| AllExperts > Encyclopedia | |
 |
Western Front (World War I): Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
| Home · Index · Browse A-Z | · Questions and Answers · |
|
Following the outbreak of the First World War 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 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. 1914 â€" German invasion of France and Belgium
After marching through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Ardennes forest, 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 divisions of the British Expeditionary Force, under Sir John French. A series of engagements known as the Battles of the Frontiers ensued. Key battles included the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes such as the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Battle of Guise. The German army came within 43 miles (70 km) of Paris, but at the First Battle of the Marne (6 September â€" 12 September), French and British troops were able to force a German retreat, ending their advance into France. 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.Griess, pp. 31-37. 1915 â€" Stalemate
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,Michael J. Lyons, World War I: A short history, 2000, Prentice Hall, p. 112. ISBN 0130205516 General Sir John French blamed the failure on the shortage of shells, despite the success of the initial attack.Fuller, pp. 166-7 Gas warfare
The gas attack was repeated two days later and caused a three-mile 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 25 miles (40 km) to the south of Ypres, at the Battle of Hulluch, the 16th (Irish) Division's troops were able to withstand determined German gas attacks. Air warfareThis 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.Several weeks later Garros was forced to land behind German lines. His plane was captured and sent to the Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker, who soon developed a significant improvement, the interrupter gear, in which the machine gun is synchronized with the propellor so that it shoots rounds when the propellor isn't in the line of fire. This advance was quickly ushered into service, with Max Immelmann scoring the first kill with it on Aug. 1. This started a back-and-forth arms race, as both sides developed improved weapons, better engines, etc., which would continue until the end of the war. It also inaugurated the cult of the ace, the most famous being The Red Baron. Continued Allied attacks
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 the German fighters employing guns that could fire through the propeller arc.Christopher Campbell, Aces and Aircraft of World War I, Blandford Press Ltd., Dorset, 1981. pg. 26-27. In September 1915 the 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 had been carefully targeted by means of aerial photography,War correspondent E. Alexander Powell, Battle in the Champagne, "Vive la France", 1916. 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, forseeing this attack, the Germans had developed defensive lines 2 and 4 miles (3 and 6 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. 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. 1916 â€" Artillery duels and attritionThe 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.Lyons, p. 141. His new goal was to "bleed France white".As such, he adopted two new strategies. The first was the use of unrestricted submarine warfare to cut off Allied supplies arriving from overseas. The second would be targeted, high-casualty attacks against the French ground troops. To inflict the maximum possible casualties, he planned to attack a position from which the French could not retreat for reason of both strategic positions and national pride and thus trap the French. The town of Verdun was chosen for this because it was an important stronghold, surrounded by a ring of forts, that lay near the German lines and because it guarded the direct route to Paris. The operation was codenamed Gericht, German for "court", but meant "place of execution". Falkenhayn limited the size of the front to 3â€"4 miles (5–7 km) to concentrate their firepower and to prevent a breakthrough from a counteroffensive. He also kept tight control of the main reserve, feeding in just enough troops to keep the battle going.S.L.A. Marshall, World War I, 1964, American Heritage, pp 236-7 In preparation for their attack, the Germans had amassed a concentration of aircraft near the fortress. In the opening phase, they swept the air space of enemy spotters which allowed the accurate German artillery spotters and bombers to operate without interference. However, by May, the French countered by deploying escadrilles de chasse with superior Nieuport fighters. The tight air space over Verdun turned into an aerial battlefield, and illustrated the value of tactical air superiority, as each side sought to dominate air reconnaissance.Campbell, pg. 40. Battle of Verdun
The Germans turned their focus to Le Mort Homme to the north from which the French were successfully shelling the Germans. 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. Battle of the SommeIn the spring allied commanders had been concerned about the ability of the French army to withstand the enormous losses at Verdun. The original plans for an attack around the river Somme were modified to let the British make the main effort. This would serve to relieve pressure on the French, as well as the Russians who had also suffered great losses. On 1 July, after a week of heavy rain, British divisions in Picardy launched an attack around the river Somme, supported by five French divisions on their right flank. The attack had been preceded by seven days of heavy artillery bombardment. The experienced French forces were successful in advancing but the British artillery cover had neither blasted away barbed wire, nor destroyed German trenches as effectively as was planned. They suffered the greatest number of casualties (killed, wounded and missing) in a single day in the history of the British army, about 57,000.Griess, pp. 71-72.Having assessed the air combat over Verdun, the Allies had new aircraft for the attack in the Somme valley. The Verdun lesson learnt, the Allies' tactical aim became the achievement of air superiority and the German planes were, indeed, largely swept from the skies over the Somme. The success of the Allied air offensive caused a reorganization of the German air arm, and both sides began using large formations of aircraft rather than relying on individual combat.Campbell, pg. 42.
