1918

by Matthias Strohn

  Sheffield, Gary, Forgotten Victory: The First World War Myths and Realities (London: Headline, 2001)

  Sheffield, Gary and Peter Gray (eds), Changing War: The British Army, the Hundred Days Campaign and the Birth of the Royal Air Force, 1918 (London: Bloomsbury, 2013)

  Stevenson, David, With our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918 (London: Allen Lane, 2011)

  Strohn, Matthias, The German Army and the Defence of the Reich: Military Doctrine and the Conduct of the Defensive Battle 1918–1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

  Terraine, John, The Smoke and the Fire: Myths and Anti-Myths of War 1861–1945 (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980)

  GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS

  Allgemeines Kriegsamt General War Office

  AEF American Expeditionary Forces

  Aéronautique Militaire the French air service

  AOK Armeeoberkommando (Army

  Command)

  BEF British Expeditionary Force

  Chef des Großen Generalstabes Chief of the Great General Staff

  Conseil superieur de la guerre Supreme War Council

  DCM Distinguished Conduct Medal

  DSO Distinguished Service Order

  EEF Egyptian Expeditionary Force

  Erster Generalquartiermeister First Quartermaster General

  GHQ British General Headquarters

  GOC General Officer Commanding

  GQG Grand Quartier Général (French

  General Headquarters)

  Großer Generalstab Great General Staff

  Heeresgruppe Army Group

  Jagdgeschwader fighter wing

  Kriegsministerium War Ministry

  Luftstreitkräfte the German air service, after

  October 1916

  MC Military Cross

  Oberste Kriegsleitung Supreme War Command

  OHL Oberste Heeresleitung (Supreme

  Headquarters of the Field Army)

  POW prisoner of war

  RAF Royal Air Force

  RFC Royal Flying Corps

  Seekriegsleitung Naval Command

  Vollmacht mandate or proxy

  Ranks

  British Empire France German Empire

  Field Marshal Maréchal de France Generalfeldmarschall

  General Generaloberst

  General der Infanterie,

  Lieutenant General Général de Division General der Kavallerie General der Artillerie

  Major General Generalleutnant

  Brigadier General Général de Brigade Generalmajor

  Colonel Colonel Oberst

  Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant-Colonel Oberstleutnant

  Major Commandant Major

  Captain Capitaine Hauptmann

  Lieutenant Lieutenant Oberleutnant

  Second Lieutenant Sous-Lieutenant Leutnant

  Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (1861–1928) was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force from December 1915 until the end of the war. (Hulton Archive/Getty)

  Maréchal Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929) was appointed Supreme Allied Commander in the spring of 1918. (FPG/Archive Photos/Getty)

  General John J. Pershing (1860–1948), commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, pictured at the general headquarters in Chaumont, France, 19 October 1918. (Interim Archives/Getty)

  General Henri Philippe Pétain (1856–1951) was Commander-in-Chief of the French Army during 1917–1920. (adoc-photos/Corbis/Getty)

  Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934), pictured here on his 70th birthday, was appointed Germany’s Chief of the General Staff in 1916. (Hulton Archive/Getty)

  General Erich Ludendorff (1865–1937) was appointed First Quartermaster General in 1916. (Hulton Archive/Getty)

  On 3 March 1918, Prinz Leopold von Bayern signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia, which outlined terms for their coexistence following World War I. (© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty)

  The main French light bomber of 1918 was the Breguet XIV, one of the best bombers produced in the war. (USAF Historical Research Agency)

  Men of the 20th British Division and of the 22nd French Division in hastily dug rifle pits covering a road in the Nesle sector at the actions at the Somme crossings, 25 March 1918. (Topfoto.co.uk)

  Past a twisted iron bed frame, a relic of the civilian world that once existed here, and the body of a French soldier fallen on the edge of a shell hole, German troops advance through smoke and fire during the first of Ludendorff’s great spring offensives in 1918. This photograph, probably staged, including the action of a man about to hurl a potato masher grenade, was taken at Villers-Bretonneux in April, as Hindenburg’s Eighteenth Army overran Allied lines near the Somme. (Bettman/Getty)

  In an image reminiscent of John Singer Sargent’s famous painting ‘Gassed’, British troops blinded by tear gas wait outside an Advance Dressing Station near Bethune, 10 April 1918. (2nd Lt T. K. Aitken/IWM/Getty)

  Renault FT-17 tanks in the Aisne region. The FT-17 was used by both the French and US armies, and first saw action on 31 May 1918. (Roger Viollet/Getty)

