History of the World War

by Jr. Francis A. March; Richard J. Beamish

Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrific attacks against us on a fifty-mile front. Its objects are to separate us from the French, to take the Channel ports, and to destroy the British army. In spite of throwing already one hundred and six divisions into the battle and enduring the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has yet made little progress toward his goals. We owe this to the determined fighting and self-sacrifice of our troops. Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our army under the most trying circumstances. Many among us now are tired. To those I would say that victory will belong to the side which holds out the longest. The French army is moving rapidly and in great force to our support. There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retiring. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes, and the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment.

The British commander's order made the situation clear to the British people and to the world. The Germans had given up for the moment their attempt to divide the British and French armies, and were now attempting to seize the Channel ports, and the British were fighting with true British pluck with their "backs to the wall."

One can imagine the anxiety in the villages of Flanders where they watched the German advance and heard the terrible bombardment which was destroying their beautiful little cities, and threatening to put them under the dominion of the brutal conquerors of Belgium. Town after town fell to the enemy until at last the German attack began to weaken.

Counter-attacks on April 17th recaptured the villages of Wytschaete and Meteren. At other points German attacks were repulsed, and the attack on the Lys had reached its limits. It had not only failed to reach the coast but it had not even reached so far as to force the evacuation of Ypres or to endanger Arras. On the contrary the Germans had paid for their advance by such terrible losses that the ground that they had gained meant almost nothing. They then made, on April 30th, a vigorous endeavor to broaden the Amiens salient in the region of Hangard and Noyon. This attack also failed.

On May 27th Ludendorf made his next move. This was in the south, and was preceded by the most elaborate preparations over a forty-mile front. At first it met with great success. German troops from a point northwest of Rheims to Montdidier were moving apparently with the purpose of breaking the French lines and clearing the way for a drive to Paris. Consternation reigned among Allied observers as the Germans carried, apparently with ease, first the formidable Chemin des Dames, which was believed invulnerable, and then the south bank of the Aisne, with its great fortifications at Soissons.

Criticism began to appear of General Foch, who was thought at first to have been taken by surprise. The Germans were using four hundred thousand of their best troops, and the greatest force of tanks, machine guns and poison-gas projectors which they had ever gathered. They captured over forty-five thousand prisoners and took four hundred guns. They penetrated thirty miles and gained six hundred and fifty square miles of territory, but they were held on the River Marne.

It is now apparent that General Foch knew exactly what he was about. He might easily, by sending in reinforcements, have put up the same desperate resistance to the German offensive which they were now meeting in other sectors. But he preferred to retreat and lead the enemy on to a position which would make them vulnerable to the great counter-attack he was preparing for them on their flank. The Germans reached the Marne, but they paid for it in the terrible losses which they incurred.

The German line now from Montdidier, the extreme point of the Amiens salient, to Chateau-Thierry, the point of the new Marne salient, was in the form of a bow, and on June 9th General Ludendorf attempted to straighten out the line. His new attack was made on a twenty-mile front between Montdidier and Noyon in the direction of Compiegne. This was another terrific drive and at first gained about seven miles. French counter-attacks, however, not only held him in a vise but regained a distance of about one mile. This battle was probably the most disastrous one fought by the Germans during their whole offensive. Nearly four hundred thousand men were completely used up, without gaining the slightest strategic success.

Then followed a period without battles of major importance, during which General Foch by periodic assaults on the Lys, the Somme, on the flanks of Montdidier and Soissons, on the Chateau-Thierry sector and southwest of Rheims, captured many important positions and kept the enemy in constant anxiety.

During the great German offensives the Germans had lost at least five hundred thousand men, while the casualties of the Allies were barely one hundred and fifty thousand. The Germans also were beginning to lose their morale. They were finding that however great might be their efforts, however terrible might be their losses, they were still being constantly held. Their troops were now apparently made of inferior material, and included boys, old men and even convicts.