Turning points -...

Retrospective288

13 Turning points

Source 13.1

A photograph dated 1917 showing

German leaders studying maps:

from left, Field Marshall Paul von

Hindenburg, Kaiser Wilhelm II; and

General Erich Ludendorff

KEY DATES

1917

February Germany

commences unrestricted

submarine warfare on

merchant ships

March Tsar Nicholas II

abdicates

April United States

declares war on Germany

October Bolsheviks win

power in Russia; Russia

withdraws from war

December Russia signs

armistice with Germany

1918

March Treaty of

Brest–Litovsk is signed

on 3 March

March Ludendorff

launches Spring Offensive

on Western Front

April Germany

commences massive

advance against British

divisions in Flanders

June Pace of the German

offensive slows with

the failure of Operation

Gneisau and French

counterattack

July Allies break through

German lines; Germany

in retreat

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

In this chapter, you will learn about the following aspects

of World War I:

W� impacts of the entry of the USA and of the Russian withdrawal

W� Ludendorff’s Spring Offensive and the Allied response

Chapter 13 W Turning points 289

IntroductionThe year 1917 marked two turning points in the course of the war:

in April, the United States broke its policy of isolationism and entered

the war on the side of the Allies

in November, Russia’s Bolshevik party, having staged a successful

revolution, fulfilled its promise to withdraw Russia from the war.

While the first event seemed to strengthen the position of the Allies, the

second, at a time when the war was going badly for the Allies, potentially

weakened them severely.

Source 13.2

Extract from Leon Wolff’s In Flanders Fields, describing the start of the new year, 1917

Somewhere in the limitless darkness a man coughed, a bird twittered an isolated

phrase, a muffled voice spoke up. Many miles behind the front thousands of

lorries, wagons, gun limbers, horses and men moving endlessly along the

Belgian roads furnished a soft, pulsating background . . . Here in the advance

zone of the dread Salient around Ypres hardly a man moved, nor did many even

know or care that the old year was dying.

The officer standing beside the field piece watched the glowing second hand

of his wrist-watch. At the stroke of midnight he said ‘Fire!’ The gun roared, and

a shell was lobbed somewhere into the German positions. A few seconds later

there was a single, distinct, far-off explosion, following which a strained silence

hung in the air. Then the enemy threw up anxious flares, ghastly green but of

great beauty. These illuminated no-man’s land lingeringly, froze it briefly into the

aspect of a charcoal sketch and then faded away.

The British battery fired nine more rounds in erratic succession, paused,

and then another seven more. Thus the new year, 1917, was advertised by

seventeen shells . . . the rest of the evening passed in relative peace there and

elsewhere on the Western Front . . .

Leon Wolff, In Flanders Fields: the 1917 Campaign, Penguin, 2003, first published in 1959.

Impact of the Russian withdrawalAt the outbreak of war in 1914, Russia had the largest army in the world but

was also a nation plagued by serious internal problems.

War on the Eastern Front began on 17 August 1914 when Russia launched

a full-scale offensive against Prussia. By 30 August, General Hindenburg’s

German forces defeated a massive Russian force at the Battle of Tannenburg.

Russia suffered tens of thousands of casualties and lost 92 000 troops as

prisoners of war. The inadequacies of Russia’s logistical planning became

a catastrophic short-coming when faced with a highly industrialised and

organised opponent.

The immense difficulty in supplying and maintaining the massive Russian

army placed a great strain on Russia’s total war effort. At the outset of

war, the Russian people had supported the war effort, but the brutal toll in

Russian lives and terrible suffering brought rebellion.

W

W

isolationism W�a principle of foreign policy that avoided direct involvement in European affairs

isolationism W�a principle of foreign policy that avoided direct involvement in European affairs

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Read source 13.2 which

describes the start of the new

year in the trenches in 1917.

1. Describe the mood that

is suggested at this point

in the war.

2. Using the source and your

own knowledge, explain the

characteristics of war on

the Western Front at the

beginning of 1917.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Read source 13.2 which

describes the start of the new

year in the trenches in 1917.

1. Describe the mood that

is suggested at this point

in the war.

2. Using the source and your

own knowledge, explain the

characteristics of war on

the Western Front at the

beginning of 1917.

logistical W�organisation behind the transport, supply and movement of troops

logistical W�organisation behind the transport, supply and movement of troops

Retrospective290

DENMARK

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUMG E R M A N Y

FRANCE

R U S S I A

RUMANIA

SWITZERLAND

AUSTRIA–HUNGARY

LUXEMBOURG

Black

Sea

BALT

IC

SEA

NORTH

SEA

ITALY

Berlin

Prague

Warsaw

Kiev

Hamburg

Munich

Petrograd

Frankfurt

Brussels

Paris

Riga

Eastern Front 1917

Western Front 1917

0 600 km300

N

By May 1915, Germany had taken command of the Eastern Front and,

during the course of the year, Russia lost two million troops. With soldiers

sent to their deaths on the Eastern Front and economic collapse at home,

discontent among the Russian people grew stronger. Russia edged closer to

revolution as the people’s support for the Tsar and his war disintegrated.

By February 1917, the demoralised Russian army had suffered eight million

casualties and one million more Russian soldiers had deserted. With the Tsar’s

authority shattered, the government collapsed and Russia was in revolution.

On 2 March 1917, over three centuries of Romanov rule ended when Tsar

Nicholas II abdicated. Key politicians formed Russia’s new Provisional

Government.

