Third Battle of the Aisne
Third Battle of the Aisne | |
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Part of the 49°23′N 3°44′E / 49.383°N 3.733°E | |
Result | See Aftermath section |
Territorial changes | Germans achieve 55 km breakthrough of Allied lines that comes within 56 km of Paris |
United Kingdom
United States
Italy
The Third Battle of the Aisne (French: 3e Bataille de l'Aisne) was part of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in France. It was one of a series of offensives, known as the Kaiserschlacht, launched by the Germans in the spring and summer of 1918.
Background
The massive surprise attack (named Blücher-Yorck after two Prussian generals of the Napoleonic Wars) lasted from 27 May until 4 June 1918[2] and was the first full-scale German offensive following the Lys Offensive in Flanders in April.
The Germans held the Chemin des Dames Ridge from the
Operation Blücher-Yorck was planned primarily by General Erich Ludendorff, the First Quartermaster-General of the German Army, who was certain that success at the Aisne would lead the German armies to within striking distance of Paris. Ludendorff, who saw the British Expeditionary Force as the main threat[citation needed], believed that this, in turn, would cause the Allies to move forces from Flanders to help defend the French capital, allowing the Germans to continue their planned Flanders offensive (Hagen) with greater ease. Thus, the Aisne drive was essentially a large diversionary attack.
The defense of the Aisne area was in the hands of General
Battle
On the morning of 27 May 1918, the Germans began a bombardment (Feuerwalze) of the Allied front lines with over 4,000
The bombardment was followed by a
Taken completely by surprise and with their defences spread thin, the Allies could not stop the attack and the German army advanced through a 40 kilometres (25 mi) gap in the Allied lines. Reaching the Aisne in under six hours, the Germans smashed through eight Allied divisions on a line between Reims and Soissons, pushing the Allies back to the river Vesle and gaining an extra 15 km of territory by nightfall.
The rapid advance resulted in the capture of just over 50,000 Allied soldiers and over 800 guns by 30 May 1918, prompting Ludendorff to change the operational objective from merely drawing away the enemy forces from the right wing of the German Army to advancing the attack of the Seventh Army. This had never been the intention of the operation, and having come within 56 kilometres (35 mi) of Paris on 3 June, the German armies were beset by numerous problems, including heavy casualties, a lack of reserves, fatigue and supply shortages.[5]
Ultimately, following many Allied counter-attacks, the German advance came to a halt three days later.
Aftermath
Despite penetrating Allied lines by approximately 34 miles (55 km) and coming closer to Paris than any time since 1914, the Germans were successfully halted by the Allies at the Marne on 6 June 1918. By the battle's end, the Germans had suffered 130,000 casualties while the combined total of Allies casualties reached up to 127,000.[6]
For his poor handling of the British and French troops, Duchene was sacked by French Commander-in-Chief
Ludendorff, encouraged by the gains of Blücher-Yorck, launched further offensives culminating in the Second Battle of the Marne.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ The divisions of American Expeditionary Force were double the size of those of the British, French and Germans (with a full strength of around 20,000 each). Due to this fact, they were sometimes referred to as Grandes Divisions (Big Divisions).[citation needed]
Citations
- ^ Julien Sapori. Les troupes italiennes en France pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, Parcay-sur-Vienne, Anovi, 2008.
- ^ "The German Spring Offensive March–July 1918". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ Hart 2008, pp. 266–268
- ^ Hart 2008, p. 283
- ^ David Zabecki in The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in The Operational Level of War, p. 286
- ^ Marix Evans, p. 105
Bibliography
- Evans, M. M. (2004). Battles of World War I. Select Editions. ISBN 1-84193-226-4.
- Hart, Peter (2008). 1918: A Very British Victory, Phoenix Books, London. ISBN 978-0-7538-2689-8
- Marix Evans, Martin (2002) 1918: The Year of Victories, Arcturus Military History Series, London: Arcturus, ISBN 0-572-02838-5
- Ward, Alec (2008). A Young Man's War, Medlar Press. ISBN 978-1-899600-84-7