This paper will review the actions of American forces during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Upon the arrival of American forces to France in June 1917, an inexperienced combat force quickly transformed in just 15 months and abruptly ended the war after a 47 day campaign. They were led by General John J. Pershing, fighting against an experienced German foe who had been in battle for over three years prior to their arrival. The American forces involved consisted of the U.S. 1st Army, which was centered in the offensive and part of the overall Allied Expeditionary Force. French forces took part in the offensive to the west, British forces fought to the east. The offensive was named after the very thick Argonne Forest was to the west and Meuse River to the east. Without the arrival of American forces to Europe and their participation in the offensive, World War I would have continued with more lives lost and countries destroyed. Seven days after the American objectives were captured and operations of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive ceased, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, thus ending World War I.
Keywords: American forces,
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the End of World War I
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip of Bosnia-Serbia on June 28th, 1914 (“Franz Ferdinand”, n.d., para. 4). This plunged Europe into World War I, and eventually pitted two unified forces against each other. The Allied Powers consisted of Great Britain, France, Russia and the United States of America. The Central Powers consisted of Germany, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire (“World War I: Beginnings and the Aftermath”, 2007, para. 1). Prior to the arrival of American forces, the Allied Powers desperately n...
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...rale of the French and British. American forces faced an incredibly well defended German foe. Compared to their allies, they were inexperienced in combat. With the odds against them, American forces pushed forward. They brought a renewed spirit to the fight. They exceeded all expectations, and their involvement directly ended The Great War. It was a victory for the Allied Powers, but only because the American forces led the way.
Works Cited
Stewart, R.W. (2005). American military history: The united states army in a global era, 1917-2003. (Vol. II). Washington, DC: Center of Military History. Retrieved from http://www.history.army.mil
Franz Ferdinand. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/bio/f/franzfrd.html World War I: Beginnings and the Aftermath. (2007, December 16). Retrieved from https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~raina20s/ww1/play.html
At daybreak, August 19th, 1942, the Allies began their raid on the French coastal city of Dieppe occupied by Germany. The raid has extreme Canadian significance, as it pertains to 5000 Canadians involved in the campaign, 3,350 of which became casualties and 916 died on the bloodstained beach at Dieppe. The Dieppe raid is widely considered a failure on every level and has left a dreadful mark in Canadian military history because of how poorly it panned out. Operation Jubilee remains one of the most hotly debated Allied aspects of the war. Tactically, it was a complete failure as little to no objectives were attained. This essay will explain that Dieppe failed because of the tactical errors on the part of the Allies, in conjunction with the fact the entire operation was very poorly planned out. It will do so by discussing 4 major points: poor allied planning, how Dieppe was a difficult place to attack, that the assault was launched for political rather than military reasons and finally, how it failed to upgrade morale.
Weigley, Russel F. History of the United States Army. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1st Edition, 1984.
Nearing the end of his life, Otto von Bismarck said, “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans,” (History.com Staff 1). As it so happens, Mr. von Bismarck was correct. The first World War was triggered by the unmerited assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke. The day Ferdinand was killed, was his and his wife’s wedding anniversary (History.com Staff 1). The couple was visiting Sarajevo in a open car, a rarity at the time (Ben Cosgrove 1). Unfortunately, this city held threatening nationalists and terrorists. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a young man named Gavrilo Princip. Princip had been trained in terrorism by the Black Hand, a Serbian secret society (The Editors of Encyclopedia
The Army’s history includes many unique global events such as World War I and II, the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict and most recently operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. An in depth study of these historical events is beyond the scope of this paper however, the origin of the Army is relevant in discussing the Army’s overall culture.
In the beginning of the war the United States, lead by President Woodrow Wilson, took the clear stance of neutrality. Yet there has been long standing debates as to why the United States entered World War 1 after claiming neutrality for so long. Some argue that it was directly affected by the discovery of the Zimmermann Telegram in January of 1917. While others debate it was an extensive string of events that lead to a declaration of war against Germany in April of the same year, yet the debates find a common ground on the lack of true neutrality on the part of the United States.
From the evidence I have used, I have drawn the conclusion that each factor was of importance in winning the war and without each of them the Allies may not have been victorious. Nonetheless, in my researched opinion, the war at sea was the most important reason that the Allies won the war, followed by the USA entering the war and the war on land respectively, because each factor would not have been as effective if it wasn’t for the devastation of Germany by the naval tactics used by the British.
One underlying cause of World War I was the alliances that were being formed. On July 28th 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia were assassinated by a serbian member of the blackhand. Austria played Serbia as puppets and no longer wanted to compromise and wished to declare war. Alliances were formed to benefit their own country and to keep peace with the Great Powers and Europe. Many alliances split amongst Europe and made each country enemies. The Triple Entente military alliance between Great Britain, France & Russia in the years preceding World War I (Chapter 13 Section 1).
o Collier, Christopher, and James Lincoln, Collier. The United States in World War II (1941-1945). New York: Benchmark Books, 2002.
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.”
This gallant effort single handedly got the retreating American troops into a charge against the enemy, which in the end created a victory for the Americans and convinced the French to enter the war.
The first and probably most important cause of the war was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand on June 28th, 1914. The Archduke and his wife, Sophie, were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip, the only successful member of a group of six assassins in doing so. The annexation of the imperial armed forces in Herzegovina and Bosnia by Austria-Hungary angered Serbian nationalists, ...
World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, and had a huge impact on the world throughout the twentieth century. This conflict is commonly referred to as the Great War and primarily involved Europeans. Although, other countries, particularly European colonial holdings, did participate. Before World War I began, no one expected such a destructive conflict, as many nations approached the idea of war with enthusiasm. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, European nations began to expand their colonial holdings, strengthen their militaries, and in 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot. The primary cause of World War I was nationalism, as European imperialism, militarism, and the assassination of Ferdinand are examples of nationalism
- - -, ed. "The Anti-War Movement in the United States." English.Illnois.edu. Ed. Oxford Companion to American Military History. 1st ed. Vers. 1. Rev. 1. Oxford Companion to American Military History, 1999. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
By December 1914 the First World War had reached a dilemma on the western front that neither the triple entente nor the triple alliance had expected. The war had reached a stalemate, a state where both sides are so evenly balanced that neither can breakthrough against the enemy. The advances in Technology played a big role in creating the stalemate through strong defensive weaponry such as Machine Guns and Artillery, this caused ‘trench warfare’ (BOOK 48). Trench war is when troops from both sides are protected from the enemy’s firepower through trenches. Many advances in technology also attempted to break the stalemate throughout the war with tanks, gas and aircraft, these however failed. Eventually the stalemate was broken through a combination of improved technology, new strategies and the blockading of the German ports.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife was definitely the most significant cause of the calamity that is World War I. Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro- Hungarian throne, was simply visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately, a secret Serbian society known as the Black Hand awaited the Archduke’s arrival. This nationalist group targeted Ferdinand due to the feeling amongst Serbians that once appointed to the throne; Ferdinand would uphold the persecution of Serbs inhabiting the borders of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. Gavrilo Princip was one of eight members of the Black Hand chosen to execute Franz Ferdinand. Unloading two shots, Princip had assassinated both Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Seized by the police, he was beaten and put into prison, and there he died. The shots of this young man echoed all over the world to initiate the explosion of World War I.