Source 13.3

A photograph showing Tsar

Nicholas addressing some of his

Cossack troops on the Eastern

Front in December 1914

Source 13.3

A photograph showing Tsar

Nicholas addressing some of his

Cossack troops on the Eastern

Front in December 1914

Source 13.4

Map of the Western and Eastern

Fronts in 1917

Source 13.4

Map of the Western and Eastern

Fronts in 1917

abdicate W�to give up or renounce a position of power, right or claim

abdicate W�to give up or renounce a position of power, right or claim

provisional W�a temporary and conditional agreement or system

provisional W�a temporary and conditional agreement or system

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Describe the image of

the Tsar and his forces

that is communicated in

this photograph from the

Eastern Front.

2. With reference to the text,

explain the image of Russian

forces and the Tsar in 1917.


The Allies welcomed the willingness of the new Provisional Government to

continue Russia’s involvement in the war and honour its military obligations

to its French and British allies. The Russian population did not support this

decision and, in the ensuing months, more and more people transferred their

loyalty to the government’s Bolshevik opponents who promised to end the

war and relieve the sufferings it had induced.

Source 13.5

A Bolshevik propaganda poster

entitled ‘the tired Russian soldier’

Source 13.5

A Bolshevik propaganda poster

entitled ‘the tired Russian soldier’

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. What opinion about the war

is expressed in the source

13.5 poster?

2. How could the source 13.5

poster be interpreted as a

powerful piece of Bolshevik

propaganda?

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. What opinion about the war

is expressed in the source

13.5 poster?

2. How could the source 13.5

poster be interpreted as a

powerful piece of Bolshevik

propaganda?

Retrospective292

In October 1917, a second revolution gave the Bolsheviks power. The

Bolshevik leader, Lenin, called for a separate peace and signed an armistice

with Germany in December 1917. More than three million men had died and

more than nine million were wounded during Russia’s three years of fighting

on the Eastern Front.

Source 13.6

A photograph of Russian and German soldiers dancing and celebrating the end of war on the

Eastern Front in the winter of 1917–18

Treaty of Brest–LitovskThe Russian government’s withdrawal from World War I in 1917 and the subse-

quent Treaty of Brest–Litovsk effectively ended the war on the Eastern Front.

The Bolshevik government declared an armistice with Germany in

December 1917 and, soon after, Lenin instructed his representative,

Adolf Joffe, to commence peace negotiations with Germany and Austria

at Brest–Litovsk. Lenin demanded a peace without annexations or

indemnities and based on Russia’s right to self-determination. Germany

was determined to assert its authority over Russia and dictated harsh

conditions for peace. The Bolshevik delegates declared the terms too

objectionable to sign and stopped negotiations.

On 18 February 1918, the German forces resumed their advance on Russia

and the Bolsheviks were forced to accept the punishment meted out by the

Treaty of Brest–Litovsk. The treaty was a national humiliation for Russia.

By the terms of the treaty, Russia lost a quarter of its European territory,

which meant:

34 per cent of the population

89 per cent of the coal mines

32 per cent of the agricultural land.

By the time the treaty was signed on 3 March 1918, Germany was in control

of almost half of Russia to the east of Moscow. One of the Bolshevik del-

egates, Sokolnikov, declared this ‘a peace which Russia, grinding its teeth, is

forced to accept’.

W

W

W

Bolsheviks W�members of the Bolshevik party that took power in Russia in October 1917 after another revolution

armistice W�a temporary halt to fighting in order to allow peace negotiations

Bolsheviks W�members of the Bolshevik party that took power in Russia in October 1917 after another revolution

armistice W�a temporary halt to fighting in order to allow peace negotiations

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Describe what is

happening in the source

13.6 photograph.

2. Assess the usefulness

of this source for providing

an understanding of the

impact of the war on

Russia’s effectiveness

as an ally.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Describe what is

happening in the source

13.6 photograph.

2. Assess the usefulness

of this source for providing

an understanding of the

impact of the war on

Russia’s effectiveness

as an ally.

annexations W�territories lost through takeover

indemnities W�payments of compensation for damage or loss

self-determination W�the right of an identifiable group of people to determine their own form of government and the nation to which they belong

annexations W�territories lost through takeover

indemnities W�payments of compensation for damage or loss

self-determination W�the right of an identifiable group of people to determine their own form of government and the nation to which they belong


Article I: Germany, Austria–Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, for the one part,

and Russia, for the other part, declare that the state of war between them

has ceased. They are resolved to live henceforth in peace and amity with

one another.

Article II: The contracting parties will refrain from any agitation or propaganda

against the Government or the public and military institutions of the other

party. In so far as this obligation devolves upon Russia, it holds good also for the

territories occupied by the Powers of the Quadruple Alliance.

Article III: The territories lying to the west of the line agreed upon by the

contracting parties which formerly belonged to Russia, will no longer be

subject to Russian sovereignty; the line agreed upon is traced on the map

submitted as an essential part of this treaty of peace . . . No obligations whatever

toward Russia shall devolve upon the territories referred to, arising from the

fact that they formerly belonged to Russia. Russia refrains from all interference

in the internal relations of these territories. Germany and Austria–Hungary

purpose to determine the future status of these territories in agreement with

their population.

Article IV: As soon as a general peace is concluded and Russian demobilization is

carried out completely Germany will evacuate the territory lying to the east

of the line designated in paragraph 1 of Article III, in so far as Article IV does

not determine otherwise. Russia will do all within her power to insure the

immediate evacuation of the provinces of eastern Anatolia and their lawful

return to Turkey . . .

Article V: Russia will, without delay, carry out the full demobilization of her

army inclusive of those units recently organized by the present Government.

Furthermore, Russia will either bring her warships into Russian ports and

there detain them until the day of the conclusion of a general peace, or disarm

them forthwith. Warships of the States which continue in the state of war

with the Powers of the Quadruple Alliance, in so far as they are within Russian

sovereignty, will be treated as Russian warships . . .

Article XI: The contracting parties mutually renounce compensation for their war

expenses, i.e., of the public expenditures for the conduct of the war, as well as

compensation for war losses, i.e., such losses as were caused [by] them and

their nationals within the war zones by military measures . . .

