World War I Soldier

World War I Soldier

Stephen Jones

HIS/120

March 08, 2013

Richard Eacott

World War I Soldier

Second Battle of the Marne

It was in the summer of 1918 that Germany would commence their battle against the Allied Forces in what would become known as the Second Battle of the Marne, which would be the last major German offensive of World War I (Michael Duffy, 2009). It was this battle that would mark Germany’s last attempt of turning the tables of the war in their favor, though it was destined to lead to their ultimate downfall (Michael Duffy, 2009).

It would begin on July 15th, 1918 and continue until August 5th of the same year; bringing about a plan devised by German Chief of Staff, Erich Lundendorff, in an effort to attack the allied forces in Flanders by means of luring them into the Marne from Belgium (Michael Duffy, 2009). It was on July 15th, 1918 that 23 German divisions would battle against the French forces in a location east of Reims, while 17 other German divisions would attack French forces to the west (Michael Duffy, 2009).

Lundendorff aimed to split the French forces in half, though he had grievously miscalculated the additional 85,000+ American and British troops that would accompany the French Army east of Reims; leaving the victory of battle in the hands of the Allied forces before midday of July 15th (Michael Duffy, 2009). Meanwhile, the German skirmish in the west held a higher level of promise and successfully broke through French forces; allowing German forces to establish a defensive stance after crossing the Marne at Dormans (Michael Duffy, 2009).

On July 17th; German General Karl Von Einem would attempt to break through a second wave of Allied forces, which consisted of French Commander De Metry’s Army and a secondary line of American, Italian, and British troops (Michael Duffy, 2009). Despite Einem’s efforts, the German forces would fail to succeed; bringing about the reaction of Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch, who would...