I
For most of World War I, Allied and German Forces were stalled in trench warfare along the Western Front.
Date 1914 – 1918 Location Belgium and northeastern France Result Allied victory
Combatants
Belgium British Empire Australia[1] Canada[2] India[3]  Newfoundland[4] New Zealand[5] South Africa[6]  France and French Overseas Empire  Portugal[7]  United States	German Empire
Commanders
No unified command until 1918, then Ferdinand Foch	Moltke → Falkenhayn → Hindenburg and Ludendorff → Hindenburg and Groener
Casualties
~4,800,000	Unknown

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides then dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained essentially unchanged for most of the war.

Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun nests, barbed wire, and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties on the attackers and counter attacking defenders. As a result, no significant advances were made.

In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new military technology, including poison gas, aircraft, and tanks. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored.

In spite of the generally stagnant nature of this front, this theater would prove decisive. The inexorable advance of the Allied armies in 1918 persuaded the German commanders that defeat was inevitable, and the government was forced to sue for conditions of an armistice.

Contents 1 1914: German invasion of France and Belgium 2 1915—Stalemate 2.1 Gas warfare 2.2 Air warfare 2.3 Continued Entente attacks 3 1916 — Artillery duels and attrition 3.1 Battle of Verdun 3.2 Battle of the Somme 3.3 Hindenburg line 4 1917—British Empire takes the lead 4.1 French morale 4.2 British offensives, American troops arrive 4.3 Battle of Cambrai 5 1918—Final offensives 5.1 German spring offensives 5.2 Final allied offensives 6 Consequences 7 Notes 8 References 9 See also

[change] 1914: German invasion of France and Belgium

At the outbreak of the First World War, the German army (consisting in the West of Seven Field Armies) executed a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, designed to quickly attack France through Belgium before turning southwards to encircle the French army on the German border.^[8] Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on August 4, 1914. Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on August 2. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from August 5–16. Liège was well fortified and surprised the German army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. However, German heavy artillery was able to pound the key forts into ruin within a few days.^[9] Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian army retreated to Antwerp and Namur. Although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August.^[10]

For their part, the French had five Armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities.^[8] On 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine.^[11] In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th army toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back.^[12] The Army of Alsace captured Mulhouse but abandoned it to reinforce the greatly weakened forces in Lorraine.

After marching through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Ardennes, the German army advanced, in the latter half of August, into northern France where they met both the French army, under Joseph Joffre, and the initial six divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, under Sir John French. A series of engagements known as the Battle of the Frontiers ensued. Key battles included the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons. In the former battle the French 5th Army was almost destroyed by the German 2nd and 3rd Armies and the latter delayed the German advance by a day. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes such as the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Battle of St. Quentin (Guise).^[13]

The German army came within 43 miles (70 km) of Paris, but at the First Battle of the Marne (September 6–12), French and British troops were able to force a German retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the 1st and 2nd Armies, ending the German advance into France.^[14] The German army retreated north of the Aisne River and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front that was to last for the next three years. Following this German setback, the opposing forces tried to outflank each other in the Race for the Sea, and quickly extended their trench systems from the English Channel to the Swiss frontier.^[15]

On the Entente side, the final lines were occupied by the armies of the allied countries, with each nation defending a part of the front. From the coast in the north, the primary forces were from Belgium, the British Empire and France. Following the Battle of the Yser in October, the Belgian forces controlled a 35 km length of Flanders territory along the coast, with their front following the Yser river and the Yperlee canal, from Nieuport to Boesinghe.^[16] Stationed to the south was the sector of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Here, from 19 October until 22 November, the German forces made their final breakthrough attempt of 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres. Heavy casualties were suffered on both sides but no breakthrough occurred.^[17] By Christmas, the BEF guarded a continual line from the La Bassée Canal to south of St. Eloi in the Somme valley.^[18] The remainder of the front, south to the border with Switzerland, was manned by French forces.

[change] 1915—Stalemate

Between the coast and the Vosges was an outward bulge in the trench line, named the Noyon salient for the captured French town at the maximum point of advance near Compiègne. Joffre's plan of attack for 1915 was to attack this salient on both flanks in order to cut it off.^[19] The British would form the northern attack force by pressing eastward in Artois, while the French attacked in Champagne.

