Croisilles a town in northern France lies in ruins after a
CHAPIES SPRING OFFENSIVE FALL ARMISTICE By the spring of 1918 World War I had been in progress for nearly four years over that time the Allied armies of France and the United Kingdom had reached a stalemate with Germany The western front that stretched across northern France and western Belgium had become a killing field Millions of men had fought and died for little gain in territory or strategic advantage To break the standoff Germany s military leader General Erich Ludendorff ordered an all out offensive west of the French city of Cambrai The German units would stage an assault against the British Fifth Army to begin at dawn on March 21 1918 With American reinforcements arriving in Europe soon to assist the
Allies the German leaders wanted a victory on the battlefield as soon as possible to force the British and French to accept a cease fire The Spring offensive began with a massive artillery bombardment The Germans opened up with 6 500 heavy guns and mortars firing 1 2 million shells at the Allied lines in a span of five hours Germany's Eighteenth Army advanced reaching the outskirts of Amiens and the town of Albert From the front long range German guns could now bombard civilians in the capital of Paris But General Ludendorff had ordered his troops to advance at all possible speed bringing minimal equipment and food This extended the German supply lines preventing crucial resupply of the frontline units When the hungry German infantrymen reached French towns they stopped advancing and began looting This stopped the Spring offensive in its tracks just as the first American troops were arriving in France In July Ludendorff sent 52 divisions against Allied positions around the city of Reims northeast of Paris French and American armies including the US Third Infantry Division stopped the offensive in three days Ludendorff and his aides realized Germany could no longer resupply its army at the same rate it was losing troops ammunition and equipment Through the summer of 1918 Germany's military situation grew even worse British and American units were now forcing the German troops from positions they had been holding for the last four
I a General Erich Ludendorff right studies a map with General Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg left and Kaiser Wilhelm II center With the failure of the Spring offensive and the setbacks of the following summer Ludendorff knew Germany was beaten In late September he informed Kaiser Wilhelm II the German emperor that the army faced a hopeless situation
