Military developments in 1918 Flashcards
What were other developments at sea that helped the allies?
The hydrophone - allowed U boats to be detected from several miles away
Floatplanes - planes that could land on sea
Depth charges were also developed to destroy u boats
What was the impact of the evolution of planes?
Battles could now be fought in the air and they could be a deciding factor on who won a battle because they could help support troops on the ground
When were tanks first used?
By the British at the Somme in 1916
How did tanks help the allies?
Battles of Cambrai (1917) and Amiens (1918) tanks captured large amounts of land with fewer than normal casualties, despite them being very unreliable
How did tanks affect the Germans?
They modified their trenches and made new guns to help protect them, but German leaders never saw how useful they could be and quickly fell behind in development.
This became an important factor in their defeat
How did artillery change throughout the war?
They got more powerful and more accurate and special shells could now destroy barbed wire.
The ‘creeping barrage’ tactic was also introduced
How did attack tactics change?
At the beginning, they bombarded the enemy and then ran at them which led to heavy casualties and minimal success.
At the end, infiltration tactics were used when elite soldiers would sneak across and destroy enemy machine gun posts before the real attack started. This decreased the number of casualties but they weee still high
How did allied command change?
At the beginning, each country had their own commander
March 1918 - it was decided French general Ferdinand Foch should command all allied troops
What was the impact of Ferdinand Foch coming in charge?
Allies could quickly halt the German Spring offensive of 1918 and were able to launch a successful counterattack
Why did Ludendorff launch the spring offensive?
He wanted to strike the allies quickly because Russia had left the war and he wanted to break through before the Americans arrived
What happened in the opening of the Spring offensive?
An artillery bombardment began in the early hours of 21st March 1918.
This was followed by quick attacks by highly trained Stormtroopers who caused chaos in the allied forces.
The stalemate had been broken
Why did the advance slow down and some of the reasons for failure?
Thousands of German soldiers had been killed, with few reserves to replace them and because Stormtroopers had advanced so far in some areas, getting supplies to them was difficult
What was the allied response?
- Foch was now in charge of all allied forces
- German troops had advanced more than others in some areas, called SALIENTS and they were surrounded by allied forces
- by June 1918, American troops were arriving in huge numbers(50,000 a week)
- A final attack by the Germans on 15th July was a disaster and the allies launched a successful counterattack
What were Foch’s series of attacks called that ended ww1?
The hundred days
What happened in the hundred days?
Attacks began on 8th August 1918 at Amiens and all along the Western Front
There were huge allied successes and soon the Germans were in full defeat.
They burned bridges and poisoned wells as they went