On 10 March, as part of what was intended as a larger offensive in the Artois region, the British and Canadian army attacked at Neuve Chapelle in an effort to capture the Aubers Ridge. The assault was made by four divisions along a 2 mile (3 km) front. Preceded by a concentrated bombardment lasting 35 minutes, the initial assault made rapid progress, and the village was captured within four hours. However, the assault slowed because of problems with logistics and communications. The Germans then brought up reserves and counter-attacked, forestalling the attempt to capture the ridge. Since the British had used about one-third of their total supply of artillery shells,^[20] General Sir John French blamed the failure on the shortage of shells, despite the success of the initial attack.^[21]

[change] Gas warfare

Despite the German plans to maintain the stalemate with the French and British, German commanders planned an offensive at the Belgian town of Ypres, which the British had captured in November 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres. This was in order to divert attention away from major offensives in the Eastern Front while disrupting Franco-British planning and to test a new weapon. After a two-day bombardment, on 22 April, the Germans released chlorine gas onto the battlefield which drifted into the British trenches.^[22] The green-yellow cloud asphyxiated the defenders and those in the rear fled in panic creating an undefended four-mile (6 km)-wide gap in the Allied line. However, the Germans were unprepared for the level of their success and lacked sufficient reserves to exploit the opening. Canadian troops quickly arrived and drove back the German advance. This Second Battle of Ypres marked the first large-scale use of chemical weapons, where 170 tonnes were dropped on the allied lines, resulting in the deaths of 5,000 men within minutes, despite being prohibited by the Hague Convention of 1899.^[23]

The gas attack was repeated two days later and caused a three-mile (5 km) withdrawal of the Franco-British line. But the opportunity had been lost. The success of this attack would not be repeated, as the Allies countered by introducing gas masks and other countermeasures. An example of the success of these measures came a year later, on 27 April, when, at Hulluch, 25 miles (40 km) to the south of Ypres, the 16th (Irish) Division's troops were able to withstand determined German gas attacks.^[24]

[change] Air warfare

This year also saw the introduction of airplanes specifically modified for aerial combat. While planes had already been used in the war for scouting, on April 1 the French pilot Roland Garros became the first to shoot down an enemy plane by using machine guns that fired forward through the propeller blades. This was achieved by crudely reinforcing the blades so bullets which hit them were deflected away.^[25]

Several weeks later Garros was forced to land behind German lines. His plane was captured and sent to Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker, who soon produced a significant improvement, the interrupter gear, in which the machine gun is synchronized with the propeller so it fires in the intervals when the blades of the revolving propeller are out of the line of fire. This advance was quickly ushered into service, in the Fokker E.I (Eindecker, or monoplane, Mark 1), the first single seat fighter aircraft to combine a reasonable maximum speed with an effective armament;^[26] Max Immelmann scored the first confirmed kill in an Eindecker on 1 August.^[27]

This started a back-and-forth arms race, as both sides developed improved weapons, engines, airframes, and materials, which continued until the end of the war. It also inaugurated the cult of the ace, the most famous being the Red Baron. Contrary to the myth, however, antiaircraft fire claimed more kills than fighters.^[28]

[change] Continued Entente attacks

The final Entente offensive of the spring was fought at Artois, with the goal of trying to capture the Vimy Ridge. The French 10th Army attacked on 9 May after a six-day bombardment and advanced 3 miles (5 km). However, they retreated as they had come into sights of machine gun nests and the German reinforcements fired artillery at the attackers. By 15 May the offensive had ground to a halt, although the fighting continued until 18 June.^[29]

During autumn of 1915, the "Fokker Scourge" began to have an effect on the battlefront as Allied spotter planes were nearly driven from the skies. These reconnaissance planes were used to direct gunnery and photograph enemy fortifications, but now the Allies were nearly blinded by German fighters.^[30]

In September 1915 the Entente allies launched major offensives, with the French attacking at Champagne and the British at Loos. The French had spent the summer preparing for this action, with the British assuming control of more of the front in order to free up French troops. The bombardment, which had been carefully targeted by means of aerial photography,^[31] began on 22 September. The main assault was launched on 25 September and, at least at first, made good progress in spite of surviving wire entanglements and machine gun posts. However, foreseeing this attack, the Germans had developed defensive lines 2 and 4 miles (3.2 and 6.4 km) behind the front lines and were able to defend against the French attack which lasted into November.