  German soldiers sleep in their positions at the front outside of Arras during a break in the fighting, spring 1918. (ullstein bild/Getty)

  This busy scene shows Mark V tanks of 10th Battalion going forward alongside New Zealand and British infantry following the capture of Grevillers, west of Bapaume, 25 August 1918. (2nd Lt T. K. Aitken/IWM/Getty Images)

  Men of the 137th Brigade, 46th Division, are addressed by Brigadier General J. V. Campbell on the Riqueval Bridge over the St Quentin Canal, which formed part of the Hindenburg Line, broken on 29 September 1918. (2nd Lt D. McLellan/IWM/Getty)

  In this photograph, probably staged, American soldiers of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, are seen firing a 37mm machine gun at a German position in the Argonne Forest, autumn 1918. (US Army Signal Corps/American Stock/Getty)

  As other soldiers run for the cover of slit trenches, an Indian Lewis gun team engage an enemy aircraft, Mesopotamia 1918. During the long and arduous Mesopotamia campaign, over 29,000 Indian soldiers perished in what was their most significant contribution to the war effort. (Ariel Varges/IWM/Getty)

  American soldiers of the 64th Infantry Regiment, 7th Division, celebrate the end of the war in Jaulny, France, 11 November 1918. (PhotoQuest/Getty)

  21st November 1918: Seen from a British ship, the SMS Hindenburg surrenders at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, the principal British Naval base. Hindenburg was the last capital ship built for the German navy during World War I and it was scuttled by the Germans at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919 (A. R. Coster/Topical Press Agency/Getty)

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I cannot claim to have written or produced this book all by myself. It is the result of work carried out by many people.

  First and foremost, I would like to thank the authors for their contributions. Their professionalism and ability to work towards deadlines made my role as editor an easy and enjoyable task. This book provides an overview of the last year of World War I and it does so from different angles. In addition to providing a general narrative, it also encourages the reader to engage with some of the debates that still surround the year 1918. As a consequence, the chapters sometimes differ in the analysis of certain events, actions, and personalities. This did not just happen, it was an intended outcome. All these different views combined have produced this book on the last year of the cataclysmic conflict that we call World War I.

  I would like to thank Osprey Publishing and the team that has worked with me on this book, in particular Gemma Gardner and Marcus Cowper. Their professionalism is second to none and, as always, working with the team was a real pleasure. Also, my sincere thanks to the design team Stewart Larking and Beth Cole and the cartographers from Bounford.com.

  The idea for the book was born when I was working at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and it gained real traction after my secondment to the British Army’s think tank, the Cent
re for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research. One of my main tasks there is to support the British Army’s commemoration of World War I, the so-called ‘Operation Reflect’. This book is one of the fruits of this task. I would like to thank both the RMAS and the CHACR for creating such research-friendly atmospheres in which academic output is valued more highly than physical presence behind an office desk.

  My parents have not had a direct influence on this book, but without all their love and support I would not be where I am today. It is only when one becomes a parent oneself that one is able to realise this fully. The simple truth is also that parents hardly ever receive the recognition they deserve. Vielen Dank für Alles!

  Every time I start a new book, I promise my family that this time there will be no more night shifts and long hours in which I disappear into my study. Every time I fail. I cannot thank my family, especially my wife Rocio, enough for supporting me during the writing and editing period. This book – and I – owe you a great deal more than you imagine.

  I dedicate this book to Jacob and Wilhelm. Wilhelm’s great-great-grandfather fought in World War I and his great-grandfather in World War II. They have all carried the same name. Members of his family fought and died all over Europe in these dark days. Wilhelm’s father saw military action in a far-away land. I hope that Jacob and Wilhelm will be allowed to live in peaceful times.

  Vor uns liegt ein glücklich Hoffen

  liegt der Zukunft goldne Zeit

  steht ein ganzer Himmel offen

  blüht der Freiheit Seligkeit. (Theodor Körner, 1813)

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  First published in Great Britain in 2018

  © Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2018

  Nicholas Carter, Matthias Strohn, David T. Zabecki, David Murphy, Jonathan Boff, Mitch Yokelson, Lothar Höbelt, Robert Johnson, Michael Epkenhans, James S. Corum and Mungo Melvin have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4728-2933-7 (HB)

  ISBN: 978-1-4728-2934-4 (eBook)

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  ISBN: 978-1-4728-2936-8 (XML)

  Maps by Bounford.com

  Originated by PDQ Digital Media Solutions, Bungay, UK

  Front cover: (top) SE 5s over St Omer, France. (Spencer Arnold/Stringer/Getty); (bottom) German troops attack through a burning village. (IWM, Q88075)

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