The German 1918 Offensives

The German 1918 Offensives PDF Author: David T. Zabecki
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134252250
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
This is the first study of the Ludendorff Offensives of 1918 based extensively on key German records presumed to be lost forever after Potsdam was bombed in 1944. In 1997, David T. Zabecki discovered translated copies of these files in a collection of old instructional material at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He presents his findings here for the first time, with a thorough review of the surviving original operational plans and orders, to offer a wealth of fresh insights to the German Offensives of 1918. David T. Zabecki clearly demonstrates how the German failure to exploit the vulnerabilities in the BEF’s rail system led to the failure of the first two offensives, and how inadequacies in the German rail system determined the outcome of the last three offensives. This is a window into the mind of the German General Staff of World War I, with thorough analysis of the German planning and decision making processes during the execution of battles. This is also the first study in English or in German to analyze the specifics of the aborted Operation HAGEN plan. This is also the first study of the 1918 Offensives to focus on the ‘operational level of war’ and on the body of military activity known as ‘the operational art’, rather than on the conventional tactical or strategic levels. This book will be of great interest to all students of World War I, the German Army and of strategic studies and military theory in general.

The German 1918 Offensives

The German 1918 Offensives PDF Author: David T. Zabecki
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134252250
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the first study of the Ludendorff Offensives of 1918 based extensively on key German records presumed to be lost forever after Potsdam was bombed in 1944. In 1997, David T. Zabecki discovered translated copies of these files in a collection of old instructional material at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He presents his findings here for the first time, with a thorough review of the surviving original operational plans and orders, to offer a wealth of fresh insights to the German Offensives of 1918. David T. Zabecki clearly demonstrates how the German failure to exploit the vulnerabilities in the BEF’s rail system led to the failure of the first two offensives, and how inadequacies in the German rail system determined the outcome of the last three offensives. This is a window into the mind of the German General Staff of World War I, with thorough analysis of the German planning and decision making processes during the execution of battles. This is also the first study in English or in German to analyze the specifics of the aborted Operation HAGEN plan. This is also the first study of the 1918 Offensives to focus on the ‘operational level of war’ and on the body of military activity known as ‘the operational art’, rather than on the conventional tactical or strategic levels. This book will be of great interest to all students of World War I, the German Army and of strategic studies and military theory in general.

The German Offensives of 1918

The German Offensives of 1918 PDF Author: Martin Kitchen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780752435275
Category : World War, 1914-1918
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From the author of the bestselling Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany, this book offers a groundbreaking history of the Kaiser's 1918 Western Front offensives - attacks that very nearly won the war for Imperial Germany.

Kaiserschlacht 1918

Kaiserschlacht 1918 PDF Author: Randal Gray
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
This title describes how, using new "Storm Trooper" units and high-mobility tactics, the German Operation Kaiserschlacht shattered the front line, broke into open country and came within a hair's breadth of winning the First World War.

The Marne 15 July - 6 August 1918

The Marne 15 July - 6 August 1918 PDF Author: Stephen C. McGeorge and Mason W. Watson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description


Enduring the Great War

Enduring the Great War PDF Author: Alexander Watson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139867253
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
This book is an innovative comparative history of how German and British soldiers endured the horror of the First World War. Unlike existing literature, which emphasises the strength of societies or military institutions, this study argues that at the heart of armies' robustness lay natural human resilience. Drawing widely on contemporary letters and diaries of British and German soldiers, psychiatric reports and official documentation, and interpreting these sources with modern psychological research, this unique account provides fresh insights into the soldiers' fears, motivations and coping mechanisms. It explains why the British outlasted their opponents by examining and comparing the motives for fighting, the effectiveness with which armies and societies supported men and the combatants' morale throughout the conflict on both sides. Finally it challenges the consensus on the war's end, arguing that not a 'covert strike' but rather an 'ordered surrender' led by junior officers brought about Germany's defeat in 1918.