Also on 25 September, the British began their assault at Loos, which was meant to supplement the larger Champagne attack. The attack was preceded by a four-day artillery bombardment of 250,000 shells and a release of 5,100 cylinders of chlorine gas.^[32] The attack involved two corps in the main assault and two more corps performing diversionary attacks at Ypres. The British suffered heavy losses, especially due to machine gun fire, during the attack and made only limited gains before they ran out of shells. A renewal of the attack on 13 October fared little better. In December, British General John French was replaced by Douglas Haig as commander of the British forces.^[33]

[change] 1916 — Artillery duels and attrition

The German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, believed that a breakthrough might no longer be possible, and instead focused on forcing a French capitulation by inflicting massive casualties.^[34] His new goal was to "bleed France white".^[35]

[change] Battle of Verdun

Main article: Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916 after a nine-day delay due to snow and blizzards. After a massive eight-hour artillery bombardment, the Germans did not expect much resistance as they slowly advanced on Verdun and its forts.^[36] However, heavy French resistance was countered by the introduction of flamethrowers by the Germans. The French lost control of Fort Douaumont. Nonetheless, French reinforcements halted the German advance by 28 February.^[37]

The Germans turned their focus to Le Mort Homme to the north from which the French were successfully shelling them. After some of the most intense fighting of the campaign, the hill was taken by the Germans in late May. After a change in French command at Verdun from the defensive-minded Philippe Pétain to the offensive-minded Robert Nivelle the French attempted to re-capture Fort Douaumont on 22 May but were easily repulsed. The Germans captured Fort Vaux on 7 June and, with the aid of the gas phosgene, came within 1,200 yards (1 km) of the last ridge over Verdun before stopping on 23 June.

Over the summer, the French slowly advanced. With the development of the rolling barrage, the French recaptured Fort Vaux in November, and by December 1916 they had pushed the Germans back 1.3 miles (2 km) from Fort Douaumont, in the process rotating 42 divisions through the battle. The Battle of Verdun—also known as the 'Mincing Machine of Verdun' or 'Meuse Mill'^[38]—became a symbol of French determination and sacrifice.^[39]

[change] Battle of the Somme

Main article: Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme started on July 1, 1916 and finished on the 18th of November that same year. It happened around the Somme river in France. The main people that fought in the Battle of Somme were the French soldiers and the German soldiers.

[change] Hindenburg line

Main article: Hindenburg Line

In August 1916 the German leadership along the western front had changed as Falkenhayn resigned and was replaced by Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. The new leaders soon recognized that the battles of Verdun and the Somme had depleted the offensive capabilities of the German army. They decided that the German army in the west would go over to the strategic defensive for most of 1917, while the Central powers would attack elsewhere.

During the Somme battle and through the winter months, the Germans created a prepared defensive position behind a section of their front that would be called the Hindenburg Line. This was intended to shorten the German front, freeing a number of divisions for other duties. This line of fortifications ran from Arras south to St Quentin. British long-range reconnaissance aircraft first spotted the construction of the Hindenburg Line in November 1916.

[change] 1917—British Empire takes the lead

The Hindenburg Line was built only two miles behind the German front line.^[40] On 9 February German forces retreated to the line and the withdrawal was completed 5 April, leaving behind a devastated territory to be occupied by the Allies. This withdrawal negated the French strategy of attacking both flanks of the Noyon salient, as it no longer existed. However, offensive advances by the British continued as the High Command claimed, with some justice, that this withdrawal resulted from the casualties the Germans received during the Battles of the Somme and Verdun, however the Allies received much greater losses.

Meanwhile, on 6 April the United States declared war on Germany. Back in early 1915 following the sinking of the Lusitania, Germany had stopped their unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic because of concerns of drawing the United States into the conflict. With the growing discontent of the German public due to the food shortages, however, the government resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917. They had calculated that a successful submarine and warship siege of Britain would force that country out of the war within six months, while American forces would take a year to become a serious factor on the western front. The submarine and surface ships had a long period of success before Britain resorted to the convoy system, bringing a large reduction in shipping losses.^[41]

In April 1917 the British Empire forces launched an attack starting the Battle of Arras. The Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division, attacked German lines at Vimy Ridge, but received heavy casualties. The Allied attack ended with the refusal to provide reinforcements to the region.

During the winter of 1916–17, German air tactics had been improved, a fighter training school was opened at Valenciennes and better aircraft with twin guns were introduced. The result was near disastrous losses for Allied air power, particularly for the British, Portuguese, Belgians, and Australians who were struggling with outmoded aircraft, poor training and weak tactics. As a result the Allied air successes over the Somme would not be repeated, and heavy losses were inflicted by the Germans. During their attack at Arras, the British lost 316 air crews and the Canadians lost 114 compared to 44 lost by the Germans.^[42] This became known to the RFC as Bloody April.