Military mastery in the westThe Russian collapse enabled Germany to shift its military divisions —

comprising one million men — and resources from the Eastern to the Western

Front. Russia’s allies were enraged by Russia’s withdrawal from the war

and labelled it an act of treachery. At the end of 1917, the military situation

looked bleak for the Allied forces. The Allies predicted they would face a

reinvigorated German military attack in the spring of 1918.

Victory in the east gave the German High Command the confidence needed

to drive a wedge between the British and French armies and force the British

back to the coast of the English Channel. The Central Powers were closer to

victory in the west than they had been since before the Battle of the Marne

in September 1914. The focus of fighting now became military mastery of the

Western Front.

Source 13.7

Extracts from the peace treaty agreed at Brest–Litovsk, 3 March 1918

Source 13.7

Extracts from the peace treaty agreed at Brest–Litovsk, 3 March 1918

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. In your own words,

state the main condition

expressed in each of the

six Articles of the Treaty

of Brest–Litovsk.

2. Explain why the Russians

regarded the treaty as a

national humiliation.

3. Suggest what you think

Germany wanted to achieve

through the Treaty of

Brest–Litovsk.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. In your own words,

state the main condition

expressed in each of the

six Articles of the Treaty

of Brest–Litovsk.

2. Explain why the Russians

regarded the treaty as a

national humiliation.

3. Suggest what you think

Germany wanted to achieve

through the Treaty of

Brest–Litovsk.

Retrospective294

Impact of the United States’ entry into World War IAt the outbreak of war in 1914, America had declared its neutrality. American

public opinion did not favour one side over the other while its isolationism

reinforced the idea that the war was a European conflict. Little more than

two months before America entered the war against Germany, US President

Woodrow Wilson addressed the Senate and appealed for a settlement of the

European conflict based on ‘peace without victory’ (see source 13.9).

Wilson was a progressive thinker who embraced the ideals of a democratic

peace. Believing in mediation, he set up secret negotiations with Britain

and Germany to establish a peace plan agreement. Wilson’s vision for peace

was rejected.

Source 13.8

‘The Caged British Lion’, a German

propaganda cartoon by Arthur

Johnson from the German journal

Kladderadatsch, 28 April 1918

Source 13.8

‘The Caged British Lion’, a German

propaganda cartoon by Arthur

Johnson from the German journal

Kladderadatsch, 28 April 1918

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. How are Britain and

Germany depicted in the

source 13.8 cartoon?

2. What comment does the

cartoon make about the

course of the war in the

period immediately after

Russia was forced to

accept the Treaty of

Brest–Litovsk?

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. How are Britain and

Germany depicted in the

source 13.8 cartoon?

2. What comment does the

cartoon make about the

course of the war in the

period immediately after

Russia was forced to

accept the Treaty of

Brest–Litovsk?

neutrality W�a nation which does not become involved in the wars of others

neutrality W�a nation which does not become involved in the wars of others

mediation W�to settle disputes through agreement and reconciliation

mediation W�to settle disputes through agreement and reconciliation


SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Who delivered the

source 13.9 speech?

2. Who was the audience?

3. When was the speech

given?

4. Explain what the purpose

of this speech would

have been.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Who delivered the

source 13.9 speech?

2. Who was the audience?

3. When was the speech

given?

4. Explain what the purpose

of this speech would

have been.

On the 18th of December last, I addressed an identical note to the governments of the nations now at war requesting them to state, more definitely than they had yet been stated by either group of belligerents, the terms upon which they would deem it possible to make peace. I spoke on behalf of humanity and of the rights of all neutral nations like our own, many of whose most vital interests the war puts in constant jeopardy . . .

The question upon which the whole future peace and policy of the world depends is this: Is the present war a struggle for a just and secure peace, or only for a new balance of power? If it be only a struggle for a new balance of power, who will guarantee, who can guarantee the stable equilibrium of the new arrangement? Only a tranquil Europe can be a stable Europe. There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized common peace . . .

. . . [I]t must be a peace without victory . . . Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last. Only a peace the very principle of which is equality and a common participation in a common benefit. The right state of mind, the right feeling between nations, is as necessary for a lasting peace as is the just settlement of vexed questions of territory or of racial and national allegiance.

The equality of nations upon which peace must be founded if it is to last must be an equality of rights; the guarantees exchanged must neither recognize nor imply a difference between big nations and small, between those that are powerful and those that are weak. Right must be based upon the common strength, not upon the individual strength, of the nations upon whose concert peace will depend. Equality of territory or of resources there of course cannot be; nor any sort of equality not gained in the ordinary peaceful and legitimate development of the peoples themselves. But no one asks or expects anything more than an equality of rights. Mankind is looking now for freedom of life, not for equipoises of power . . .

While one pro-war consensus fragmented in Russia another crystallised across the Atlantic. This development was sudden. Barely two months before America declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, there seemed hardly any wish among the public or in Congress for intervention, and no desire by Wilson to propose it. During 1916 American entry alongside the Allies had seemed increasingly unlikely . . .

[T]he Democrats projected the president as ‘the man who kept us out of the war’.Wilson’s diplomacy, however, revolved around three interlocking themes: trade

and loans, blockade and U-boats, and his urge to mediate. His mediation attempts forced him to elaborate his vision of the peace settlement and whetted his appetite for involvement in it. From early in the conflict he contemplated creating an international collective security organization, and pressure groups lobbied for the same objective. In a speech in May 1916 to the most prominent of them, the League to Enforce Peace, he declared himself in favour of establishing such an organization and of American membership in it . . .

Hence in addition to the League of Nations he embraced the ideal of a democratic peace, based on the consent of the governed, national self-

determination, and freedom of the seas.

