The Ludendorff Offensive was undeniably a “game changer” of sorts for the Great War. It was Germany’s last effort to win the war, and since it failed it in turn made Germany lose the war. If it hadn’t failed, there would be no doubt that the outcome of the war (and how the twentieth century turned out) would be completely different. It failed for various reasons, which include inadequate supplies, Allied defensive tactics, an overreliance on storm troopers and all in all an overestimation of their military capabilities.
The offensive was launched specifically in Spring 1918 for two reasons: Germany were capitalizing on an opportunity and Germany also needed to defend against American troops. They were capitalizing on an opportunity as
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The Portugese were spread thin, and when the Germans launched an artillery assault on their positions, the portugese division fled. The stormtrooper then began to push towards Dunkirk, leading the British to form a new defensive line on the River Lys, in an attempt to stop themselves from being outflanked. They were afraid that Germany would take all of the ports if they didn’t defend it well. The French sent reinforcements, but they weren’t as needed as the German supply lines became overextended, thus stopping the …show more content…
Firstly, Ludendorff constantly changed his plans. This meant that he was ver similar to Haig, which ended in a failure for the Germans purely because of a lack of clarity in orders (similar to how Haig wrongly commanded the British).
Then there was the over reliance on the Stormtroopers. They were some of the finest soldiers of the First World War, but after the first assaults they suffered heavy casualties and the Germans could not effectively replace them with the same quality of troops. This meant that the Stormtroopers quickly lost their effectiveness due to the high casualty rate. This was demonstrated at the Second Battle of the Marne, when they failed to achieve any sort of breakthrough.
The German military during the offensive faced a critical shortage of 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 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. This allowed the allies to retain air superiority during the course of the offensives. Then as the German made rapid advances their supply lines were unable to keep pace and this results in shortages of everything that slowed the advance. On several occasions the Germans simply stopped
Even though German high commanders have received much praise, they relied on the ability of senior German generals. Many commanders lacked ideas for victory and often were indecisive which led to unwillingness of using modern technology and resources to conduct a successful war effort. Commanders had little understanding on what was really needed; many only thought more men would successfully defeat the allied forces, along with an increase in firepower all which strained the troubled home nation. Not only did the war effort rely on the efficiency of the army and armed forces, but it also relied on the homefront. The German homefront felt the brunt of the war and the British naval blockade was not helping.
...ced to retreat or be cut off from their supplies. The German High Command, at this point, knew that they could no longer continue to fight and needed to surrender or face annihilation.
The strategic bombing campaign significantly shortened the length of the war. It disabled the production industry and weakened the German morale.
middle of paper ... ... no supplies could get through and the German females and children began to starve. The soldiers became concerned for their families, and lost moral to continue with the war, resulting in them becoming weaker. Germany’s final attempt to win the war, ‘Operation Michael’ was destroyed when America entered the war in April 1917. The fresh new soldiers and supplies made British stronger and Germany was becoming considerably weak.
“The Battle of the Bulge, fought over the winter months of 1944 – 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War Two. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves” (Trueman).
A combination of factors affected Germany’s downfall, such as lack of morale, unwieldy weapons, and failure to work with its so-called allies. One very basic factor in the Allies’ victory was the formation of the Allies themselves. Neither France nor Great Britain could have fought the Axis powers on their own, nor were the two nations on the best of terms at the time. However, they found a common enemy in Germany. Also, without help from the other Allied nations, it is more than likely that the USSR would not have survived the war.
In one month’s time, the Allies lost 34,000 men to either death or capture. Germany, by contrast, lost 100,000 men and 800 tanks. Hitler has failed to recognize the manpower resources of the American army and had misinterpreted the effect that Autumn Mist would have on the front. In reality, all it did was delay the impending break into Germany by a few months time. With Russia getting closer to Berlin by the day and the Rhine the only obstacle in the way of Montgomery, Hitler’s time was running out. The Battle of the Bulge is best concluded by Sir Winston Churchill, who said “It was without any doubt the greatest American battle of the Second World War and it will, I believe, always be considered as a great American victory.”
The Nazi onslaught bypassed the Maginot Line that stretched from Luxembourg to Switzerland but that didn't account for an area in the north where Luxembourg and Belgium were easily charged through. Within ten days, German forces reached the Atlantic coast using a tactic known as Blitzkrieg and not even the British Expeditionary Force was powerful enough to stop them. The world watched in horror as the French military was decimated in a time-frame of just six weeks but that wasn't the worst of it for France. Though the incredible defeat France suffered in June of 1940 shocked the world and even more-so the French people, the psychological malice of losing everything- friends, family, property- in an instant, is nothing compared to the tender kisses and flattery that
When Stresemann had taken over he had helped Germany by reducing Hyper-Inflation and the economic problems that she had. The Nazi's didn't have enough supporters. Hitler had thought that people would just come and join in helping them take over the putsch. Hitler and Ludendorff had assumed that they wouldn't be shot at. Ludendorff had let von Khar and Lossow leave the beer hall.
With nationalistic ideals, countries involved in the war went full force with weapons and men. According to document 6, “In the coming century, the German nation will either be the hammer or the anvil.” The Germans need to have a strong military with warfare to prevent them from loosing to keep their nation alive. Document 12 is a graph that shows the amount of money spent during the war. Germany had the highest increase in expenses from 1890 – 1914, as they were going full force in the war. “I believe that a war is unavoidable, and the sooner the better.” (doc. 15) Germany was a very patriotic country; as the war was not avoidable for them. Militarism helped cause World War I because each country with nationalism in its core was heavily devoted to the
During the early stages of the war, most of Germany’s victories were because of the success of blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Blitzkrieg tactics emphasised mobility and the concentrated use of armour and air power to overwhelm an enemy. Blitzkrieg was especially successful in flat, open countryside and was supremely suited for the Polish campaign in 1939. It was with blitzkrieg, as well as Germany’s superior tactics, effective use of armour, airpower and modern equipment, plus with the support of the USSR that the Germans used to overwhelm Poland in only 5 weeks. Two days after the German troops entered Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler did not want this because it was a distraction from his main aim, to attack the USSR.
...he Battle of Bastogne was vital to the success of winning the Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne was an important road junction in which seven roads ran through, “Seven roads in, seven roads out” as it was said of the crossroads town. American forces relied on these roads for supply routes. The capture of Bastogne was seen as a critical objective to the Germans due to the importance of the roads. Because the 101st along with the 7th Armored Division were able to withstand the attack, reinforcements were able to reach the battered units, thus ending the siege of Bastogne. The Battle of Bulge proved to be the last German offensive of the Second World War with the war itself ending just 5 months later. American forces suffered significant casualties during the battle, the 101st accounting for over 2000 casualties out of more than 3000 total wounded or killed in the battle.
The Germans wanted to get the war over with France so that they didn't have to fight Russia at the same time, so when they got delayed, they were in trouble.
Hitler made clear to his generals that victory was the only important thing in war. Victory and Stalemate: while Hitler continued to move his troops eastward, Britain refused to back down under Churchill and Hitler was forced to invade Britain. The British rebuilt the air force and inflicted major losses on the Luffwaffe. Germany had lost the Battle of Britain and postponed the invasion of Britain.
...were inextricably linked. The cumulative effects of these three overwhelmed the Luftwaffe and Nazi troops. This led to the erosion of civilian support and thus the demise of military, political, and economic systems. “Allied air power was everywhere, a fact not lost to the Germans in the last days of the war” . Quesada stated, “They received the beating that was coming to them” . The Allied Forces obtained the unconditional surrender of their primary target, Nazi Germany, due in large part to air power.