What was the position at the beginning of the battle? Notwithstanding
the heavy casualties in 1917 the army in France was considerably
stronger on Jan. 1, 1918, than on Jan. 1, 1917. Up to the end of
1917--up to, say, about October or November--the German combatant
strength in France was as two to the Allies' three. Then came the
military collapse of Russia, and the Germans hurried up their released
divisions from the eastern front and brought them to the west. They had
a certain measure of Austrian support, which had been accorded to them.
Owing to the growth of the strength of our armies in 1917 when this
battle began the combatant strength of the whole of the German Army on
the western front was only approximately, though not quite, equal to the
total combatant strength of the Allies in infantry. They were slightly
inferior in artillery. They were considerably inferior in cavalry, and,
what is very important, they were undoubtedly inferior in aircraft.
The Germans, therefore, organized their troops so as to produce a larger
number of divisions out of the slightly smaller number of infantry and
slightly smaller number of guns. They had fewer battalions in a division
and fewer men in a battalion. That is entirely a question of
organization, and it yet remains to be seen that their organization is
better than ours. It is necessary to explain that, in order that the
House should realize why, with approximately the same number of men, the
Germans have a larger number of divisions on that front.
According to all the facts which have come to hand as to the losses of
the battle, that roughly represents the relative strength of the
combatants on both sides at this moment. The Germans had, however, one
or two important advantages. The first, the initial advantage, which is
always commanded by the offensive, is that they know where they mean to
attack. They choose the ground, they choose the location, they know the
width of the attack, they know the dimensions of the attack, they know
the time of the attack, they know the method of the attack. All that
invariably gives the initial advantage to the offensive.