David Stevenson, 1914–1918: The History of the First World War, Penguin, London, 2004, pp. 310–11.

Source 13.9

Extracts from President Wilson’s ‘Peace Without Victory’ speech to the US Senate on 22 January 1917

Source 13.9

Extracts from President Wilson’s ‘Peace Without Victory’ speech to the US Senate on 22 January 1917

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Read sources 13.9 and 13.10

and answer the following

questions.

1. Explain the two important

developments of 1917.

2. What was the general

American attitude towards

the war two months before

America’s declaration?

3. What had President Wilson

hoped his attempts at

mediation would bring?

4. What ideals did President

Wilson stand for?

Source 13.10

A historian’s comment on the change in attitude of the United States and President Woodrow Wilson

Retrospective296

In 1917, Germany was determined to break the power of the Allies at sea.

The German High Command declared unrestricted submarine warfare on mer-

chant (trading) ships. Between February and March 1917, merchant ships were

sunk in an effort to deprive Britain of food and munitions. In April, a further

196 ships were sunk. British supply lines and sea routes were secured when a

convoy system was established that was supported by US destroyers.

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appeared before the American

Congress and asked them to make the ‘world safe for democracy’ by declaring

war against Germany. America thus entered the war that had ravaged Europe

for over three years. America’s massive industrial and economic resources were

now available to the Allied war effort. American forces brought hundreds of

thousands of new soldiers into the war and this was a great boost to Allied

solders’ morale.

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious,

very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately, which it

was neither right nor constitutionally permissible that I should assume the

responsibility of making.

On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary

announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day

of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and

use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports

of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports

controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean . . .

I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious

as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of

non-combatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have

always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent

and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people

cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare

against mankind.

It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives

taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and

people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in

the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination.

The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will

meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation

of counsel and a temperateness for judgement befitting our character and our

motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be

revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only

the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion . . .

It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen of the Congress, which I

have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, many months of

fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful

people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself

seeming to be in the balance.

But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things

which we have always carried nearest our hearts — for democracy, for the right of

those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own Governments, for the

rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a

concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the

world itself at last free . . .

convoy W�an armed force or formation of ships that acts as an escort for protection

destroyers W�small, fast warships

convoy W�an armed force or formation of ships that acts as an escort for protection

destroyers W�small, fast warships

Source 13.11

Extracts from President Wilson’s

speech to the US Congress

signalling the US declaration of

war with Germany, 2 April 1917

Source 13.11

Extracts from President Wilson’s

speech to the US Congress

signalling the US declaration of

war with Germany, 2 April 1917

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Read the source 13.11

speech and explain how

President Wilson’s address

to Congress changed

between January and April.

2. According to source 13.11,

why did America go to war

and what did it involve?

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. Read the source 13.11

speech and explain how

President Wilson’s address

to Congress changed

between January and April.

2. According to source 13.11,

why did America go to war

and what did it involve?


SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. What is the subject of the source 13.12 poster and what is the main idea

that is communicated?

2. Millions of Americans were steadfastly opposed to sending troops into war

before 1917. How could the source 13.12 poster have been instrumental in

changing their minds?

Source 13.12

American government poster

from 1918 aimed at bolstering

popular support for the

military effort

Source 13.12

American government poster

from 1918 aimed at bolstering

popular support for the

military effort

Retrospective298

The American decision to declare war on Germany was evolutionary, and

not triggered by a single event. The factors that fi nally culminated in Amer-

ican involvement were:

anti-German feeling that came from the U-boat sinking of the British

liner Lusitania on 8 May 1915, in which 1924 lives were lost, 128 of them

Americans (see source 13.13)

unrestricted warfare infringing the freedom of the seas and the loss

of further American lives from sinking of American ships by German

U-boats. Germany declared unrestricted U-boat warfare on 1 February

1917; two days later America broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

large sums of money loaned by the Americans to Britain. German victory

would have involved fi nancial loss for America.

Allied propaganda presenting Germany as the aggressor, for example, the

German invasion of Belgium

release of the ‘Zimmerman telegram’ — a German attempt to negotiate

an alliance with Mexico and Japan against the United States. Arthur

Zimmerman, German ambassador to Mexico, proposed a Mexican and

German alliance in the event of war between America and Germany.

with German victory, the former Mexican territories of Arizona, New

Mexico and Texas would be restored to Mexico.

W

W

W

W

W

W

To view and read about the decoding of the telegram, access the website for this book and click on the ‘Zimmerman telegram’ weblink for this chapter (see ‘Weblinks’, page viii).

To view and read about the decoding of the telegram, access the website for this book and click on the ‘Zimmerman telegram’ weblink for this chapter (see ‘Weblinks’, page viii).

Source 13.13

The front page of The New York

Times on 8 May 1915, announcing the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine. Inset (at right) is a German advertisement from inside the newspaper warning travellers of the dangers of travelling across the Atlantic on British vessels.

Source 13.13

The front page of The New York

Times on 8 May 1915, announcing the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine. Inset (at right) is a German advertisement from inside the newspaper warning travellers of the dangers of travelling across the Atlantic on British vessels.


Source 13.14

An American recruitment poster aimed at stirring the emotions of the American people

following the heavy loss of life in the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915

The American Expeditionary ForceThe Allies were delighted at the American entry into the conflict because

they believed it assured victory. General John J. Pershing was chosen to

head the American Expeditionary Force. American forces were given a

mandate to cooperate with Allies, but fought under their own flag under

American leadership.

SOURCE QUESTION

The sinking of the Lusitania occurred two years before America declared war on Germany. Using sources 13.13, 13.14 and the information from the text, explain:

(a) what kind of vessel the Lusitania was

(b) why it was sunk

(c) what it represented

(d) how the sinking came to be used as such a powerful piece of Allied propaganda.

