(MAY-AUGUST, 1918)
The Causes of the German Offensive of May, 1918.
The two great German offensives of March and April both failed, despite
their extreme violence and the fact that the Allies were taken by
surprise. Neither Amiens on the Somme, nor Béthune and Ypres in the
north had fallen. Although in the course of these two offensives not
less than 152 German divisions had been thrown into battle, the enemy
failed to pierce the Allies’ front or break down their resistance.
During the offensive against the British front, French reinforcements
were brought up much sooner than the Germans expected. Moreover, the
battles of March and April gave the Allies the decisive advantage of
unity of command. To Marshal Foch was entrusted the co-ordination of the
Allied forces in the last act of the great drama, which was to see the
downfall of Ludendorff and Hindenburg.
To calm public opinion at home, where the people were clamouring ever
louder for that victorious peace so often promised, the Germans were
forced to make another attempt, and it was considered necessary to act
promptly while they still had numerical superiority--owing to Russia’s
defection--and win the final decision before the American intervention
could make itself fully felt.
Before attacking the British again, Ludendorff attempted to draw the
French reserves southwards, his plan being to wear them down and then
settle with the British alone. Hence the attack of May 27 on the Aisne
front, which was powerfully organised on the German side owing to the
great advantage they possessed in being able to bring up rapidly their
heavy artillery from the Somme. Moreover, the ground was familiar to the
enemy, who likewise knew that this part of the Allies’ front was only
weakly held. The Allies’ reserves being insufficient to cover the entire
front, and considering that the German offensive might be launched
against either the Lys, the Somme, the Oise, or the Aisne fronts, Foch
had concentrated his forces at the vitally important points covering
Paris, the channel ports, and other positions less easy to defend than
the Chemin-des-Dames.