With Our Backs to the Wall

With Our Backs to the Wall PDF Author: David Stevenson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674063198
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 747

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Book Description
With so much at stake and so much already lost, why did World War I end with a whimper-an arrangement between two weary opponents to suspend hostilities? After more than four years of desperate fighting, with victories sometimes measured in feet and inches, why did the Allies reject the option of advancing into Germany in 1918 and taking Berlin? Most histories of the Great War focus on the avoidability of its beginning. This book brings a laser-like focus to its ominous end-the Allies' incomplete victory, and the tragic ramifications for world peace just two decades later. In the most comprehensive account to date of the conflict's endgame, David Stevenson approaches the events of 1918 from a truly international perspective, examining the positions and perspectives of combatants on both sides, as well as the impact of the Russian Revolution. Stevenson pays close attention to America's effort in its first twentieth-century war, including its naval and military contribution, army recruitment, industrial mobilization, and home-front politics. Alongside military and political developments, he adds new information about the crucial role of economics and logistics. The Allies' eventual success, Stevenson shows, was due to new organizational methods of managing men and materiel and to increased combat effectiveness resulting partly from technological innovation. These factors, combined with Germany's disastrous military offensive in spring 1918, ensured an Allied victory-but not a conclusive German defeat.

The Battle of the Lys April 1918

The Battle of the Lys April 1918 PDF Author: Colin Mattey
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1925675955
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
In the wave of devastating German offensives launched in the spring of 1918, it is Operation Michael that has captured most attention, characterised by astonishing advances and their potentially shattering impact on the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) Third and Fifth armies. While this offensive eventually petered out, albeit tantalisingly close to the BEF’s crucial logistic hub of Amiens, German General Ludendorff redirected the German effort north to Flanders to launch Operation Georgette. In Flanders, the BEF front line lay alarmingly close to the vital channel ports, and the main German thrust posed a direct threat to the town of Hazebrouck, the BEF’s second key logistic hub. After four years of grinding and horrific war, all that stood between the Germans and victory was the 1st Australian Division, hastily recalled to defend the town. This volume describes the battle to save Hazebrouck — part of what was to become the Battle of the Lys — and focuses on the role of the 1st Australian Division in halting the surging German thrust towards the town. While often neglected by history, this action was critical to the survival of the BEF and the Allied war effort in 1918 and deserves far greater recognition. The Battle of the Lys also brings the performance of the BEF divisions during Operation Georgette into sharper focus while providing a unique opportunity to reassess BEF and German performances at what was a decisive point in the First World War.

Amiens 1918

Amiens 1918 PDF Author: Alistair McCluskey
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781846033032
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Through the spring of 1918 of World War I (1914-1918), Germany had been on the offensive on the Western Front but had failed to break the Allies at any point. In July they had been forced back from the river Marne and were once again on the defensive. The Allies were now ready to increase the pressure. The Amiens area was selected and preparations were made in great secrecy with diversionary activity at other points on the line. 32 divisions were involved (twelve French, eight British, five Australian, four Canadian and one American) supported by over 500 tanks and overwhelming airpower. The first day saw an Allied advance of 5 miles across a 12-mile front, with over 27,000 German casualties. Progress was then less spectacular but by the time the battle ended on August 11 Germany had lost 75,000 men, and suffered a severe blow to morale. Amiens was notable for its successful application of the new combined-arms tactics, fully integrating infantry, artillery, armor and airpower at the commencement of the Allies' final, war-winning offensive. Published on the 90th anniversary of the battle, this book sets the strategic scene and clearly describes the fighting, highlighting the significance of the newly developed methods of war and detailing the troop movements that brought about the breakthrough and rapid advance that was achieved.

The Battle of the Lys, 1918

The Battle of the Lys, 1918 PDF Author: Christopher Frank Baker
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781526717030
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description


How America Won World War I

How America Won World War I PDF Author: Alan Axelrod
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493031937
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Immediately after the armistice was signed in November, 1918, an American journalist asked Paul von Hindenburg who won the war against Germany. He was the chief of the German General Staff, co-architect with Erich Ludendorff of Germany’s Eastern Front victories and its nearly war-winning Western Front offensives, and he did not hesitate in his answer. “The American infantry,” he said. He made it even more specific, telling the reporter that the final death blow for Germany was delivered by “the American infantry in the Argonne.” The British and the French often denigrated the American contribution to the war, but they had begged for US entry into the conflict, and their stake in America’s victory was, if anything, even greater than that of the United States itself. But How America Won WWI will not litigate the points of view of Britain and France. The book will accepts as gospel the assessment of the top German leader whose job it had been to oppose the Americans directly - that the American infantry won the war - and this book will tell how the American infantry did it.