SOURCE QUESTION

The sinking of the Lusitania occurred two years before America declared war on Germany. Using sources 13.13, 13.14 and the information from the text, explain:

(a) what kind of vessel the Lusitania was

(b) why it was sunk

(c) what it represented

(d) how the sinking came to be used as such a powerful piece of Allied propaganda.

Retrospective300

The build-up of American forces and strength in Europe was slow and

did not provide the immediate Allied salvation that many had hoped for.

The United States had not spent years preparing for the war and so had few

modern weapons, such as howitzers, tanks, mortars, rifle grenades or air-

craft. President Wilson’s declaration of war committed American supplies,

extended loans, supply of naval power and the call-up of half a million Amer-

ican conscripts. However, America was not a military force on the Western

Front until 1918, so their contribution to fighting was limited. It was America’s

potential power that became vital to the Allied war effort. The German forces,

under General Erich Ludendorff, knew that they now had to win, or nego-

tiate a peace, before American support increased to a point where Germany

would be outnumbered on the Western Front.

Source 13.15

A photograph of General

Pershing, head of American

Expeditionary Force, arriving in

France in 1917

Source 13.15

A photograph of General

Pershing, head of American

Expeditionary Force, arriving in

France in 1917

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Examine the source 13.15

image of General Pershing

then answer the following

questions.

1. Who was General Pershing?

2. What sort of a character

does General Pershing

appear in the photo?

3. Why would General

Pershing’s arrival in Europe

be seen as a turning point

in the war?

4. What do you think the

Allied leaders would expect

the role of the AEF to be

in Europe?

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Examine the source 13.15

image of General Pershing

then answer the following

questions.

1. Who was General Pershing?

2. What sort of a character

does General Pershing

appear in the photo?

3. Why would General

Pershing’s arrival in Europe

be seen as a turning point

in the war?

4. What do you think the

Allied leaders would expect

the role of the AEF to be

in Europe?

howitzers W�short-barrelled artillery, particularly useful for shelling at a steep angle

mortars W�short tubular weapons used to fire shells at high angles

howitzers W�short-barrelled artillery, particularly useful for shelling at a steep angle

mortars W�short tubular weapons used to fire shells at high angles


General Ludendorff’s Spring OffensiveNineteen seventeen was a harrowing year for Great Britain and its allies.

Britain had suffered nearly 400 000 casualties in the costly and unsuccessful

offensive called Passchendaele (see chapter 11, pages 239–40). German

U-boats had inflicted further suffering on the British people. Losses at the front

combined with hardship at home to bring all the warring nations to a state

of national war weariness.

In Germany, the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, Germany’s comprehensive

scheme for winning the war (see chapter 11, page 213), had destroyed Kaiser

Wilhelm’s ability to make the decisions required of a leader. German govern-

ment in 1917 was in the hands of General Erich Ludendorff and Field Mar-

shall Paul von Hindenburg. Germany had become a military dictatorship.

SOURCE QUESTION

Explain the power and influence of the two German leaders shown in source 13.16, in

1917.

By the close of 1917, Germany’s military reputation was at stake. General

Ludendorff knew he needed to act quickly to gain a victory before the weight

of American power could swing the war against Germany. Ludendorff was

also determined to place Germany in a stronger position to negotiate at the

future peace talks. Germany had to make immediate use of the advantage

that the Russian surrender gave.

Source 13.16

A photograph from 1917 showing German military leaders Paul von Hindenburg (in the pale coat) and Erich Ludendorff (left) reviewing troops in 1917

Source 13.16

A photograph from 1917 showing German military leaders Paul von Hindenburg (in the pale coat) and Erich Ludendorff (left) reviewing troops in 1917

Retrospective302

Despite the loss of thousands of lives on the Western Front during 1917, the

military position had changed very little. Ludendorff moved for an all-out

bid for victory by launching an enormous offensive in the west. The German

divisions freed from the east could now be deployed to the Western Front.

The German plan of attack was designed to draw Allied forces away from the

Channel ports that were the lifeline of British supplies, capture the ports and

then destroy Allied communications. In the spring of 1918, General Luden-

dorff launched the offensive that could provide Germany with the break-

through to victory.

The 52 German divisions in the east that transferred to the Western

Front provided the numerical superiority on the ground that German

forces needed. Ludendorff knew that the American forces could bring an

additional one million soldiers to France during 1918. In the early spring of

1918, the reinforcements from America were only just beginning to arrive.

The American presence would be catastrophic unless Germany acted rapidly.

Britain and its allies were vulnerable as the offensives of 1917 continued to

take a heavy toll.

Source 13.17

Map showing the Western Front in 1918 and the Channel ports that Germany aimed to

capture

Sein

e

Somme

Aisne

Oise

River

River

River

River

River

Marne

Boulogne

Calais

Ostend

Paris

Brussels

Reims

Compiegne

Cantigny

Ypres

Verdun

Arras

Loos

St r

ai t

of

Do v e r

B E L G I U M

GREAT

BRITAIN

LUXEMBOURG

F R A N C E

0 50 100 km

N

German advanceby mid–1918

SOURCE QUESTION

Where were the Channel ports located and why do you think they became so

important to Germany’s military objectives in 1918?


The Kaiser’s BattleGeneral Ludendorff named the Spring Offensive on the Western Front

Kaiserschlacht — the ‘Kaiser’s Battle’. The military objective was to drive a

wedge between the British and French armies by launching the massive

German assault on Anglo–French lines. The German plan was to force

the British back to the Channel coast and then take Paris. Ludendorff was

looking for an opportunity for Germany to achieve its territorial demands

— the control of Belgium and north-eastern France.

