German Spring Offensive

A series of German attacks on the Western Front from March to July 1918, intended to defeat the Allies before American forces arrived in strength. It gained territory but failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough.

Operation Michael: The first and largest German attack in the 1918 Spring Offensive, launched against British forces on 21 March. This opening operation drove the deepest German advances and shaped the campaign’s early crisis.
Operation Blücher–Yorck: A German attack on the Aisne front from 27 May to 6 June 1918, which reached the Marne River. Its unexpectedly deep advance brought German forces close to Paris.
Erich Ludendorff: A German general who directed the country’s military strategy in the final years of the First World War. He planned the 1918 attacks and committed German reserves to repeated attempts at breakthrough.
Hundred Days Offensive: A sustained series of Allied offensives from August to November 1918 that forced Germany toward the armistice. It followed the Spring Offensive and exploited the loss of German momentum.
Allied Hundred Days tactics: The Allied methods used in 1918 to combine infantry, artillery, tanks, and aircraft in successive attacks. Unlike the Spring Offensive’s costly pursuit of breakthrough, these methods supported sustained advances with growing material superiority.
Hutier tactics: An infantry assault method using brief artillery bombardments and small units to infiltrate weak points and bypass strongholds. German stormtroopers used infiltration methods to break through Allied defenses during the offensive.
Operation Gneisenau: A German attack between Noyon and Montdidier from 9 to 13 June 1918. It sought to widen the salient created by earlier attacks but made limited gains.
Douglas Haig: A British field marshal who commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from 1915 to 1918. His forces absorbed the offensive’s heaviest early blows and later helped launch the Allied counteroffensive.
American Expeditionary Forces: The United States Army forces deployed to Europe under John J. Pershing during the First World War. Their arrival in increasing numbers undermined Germany’s hope of winning before American power mattered.
Schlieffen Plan: The German strategic plan for defeating France through a rapid invasion via Belgium before turning against Russia. Both sought a quick decision in the west, but the 1918 attacks began after years of attritional warfare.

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