[change] French morale

The same month, French General Robert Nivelle ordered a new offensive against the German trenches, promising that it would be a war-winner. The attack, dubbed the Nivelle Offensive (also known as Chemin des Dames, after the area where the offensive took place), would be 1.2 million men strong, to be preceded by a week-long artillery bombardment and accompanied by tanks. However, the operation proceeded poorly as the French troops, aided by Australian, Brazilian, Portuguese, and New Zealand troops, had to negotiate rough, upward-sloping terrain. In addition, detailed planning had been dislocated by the voluntary German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, secrecy had been compromised, and German planes gained control of the sky making reconnaissance difficult. This allowed the creeping barrage to move too far ahead of the advancing troops. Within a week 100,000 French troops were dead. Despite the heavy casualties and his promise to halt the offensive if it did not produce a breakthrough, Nivelle ordered the attack continued into May.

On 3 May the weary French 2nd Colonial Division, veterans of the Battle of Verdun, refused their orders, arriving drunk and without their weapons. Their officers lacked the means to punish an entire division, and harsh measures were not immediately implemented. Thereupon the mutinies afflicted 54 French divisions and saw 20,000 men desert. The other Allied forces attacked but received massive casualties.^[43] However, appeals to patriotism and duty, as well as mass arrests and trials, encouraged the soldiers to return to defend their trenches, although the French soldiers refused to participate in further offensive action.^[44] By 15 May Nivelle was removed from command, replaced by General Philippe Pétain, who suspended large-scale attacks. The French would go on the defensive for the next year, leaving the burden of attack to Britain, her Empire and other allies, and subsequently the United States.

[change] British offensives, American troops arrive

On 7 June a British offensive was launched on Messines ridge, south of Ypres, to retake the ground lost in the First and Second Battles of Ypres in 1914. Since 1915 engineers had been digging tunnels under the ridge, and about 500 tonnes^[45] (roughly 500,000 kg) of explosives had been planted in 21 mines under the enemy lines. Following four days of heavy bombardment, the explosives in 19 of these mines were set off resulting in the deaths of 10,000 Germans. The offensive that followed again relied on heavy bombardment, but these failed to dislodge the Germans. The offensive, though initially stunningly successful, faltered due to the flooded, muddy ground, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

On 11 July 1917 during this battle, the Germans introduced a new weapon into the war when they fired gas shells delivered by artillery. The limited size of an artillery shell required that a more potent gas be deployed, and so the Germans employed mustard gas, a powerful blistering agent. The artillery deployment allowed heavy concentrations of the gas to be used on selected targets. Mustard gas was also a persistent agent, which could linger for up to several days at a site, an additional demoralizing factor for their opponents.^[46] Along with phosgene, gas would be used lavishly by both German and Allied forces in later battles, as the Allies also began to increase production of gas for chemical warfare.

On 25 June the first U.S. troops began to arrive in France, forming the American Expeditionary Force. However, the American units did not enter the trenches in divisional strength until October. The incoming troops required training and equipment before they could join in the effort, and for several months American units were relegated to support efforts.^[47] In spite of this, however, their presence provided a much-needed boost to Allied morale.

Beginning in late July and continuing into October the struggle around Ypres was renewed with the Battle of Passchendaele (technically the Third Battle of Ypres, of which Passchendaele was the final phase). The battle had the original aim of pushing through the German lines and threatening the submarine bases on the Belgian coast, but was later restricted to advancing the British Army onto higher (and drier) ground around Ypres, no longer constantly under observation from German artillery. Canadian veterans from the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Hill 70 joined the depleted ANZAC and British forces and took the village of Passchendaele on 30 October despite extremely heavy rain and casualties (suffering around 36,000^{[needs proving]} casualties). Again the offensive produced large numbers of casualties for relatively little gain, though the British made small but inexorable gains during periods of drier weather. The ground was generally muddy and pocketed by shell craters, making supply missions and further advancement very difficult.

Both sides lost a combined total of over a half million men during this offensive. The battle has become a byword for bloody and futile slaughter among British historians, whilst the Germans called Passchendaele "the greatest martyrdom of the War". It is one of the two battles (the other is the Battle of the Somme) which have done most to earn British Commander in Chief Sir Douglas Haig his controversial reputation.