There were two key elements to the German assault:

rapid surprise attacks of ‘storm units’, small squads of elite shock troops

the Feuerwalze, intensive and overwhelming artillery and infantry

bombardment of the enemy command and communications, artillery

and front line; reserves were used to exploit the gap created by

creeping barrage.

Hindenburg thought a victory would lift morale at home, raise the people above

their ‘sullen brooding’. Hindenburg didn’t know much about people either. Those

in Berlin and Munich were supposed to look at their sickly children, their cold

hearths, the turnips on the dinner table, the photograph of the dead son on the

mantelpiece, and take heart that Hindenburg had made a lunge for Paris or the

Channel ports. Hindenburg and Ludendorff, one suspects, thought a victory

would create a momentum of its own. There didn’t seem to be much more to their

strategy than that . . .

Ludendorff decided late in January on a scheme called ‘Michael’. The Germans

would attack on a long front between St Quentin in the south and Arras in the

north, across the old Somme battlefield. The original idea was not, as some

thought, to go for Amiens and then on to the coast. Having broken through, the

Germans would turn right and push the British north, presumably all the way to

the Channel ports. It was rather like Haig’s plan for the Somme in 1916 in reverse.

But the German attack was much more ambitious: the front was to be about fifty

miles, around three times longer than Haig’s of 1916. Ludendorff was going to

direct the battle himself. He set up an advanced headquarters behind Cambrai. He

wanted to be where he could easily reach the front by car. The attack would open

on March 21.

Ludendorff told the Kaiser in mid-February: ‘We must not imagine that this

offensive will be like those in Galicia or Italy; it will be an immense struggle that

will begin at one point, continue at another, and take a long time; it is difficult, but

it will be victorious . . .’

Les Carlyon, The Great War, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, 2006, p. 543.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

Read source 13.18 and answer the following questions.

1. What does the writer suggest was the feeling among the German public about

the forthcoming ‘lunge for Paris and the Channel ports’?

2. What did Hindenburg and Ludendorff hope the Spring Offensive would achieve?

3. Briefly explain the strategy behind Operation Michael.

4. What might be the shortcomings of Operation Michael?

W

W

creeping barrage W�the use of a wall of artillery fire immediately in front of the advancing infantry. As the artillery gunners moved forward to destroy enemy trenches, the infantry, following behind, was ready to take control of a trench once the artillery fire had ceased.

creeping barrage W�the use of a wall of artillery fire immediately in front of the advancing infantry. As the artillery gunners moved forward to destroy enemy trenches, the infantry, following behind, was ready to take control of a trench once the artillery fire had ceased.

Source 13.18

Historian Les Carlyon describes

the mood in Germany in 1918

and Ludendorff’s plan to break

the British and French forces

Source 13.18

Historian Les Carlyon describes

the mood in Germany in 1918

and Ludendorff’s plan to break

the British and French forces

perspective

purpose

perspective

purpose

Retrospective304

Operation Michael, March 1918

Ludendorff launched his offensive with an initial attack, codenamed ‘Michael’.

It began with great shattering explosions at several points along the Allied

lines on 21 March 1918. A barrage of 6000 heavy guns and 30 000 mortars

commenced the offensive. Over two million poison gas shells were fired

during the operation. The weather also came to Germany’s aid on the first

day. When the mustard gas was released, Allied troops were confused even

further by a heavy fog. Five hours after the initial bombardment, and under

the cover of the thick fog, the German infantry moved into the territory held

by the Allies. Small squads of mobile shock troops, with flame throwers and

trench mortars, directed rapid surprise attacks at the Allied front line.

By the end of the first day, 21 000 British soldiers were prisoners of the

Germans. The British and French forces were rapidly driven back. With the

Allied retreat, huge columns of troops were on the move, trudging west

with their wagonloads of wounded. Allied communications had also broken

down and the Allied command was in disarray. In desperation, British Prime

Minister Lloyd George telegraphed US President Woodrow Wilson

requesting American troops to assist the British fighting force. The American

President agreed.

By the end of the first four days of the German attack, the German troops

had crossed the old Somme battlefield, nearly divided British and French

forces at the Front and taken 45 000 Allied prisoners. On the fifth day, the

British rallied and took the Germans by surprise when they launched a

number of small counter-attacks.

Source 13.19

A photograph showing

German troops advancing

towards the Allies’ front line near

Villers-Bretonneux in March 1918

Source 13.19

A photograph showing

German troops advancing

towards the Allies’ front line near

Villers-Bretonneux in March 1918

SOURCE QUESTION

Consider the battle scene

in source 13.19 then write

a short newspaper report to

accompany the photograph.

In your report, explain the

sequence of events that

began with the launching

of Operation Michael,

and the Allied response.

SOURCE QUESTION

Consider the battle scene

in source 13.19 then write

a short newspaper report to

accompany the photograph.

In your report, explain the

sequence of events that

began with the launching

of Operation Michael,

and the Allied response.


By the tenth day of the Spring Offensive, the Germans had smashed the

British Fifth Army under the command of Sir Hubert Gough, regained all

the ground they had lost on the Somme, taken 90 000 prisoners and cap-

tured 1300 guns. Germans forces gained more ground than at any other time

during the war.

The inspirational French general, Ferdinand Foch, was appointed com-

mander in chief of the Allied armies on 26 March 1918. The German Offen-

sive had inadvertently brought about a unified command of the Allied forces.

Foch took control and issued the instruction: ‘We must stop where we are

now. As we have not been able to stop the Germans at the Somme, we must

not retire a single centimetre!’

Operation Michael was followed by four more offensives.

Second Offensive: Operation Georgette, April 1918This was a 16-kilometre German advance in Flanders, east of the River Lys.

Germany used massive artillery power to attack British divisions holding the

fronts of the First and Second Armies in Flanders. In the first day, German

forces pushed approximately six kilometres into Allied territory.