The final phase of the battle of the Somme saw the first use of the tank on the battlefield. The Allies prepared an attack that would involve 13 British and Imperial divisions and four French corps. The attack made early progress, advancing 3,500–4,500 yards (3.2–4.1 km) in places, but the tanks had little effect due to their lack of numbers and mechanical unreliability. The final phase of the battle took place in October and early November, again producing limited gains with heavy loss of life. All told, the Somme battle had made penetrations of only five miles (8 km), and failed to reach the original objectives. The Allies had suffered over 600,000 casualties and the Germans over 460,000, though these figures are disputed. The Somme led directly to major new developments in infantry organization and tactics; despite the terrible losses of 1 July, some divisions had managed to achieve their objectives with minimal casualties. In examining the reasons behind losses and achievements, the British, and the Colonial contingents, reintroduced the concept of the infantry platoon, following in the footsteps of the French and German armies who were already groping their way towards the use of small tactical units. At the time of the Somme, British senior commanders insisted that the company (120 men) was the smallest unit of maneuver; less than a year later, the section of 10 men would be so. [1] Hindenburg lineIn 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. 1917 â€" British Empire takes the lead
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 America 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 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 had a brief period of success before Britain resorted to the convoy system, bringing a dramatic reduction in shipping losses.Griess, pp. 144-5. In April 1917 the British Empire forces launched an attack starting the Battle of Arras. Despite the success of the Canadian Corps and the British 5th Infantry Division, in breaking through German lines at Vimy Ridge, the Allies could not capitalize due to the refusal to provide reinforcements to the region. During the winter of 1916â€"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, 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 compared to 114 lost by the Germans.Campbell, p. 71 This became known to the RFC as Bloody April. French moraleThe 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 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 2nd French 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 implemented. The mutinies afflicted 54 French divisions and saw 20,000 men desert.Lyons, p. 243. Instead, appeals to patriotism and duty encouraged the soldiers to return to defend their trenches, although they refused to participate in further offensive action.Marshall, pp. 292 By 15 May Nivelle was removed from command, replaced by General Henri 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 and her Empire. British offensives, American troops arriveOn 7 July a British offensive was launched on Messines ridge, south of Ypres, to retake the ground lost in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914. Since 1915 engineers had been digging tunnels under the ridge, and 455 tonnes (1,000,000 lb) of ammonal 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.Griess, pp. 124.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.Fuller, pp. 173-4. 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.Griess, pp. 124. 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 16,000 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. Battle of CambraiOn 20 November the British launched the first massed tank attack during the Battle of Cambrai. The British attacked with 324 tanks, with one-third held in reserve, and twelve divisions, against two German divisions. To maintain surprise, there was no preparatory bombardment; only a curtain of smoke was laid down before the tanks. The machines carried fascines on their fronts to bridge trenches and 4 m-wide (12-foot-wide) German tank traps. Except for the 51st (Highland) Division, who did not advance in columns behind the tanks but as a line across the field, the initial attack was a success for the British. The British forces penetrated further in six hours than had been achieved at the Third Ypres in four months, and at a cost of only 4,000 British casualties.Marshall, pp. 317.However, the advance produced an awkward salient and a surprise German counteroffensive on 30 November drove the British back to their starting lines. Despite the reversal, the attack had been seen as a success by the Allies as it proved that tanks could overcome trench defences. The battle had also seen the first massed use of German stosstruppen on the western front, which used infantry infiltration tactics to successfully penetrate the allied lines. 1918 â€" Final offensives
Ludendorff's strategy would be to launch a massive offensive against the British designed to separate them from the French and drive them back to the channel ports. The attack would combine the new storm troop tactics with ground attack aircraft and a carefully planned artillery barrage that would include gas attacks. German spring offensivesOperation MichaelMarshall, pp. 353-7., the first of the German spring offensives, very nearly succeeded in driving the French and British 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 two 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 at Cantigny. By the 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. Final allied offensives
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 German Imperial Monarchy collapsed, and the two near-dictatorial commanders of the army, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, stepped aside. Battles were still raging 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).Griess, pp. 163. ConsequencesThe war along the western front led the German government and its allies to sue for peace in spite of German success elsewhere. As a result the terms of the peace were dictated by France, Britain and the United States, during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The result was the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919. The original terms of the treaty would cripple Germany as an economic and military power, so the military delegation refused to sign. Instead, it was agreed to by a delegation of the new German government.The Versailles treaty returned the border provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France, thus limiting coal required by German industry. It also severely limited the German armed forces by restricting the size of the army to 100,000 and disallowing a navy or air force. The navy was sailed to Scapa Flow under the terms of surrender but was later scuttled as an act of defiance by its crews. The west bank of the Rhine would be demilitarized and the Kiel Canal opened to international traffic. The treaties also drastically reshaped Eastern Europe.
France suffered heavy damage in the war. In addition to loss of life, the industrial north-east of the country had been devastated by the war. (Once it was clear that Germany was going to lose, Ludendorff had ordered the destruction of the mines in France and Belgium.Marshall, pp. 460. His goal was to cripple the industries of Germany's main European rival.) France would later build a massive series of fortifications along the German border known as the Maginot Line, banking on these structures to prevent future German aggression. The war in the trenches left a generation of maimed soldiers and war widows. The unprecedented butchery had a lasting effect on popular attitudes toward war, resulting in an Allied reluctance to pursue an aggressive policy toward Adolf Hitler (himself a decorated veteran of the war). The repercussions of that struggle are still being felt to this day. Dramatizations* All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque (1929 novel)* All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film) * All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 TV film) * The Big Parade (1925 film) * Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks (1994 novel) * Blackadder Goes Forth (1989 TV series) * "The Dawn Patrol"" (1930 and 1938 film) * "The General", C.S. Forester (1932 novel) * Generals Die in Bed, Charles Yale Harrison (1936 novel) * Johnny Got His Gun (1971 film) * Legends of the Fall (1994 film) * The Lost Battalion (1919 film, 2001 TV remake) * Passchendaele (2006 film) * Paths of Glory (1957 film) * The Rage of Angels, Alan Fisher (1997 novel) * "Sergeant York" (1940 film) * The Wars (1983 film) * What Price Glory (1926 and 1952 films) * Wings (1927 film) * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1996 TV series) NotesSee alsoExternal links* The Western Front Museum
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About Us | Advertise on This Site | User Agreement | Privacy Policy | Kids' Privacy Policy | Help About and About.com are registered trademarks of About, Inc. The About logo is a trademark of About, Inc. All rights reserved. This is the "GNU Free Documentation License" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer. |