Meuse-Argonne Offensive Essay, Research Paper

Meuse-Argonne Offensive

When the Allied Supreme Commander, Ferdinand Foch, originally planned the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. It was to be a stray onslaught by British military personnels along the Somme River followed by an American push on Mezieres ; nevertheless, over clip Foch? s program to capture a German fastness turned into a program for a monolithic onslaught by the Allied forces. The aim of the onslaught was to capture the railway hub at Sudan in order to interrupt the rail cyberspace back uping the German Army in France and Flanders, and coerce a German backdown from the occupied districts.

By the terminal of the violative 1,200,000 Allied military personnels, under the leading of General John J. Pershing, had been concentrated for the progress, and 60,000 of those military personnels had taken an active portion in the conflict. Compared to about 50 German divisions from the Army Groups of the Crown Prince and General Max Carl von Gallwitz. The Fifth Army of Group Gallwitz, commanded by General George von der Marwitz, provided the largest part on the German side.

During the conflict, a force comprised of chiefly French and English heavy weapon ( about 2,700 guns ) , armored combat vehicles ( 331 French visible radiation armored combat vehicles, 142 of which were manned by Americans ) , and 821 aircraft were concentrated to back up the American marchers. The Germans besides had strong heavy weapon support, but had no armored combat vehicles. Their greatest arms, in contending the American on-slot were the shovel and the 18kg ( 40lb ) 08/15 Maxim machine-gun. The German soldiers used their shovels to build bastioned sand traps in which to protect themselves from allied heavy weapon, and apparatus machine gun nests.

At 2330 on September 25, 1918, the initial bombardment by 2700 guns begins. The initial progress is alert with the exclusion of an American Division that encounters troubles capturing the sentinel station and strong point of Montfaucon. This hold holds up the full progress for over a twenty-four hours and allows the Germans to retrieve from their initial daze and to reorganise. By the twenty-seventh Montfaucon was captured, the twenty-four hours and one-half hold allowed German forces to get away and reorganize avoiding a mob. This proves to be the most expensive lost chance of the Alliess.

The allied advancement continues easy until the 3rd of October when the American 77th Division is surrounded.

On the 4th, allied forces get down a major onslaught along the full forepart ; this would merely be the first in a series of onslaughts all ensuing in high casualties with little additions in land. On the 7th, the Alliess are able to flank German forces and relieve the American 77th Division. The undermentioned twenty-four hours subsisters of the 77th leave the conflict, and Sgt. Alvin C. York, a Tennessee sharpshooter, of the 82nd Division wipes out a nest of 35 machine guns and captures 132 German soldiers as portion of the alleviation operation. Allied patterned advance continues easy from the 9th to the 21st. During this clip, the Alliess a

rhenium able to capture Cunel and Romagne. Romagne would subsequently go the site of America’s largest abroad military graveyard.

By the 22nd, the Alliess had secured the Bois de Foret, Bois des Rappes, and Blanc Mont Ridge. On the 1st of November allied forces begin a monolithic concluding push to Sedan. The Germans are shocked by onslaught and order a backdown. On the 5th, taking allied units reach the hills overlooking Sedan. The American forces are ordered to step aside so the Gallic 4th Army receives the award of capturing Sedan, site of a licking in 1870. From the 7th to the 11th, allied forces continue progressing. At 0600 on the 11th, cease-fire is announced, but some US forces do non hear about the armistice until midday.

Allied Forces were able to subvert the German fastnesss of the Meuse-Argonne part for many different grounds. The greatest advantage they had over the German? s was their superior figure of work forces. The triumph by the Alliess can besides be greatly contributed to the strategic usage of heavy weapon, armored combat vehicles, and aircraft.

From September 26th until the cease-fire was announced on November 11th, more than 120,000 allied soldiers on a forepart of 64 kilometres had engaged and resolutely beaten 47 different German divisions. These divisions represented 25 per centum of the enemy? s full divisional strength on the western forepart. The allied forces suffered some 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded, compared to the 133,000 German soldiers who were killed or wounded. The Alliess besides captured 26,000 German captives, 847 heavy weapon pieces, and 3,000 machine guns.

Wholly, the Meuse-Argonne offense was the greatest American conflict of the first World War. At first the Alliess were non satisfied with the violative, because initial advancement was slow and resulted in a high figure of casualties. However, the Alliess did non cognize that because it was taking so long to capture the railway hub at Sudan the Germans, both soldiers and the general population, were going disillusioned with Germany? s motive ; therefore the Kaiser of Germany requested a meeting to discourse footings of the cease-fire.

The twenty-four hours after the cease-fire sign language, the Kaiser abdicated and fled to the Netherlands in expatriate. The Germans so proclaimed themselves a democracy.

Under the footings of the cease-fire, the Germans were to retreat from all occupied district, including Alsace and Lorraine ( German talking countries of France ) , retire all ground forcess east of the Rhine, and supply the Alliess with footholds beyond the Rhine. Men died right up to the terminal, but eventually, after more so four inexorable old ages, it was over. Of all the states, more so 8,500,000 soldiers died, and entire casualties exceeded 37,500,000 work forces, adult females, and kids. Numbers that would steer that coevals to believe they had seen? The War to End All Wars. ?

Bibliography

Winter, J. M. The Experience of World War I. New York: Oxford

University Press, 1989.