The British position was desperate and, on 11 April 1918, General Haig

appealed to his soldiers: ‘There is no other course open to us but to fight it

out!’. After three weeks of bitter fighting, the British denied German access to

the Channel ports of Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk.

In the 40 days of fighting, the first two offensives of 1918 had resulted in over

700 000 casualties. The German advance stalled when its flank was exposed

and the Allies launched a joint British, French, American, Canadian and

ANZAC counterattack. General Ludendorff called off Georgette on 29 April.

Third Offensive: Operation Blucher-Yorck, May 1918The Third Offensive aimed to take the French forces located in the Chemin

des Dames sector of Champagne. The German advance met no resistance

because it took the French by surprise. British and French front line forces

were bombarded by howitzer and mortar fire and high explosives laced with

gas. On 30 May, at the Battle of the Aisne, the Germans drove the French back

32 kilometres to the banks of the River Marne.

The German advance was halted by 6 June with the assistance of fresh

American reinforcements. The total number of American personnel in France

in March was 284 000; by July it had risen to over one million; by November

there were nearly 2 million Americans in France. US troops provided new

sources of manpower that could not be matched by Germany and its allies.

American troops were being transported to France on board the former ocean

liner Aquitania. With every trans-Atlantic voyage, another 15 000 American

reinforcements arrived in France.

Fourth Offensive: Operation Gneisenau, June 1918Operation Gneisenau commenced with artillery fire on 9 June. The French

were prepared for the attack due to information they had gathered from

German prisoners. The German army took 8000 prisoners within the first day

and managed to advance over 12 kilometres. Despite having gained ground,

the Germans achieved no strategic objective and the pace of the offensive

slowed. At Compiègne, a French counterattack caught the Germans by sur-

prise and signalled the end of Operation Gneisenau on 12 June.

See page 309 to read the

full text of General Haig’s

‘Order of the Day’.

See page 309 to read the

full text of General Haig’s

‘Order of the Day’.

flank W�the extreme left or right wing of an army or fleet, or the subdivision of an army or fleet

flank W�the extreme left or right wing of an army or fleet, or the subdivision of an army or fleet

Retrospective306

Fifth Offensive: Operation Friedensturm, July 1918

Launched on 15 July in the Champagne region, the Fifth Offensive began with

the firing of 9000 tonnes of gas. At one of the main attack points, the French

General, Henri Pétain, had set up a line of unmanned trenches. The Germans

directed much of their gas attack against this line. Manned trenches located

further back were untouched by the bombardment. Fierce resistance and

counterattack by French and American forces halted the German advance.

On 18 July, Foch launched an attack along a 43-kilometre front that sent the

German army into full retreat. The Allies had broken the German line and

took 20 000 German prisoners.

SOURCE QUESTIONS

1. In what way is source 13.20 evidence of the ‘turning point’ in the war?

2. How significant do you think technology, such as the tank featured in source

13.20, was in changing the course of the war?

Read more about the evolution of the tank by accessing the website for this book

and clicking on the Tanks in World War I weblink for this chapter.

The Allied responseBy the end of July 1918, Germany’s Spring Offensive had failed. The Allies had

developed a number of defensive strategies in response to the German tactics.

The proportion of Allied troops on the front line had been reduced, with the

bulk of the fighting force located beyond German artillery range. The front

line became an outpost zone that was primarily defended by snipers and

machine gun posts. Behind the front line positions lay the ‘battle zone’, the

point at which the greatest resistance to the assault lay. The reserves of the

‘rear zone’ were ready to counterattack and push back any force that broke

through the battle zone.

Source 13.20

A photograph of one of the

powerful and manoeuvrable

British Mark IV tanks poised to

cross a ridge near German

positions, 1917–18

Source 13.20

A photograph of one of the

powerful and manoeuvrable

British Mark IV tanks poised to

cross a ridge near German

positions, 1917–18

snipers W�marksmen who waited in hiding for opportunities to shoot soldiers in the opposing trenches

snipers W�marksmen who waited in hiding for opportunities to shoot soldiers in the opposing trenches


After the Kaiser’s Battle had yielded Germany large territorial gains, the

front line moved every day until Germany was within striking range of

Paris. The German armies had stood on the banks of the River Marne and

struck fear into the heart of France. Despite this huge and brilliant victory,

Germany failed to breach the Allied front. Ludendorff had gambled every-

thing on attaining the strategic objective of a quick victory.

When Germany launched its final great offensive on 15 July, Ludendorff’s

army was already depleted and near exhaustion. In the space of the following

six months, the ranks of the German army fell from 5.1 million fighting men

to 4.2 million. To cover the losses they had to endure, the German High

Command required 200 000 new recruits every month. Germany could not

provide the manpower or maintain the supply of provisions required to

support the military advances. Germany lost the initiative.

Despite the terrible losses, the Allied forces had not been broken. After

the four years of this relentless war, the Allies had managed to hold on in

the face of the onslaught. With the arrival of the American reinforcements,

the Allies could absorb their losses. The greater numbers combined with

superior equipment to produce a formidable Anglo–French force. As we will

see in chapter 14, as the Spring Offensive moved into summer, the balance of

war finally shifted.

Tanks, which used to be objects of ridicule, have become a major weapon. They

come rolling forward in a long line, heavily armoured, and they embody the

horror of war for us more than anything else.

We cannot see the gun batteries that are bombarding us, and the oncoming

waves of enemy attackers are human beings just like we are — but tanks are

machines, and their caterpillar tracks run on as endlessly as the war itself.

They spell out annihilation when they roll without feeling into the shell holes

and then climb out again, inexorably, a fleet of steel beasts that crush the dead

and the wounded. Before these we shrivel down into our thin skins, in the face

of their colossal force our arms are like straws and our handgrenades are

like matches . . .