[change] Battle of Cambrai

Main article: Battle of Cambrai (1917)

On 20 November the British launched the first massed tank attack during the Battle of Cambrai.^[48]

[change] 1918—Final offensives

Following the successful Allied attack and penetration of the German defences at Cambrai, Ludendorff and Hindenburg determined that the only opportunity for German victory now lay in a decisive attack along the western front during the spring, before American manpower became a significant presence. On 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, and Russia withdrew from the war. This would now have a dramatic effect on the conflict as 44 divisions were now released from Eastern Front for deployment to the west. This would give them an advantage of 192 divisions to the Allied 173 divisions, which allowed Germany to pull veteran units from the line and retrain them as sturmtruppen. In contrast, the Allies still lacked a unified command and suffered from morale and manpower problems: the British and French armies were sorely depleted, and American troops had not yet transitioned into a combat role.

Ludendorff's strategy would be to launch a massive offensive against the British and Commonwealth designed to separate them from the French and her allies, then drive them back to the channel ports. The attack would combine the new storm troop tactics with ground attack aircraft, tanks, and a carefully planned artillery barrage that would include gas attacks.

[change] German spring offensives

Main article: Spring Offensive

Operation Michael,^[49] the first of the German spring offensives, very nearly succeeded in driving the Allied armies apart, advancing about 40 miles (65 km) during the first eight days and moving the front lines more than 60 miles (100  km) west, within shelling distance of Paris for the first time since 1914.

As a result of the battle, the Allies finally agreed on a unified system of command. General Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander of all Allied forces in France. The unified Allies were now better able to respond to each of the German drives, and the offensive turned into a battle of attrition.

In May, the American divisions also began to play an increasing role, winning their first victory in the Battle of Cantigny. By summer, 300,000 American soldiers were arriving every month. A total of 2.1 million American troops would be deployed on this front before the war came to an end. The rapidly increasing American presence served as a counter for the large numbers of redeployed German forces.

[change] Final allied offensives

In July, Foch initiated an offensive against the Marne salient produced during the German attacks, eliminating the salient by August. A second major offensive was launched two days after the first, ending at Amiens to the north. This attack included Franco-British forces, and was spearheaded by Australian and Canadian troops,^[50] along with 600 tanks and supported by 800 aircraft. The assault proved highly successful, leading Hindenburg to name 8 August as the "Black Day of the German Army".^[51]

The German army's manpower had been severely depleted after four years of war, and its economy and society were under great internal strain. The Hundred Days Offensive beginning in August proved the final straw, and following this string of military defeats, German troops began to surrender in large numbers. As the Allied forces broke the German lines at great cost, the Chief QuarterMaster-General of the army, Ludendorff (who had wielded almost dictatorial power in 1917–18), was forced to step aside to allow peace feelers to be extended to the Allies.^{[needs proving]} Fighting was still continuing, but the German armies were in retreat when the German Revolution put a new government in power that quickly signed an armistice which stopped all fighting on the Western Front on Armistice Day (11 November 1918).^[52] The German Imperial Monarchy collapsed as Ludendorff's successor General Groener agreed, for fear of a revolution like that in Russia the previous year, to support the moderate Social Democratic Government under Ebert rather than sustain the Hohenzollern Monarchy.^{[needs proving]}

[change] Consequences

Comparison of Casualties from
Major Western Front Battles

Battle	Year	Allies	German
1st Marne	1914	263,000	250,000
Verdun	1916	377,000	336,000
Somme	1916	623,907	465,000+
2nd Aisne	1917	187,000	168,000
3rd Ypres	1917	448,000	260,000
Michael	1918	255,000	239,000

[change] Notes

[change] References

• Campbell, Christopher (1981). Aces and Aircraft of World War I. Dorset: Blandford Press Ltd.. ISBN 0713709545. 
• Fuller, John F. C. (1992). The Conduct of War, 1789–1961: A study of the impact of the French, Industrial and Russian revolutions on war and its conduct. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306804670. 
• Griffiths, William R. (1986). in Thomas E. Griess: The Great War. Wayne, NJ: Avery Publishing Group. ISBN 0895293129. 
• Lyons, Michael J. (2000). World War I: A Short History, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0130205516. 
• Marshall, Samuel L. A. (1964). The American Heritage History of World War I. American Heritage: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0517385554. 

[change] See also

• World War I