The months drag on. The summer of 1918 is the bloodiest and the hardest

. . . Everyone knows that we are losing the war. Nobody talks about it much. We

are retreating. We won’t be able to attack again after this massive offensive. We

have no more men and no more ammunition . . .

Summer 1918. Never has life at the front been more bitter and more full of

horror than when we are under fire, when the pallid faces are pressed into the

mud and the fists are clenched and your whole being is saying, No! No! No, not

now! Not now at the very last minute! . . .

There are so many airmen here, and they are so skilful that they can hunt

down individuals like rabbits. For every German aircraft there are five British

or American ones. For every hungry, tired German soldier in the trenches there

are five strong, fresh men on the enemy side. For every German army-issue loaf

there are fifty cans of beef over there. We haven’t been defeated, because as

soldiers we are better and more experienced; we have simply been crushed and

pushed back by forces many times superior to ours . . .

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, translated from the German by Brian Murdoch, Vintage, London, 1996, pp. 198–201.

Source 13.21

Extracts from the novel All Quiet

on the Western Front by German

soldier Erich Maria Remarque,

describing the failure of the

Spring Offensive from the

German perspective

Source 13.21

Extracts from the novel All Quiet

on the Western Front by German

soldier Erich Maria Remarque,

describing the failure of the

Spring Offensive from the

German perspective

SOURCE QUESTION

As an 18 year old, German soldier Erich Remarque was sent to the Western Front. How does his source 13.21 account, from his novel All

Quiet on the Western Front, contribute to our understanding of:

(a) what had happened to the armies of 1917 and 1918

(b) why Germany was ultimately defeated?

SOURCE QUESTION

As an 18 year old, German soldier Erich Remarque was sent to the Western Front. How does his source 13.21 account, from his novel All

Quiet on the Western Front, contribute to our understanding of:

(a) what had happened to the armies of 1917 and 1918

(b) why Germany was ultimately defeated?

Retrospective308 Retrospective308

HSC exam practiceQuestion 1 (5 marks) Marks

(a) Which group is referred to as ‘Pershing’s Crusaders’ in the source A poster? 2

(b) Using source C, explain in what way the war on the British front changed

in March and April 1918. 2

(c) From the information provided in source D, explain what General Haig considered

to be the German military objective and the necessary Allied military response. 1

Question 2 (10 marks)

How signifi cant was the entry of America into the war in preparing the way for Allied victory?

Use sources A and B and your own knowledge to answer this question.

Question 3 (10 marks)

Assess how useful sources C and D would be for historians studying the impact of the Spring

Offensive on the course of the war and why it was regarded as a ‘turning point’ in World War I.

In your answer, consider the perspectives provided by the TWO sources and the reliability of each one.

Source A

A US poster for the 1918 war fi lm

Pershing’s Crusaders

Source B

Captain T. Helby of the Royal Garrison

Artillery recalls the events of 1918

In March 1918 our retreat had taken

us straight across a series of the old

Somme trenches. These had been

bridged by the Sappers with temporary

wooden bridges of doubtful strength

and just wide enough to take the gun

wheels. Any mistake at one of these

bridges would have been disastrous

— for a gun wheel dropped in a trench

would have blocked the whole road.

However, with the Hun behind us

and perhaps not too far at that, the

driving was superb. No body, nor horse,

put a foot wrong. But when we were

advancing across the Canal du Nord

in September our route went across

a large open fi eld in which there was

one solitary shell hole. One of the guns

managed to put a wheel into that shell

hole! Such is the difference between

withdrawing with a threat of a German

bayonet behind you and advancing

against crumbling opposition.

Quoted in L. Macdonald, 1914–1918:

Voices and Images of the Great War,

Michael Joseph Ltd, London, 1988, p. 283.

309Chapter 3 W Yankees and Confederates in the American states in the mid nineteenth centuryChapter 13 W Turning points 309

Source C

Extracts from Les Carlyon’s The Great War describing the impact of Operation Michael on Allied

forces

The last days of March and the fi rst days of April [1918] were strange times on the British

front. Not since 1914 had the war been so errant, so confused. The era of trench stalemate,

its certainties and rituals, had passed. The frontline now changed by the hour. In many

places there was no such thing, just lines of outposts. In the morning they were here and

in the evening they were there; they were hardly ever where the generals thought they

were. Haig’s army had prided itself on its orderliness. In the last days of March many of

the divisions that faced Ludendorff’s onslaught lived in chaos and listened to rumours.

Formations south of the river were hopelessly mixed up. Gough’s 5th Army — what

was left of it — had become Rawlinson’s 4th Army. Enterprising offi cers would cobble up

scratch ‘divisions’ from labour companies, lost infantrymen, railway workers, walking

wounded, the odd American and passing cavalrymen carrying lances . . .

Les Carlyon, The Great War, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, 2006, p. 579.

Source D

Order of the day, from British Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig to all the British Forces in France,

dated 11 April 1918

Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrifi c attacks against us on a fi fty-mile front.

His objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel ports and destroy the

British Army.

In spite of throwing already 106 divisions into the battle and enduring the most reckless

sacrifi ce of human life, he has as yet made little progress towards his goals.

We owe this to the determined fi ghting and self-sacrifi ce of our troops. Words fail me to

express the admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our

Army under the most trying circumstances.

Many amongst us now are tired. To those I would say that victory will belong to the

side which holds out the longest. The French army is moving rapidly and in great force to

our support.

There is no other course open to us but to fi ght it out! Every position must be held to

the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the

justice of our cause, each one of us must fi ght on to the end. The safety of our homes and

the freedom of mankind alike depend on the conduct of each one of us at this

critical moment.

Signed D. Haig F.M.

Commander-in-Chief

British Armies in France

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