Breaking the Iron Circle: The Great War, 1918
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Left to right: EEF cavalry maneuvering at the Battle of Megiddo; BEF infantry advancing with tanks at the Battle of Trier; American infantry celebrating the signing of the Armistice of Cochem in July
The destruction of the Kaiserliche Marine as a viable force had completely changed the calculus of the war, not just for the belligerents but also for neutral powers. Thus, when the Entente hosted a supreme war council in London in January 1918, they were joined not only by representatives of all the members of the Entente (including the Bolsheviks) but also, secretly, by representatives of the governments of Italy and Romania. Although both the British and the Russians were keen (albeit for different reasons) to prevent more countries joining in and having territorial claims in an eventual peace treaty, they did not manage to overrule their French and American allies, who wanted more countries on their side and were now actively seeking the dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire, in any event.
The Russian government was represented by Yakov Sverdlov and Leon Trotsky. Although none of the other Entente powers were comfortable with a Marxist government, they managed to swallow their objections in the circumstances, extending official recognition to Lenin’s new regime. They also agreed that the campaigning in 1918 would focus on the Western, Balkan and Middle Eastern Fronts, allowing the Bolsheviks to have a free reign to consolidate their regime in Russia. In return, Trotsky agreed to keep Russia (formally) in the war, although it was understood that for at least a year their presence would be to prevent the Germans from reassigning too many forces to the Western Front. Furthermore, the Russian representatives negotiated with the British government to keep the lines of credit open to them (albeit under significantly tighter restrictions than had been in place before) and provisionally agreed to continue to pay back loans taken out under the Tsar and the provisional government. Also agreed, but kept off the books, was that the British would receive the Tsar and his family as political refugees.
Although both Wood and Joffre wanted to incorporate the BEF into their own flagging forces, both Monash and Kitchener were opposed to this and received support from Lloyd George, who was adamant that the UK put distance between itself and the rest of the Entente. Instead, it was agreed that the BEF would take the lead role in a fresh offensive along the stretch of line between Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine. Under Monash’s command, the BEF successfully deployed their combined-arms ‘lightning war’ techniques in a crushing victory at the Battle of Reims (8-12 March). This was followed up by another victory at the Battle of Sedan (21-29 March), which broke the German lines and forced them to enter a full retreat back to their defensive positions within Germany itself.
That same month saw further success for the Entente, as Italy and Romania finally entered the war. Romanian forces invaded Transylvania on 7 March, catching the Austrians by surprise and being able to advance as far as Klausenburg before a credible defence could be mounted. The Austrian defenders lacked the numbers and morale to successfully repel an invasion of a region with a significant Romanian population. On 9 April, the Austrians suffered a tactical defeat at the Battle of Timisoara, which forced the Austrians to abandon plans for a counter-attack and from thereon in the front settled into a stalemate.
Under the overall command of Marshal Armando Diaz, the Italian army attacked a hastily-organised Austrian army at the Battle of the Isonzo, winning a victory and breaking into the Slovenian plateau on 15 April, opening up the path to then Vienna itself. Germany hastily attempted to come to the aid of their allies by reassigning Prince Rupprecht and his Bavarian 6th Army from the Eastern Front down to the Alps. However, they arrived too late to help as the Italians inflicted another defeat on the Austrians at the Battle of Ljubljana on 24 May - 4 June. Seeing the situation for what it was, Austrian Emperor Franz Ferdinand I sued for an armistice with the Entente and Rupprecht diverted his army to Munich.There, Rupprecht overthrew his pro-Hohenzollern father, Ludwig III, on 7 June and proclaimed himself King of Bavaria in his stead. Rupprecht then seceded Bavaria from the German Empire and signed the Armistice of Vittorio Veneto with the Italians, Austrians and Romanians on 12 June.
Although the rest of the Entente was furious about the Italian-arranged armistice it was presented as a fait accompli and, with the Austrian government rapidly withdrawing its troops from the Eastern and Balkan Fronts, there was little appetite to actively reject it. The absence of the Austrians in the Balkans meant that the League could organise a (primarily) Greco-Bulgarian push for Constantinople. With the German Eighth Army withdrawn, all that stood between the League and Istanbul was a demoralised and under-equipped Ottoman army. The assault began with a devastating artillery barrage on 15 April, which had a devastating effect on Ottoman morale and lead to mass desertions.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, the Hejazi army had advanced to the outskirts of Baghdad by January 1918. Faisal, the commander in chief of the Arab forces, successfully outmaneuvered the Ottoman defenders and expelled them in disarray on 11 March. In April, Allenby’s forces resumed the offensive in Palestine and inflicted another decisive defeat on the Ottomans at the Battle of Megiddo on 25 April. By now, the Ottoman lines in Palestine was riddled with holes, allowing the EEF’s mounted and mechanised forces to push through and destroy three Ottoman armies at Sharon, Nablus and the Jordan Valley over the course May. The EEF and Hejazi armies then began to race into Syria, trying to seize as much territory even as they knew that the Ottomans were in armistice negotiations with the Entente. EEF and Arab forces (commanded in Palestine by the Briton T.E. Lawrence) joined up and were able to enter Damascus unopposed on 1 June 1918. At the same time, Faisal’s forces advanced up the Tigris and captured most of another Ottoman army at the Battle of Sharqat on 23 June. Two days later, the Arab-EEF army captured Aleppo. The Three Pashas agreed to give up Istanbul without a fight in exchange for agreeing the Armistice of Constantinople on 30 June.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the BEF was advancing along the Mosel River, while French and American forces harried the German armies from the south and north, respectively. Falkenhayn had been removed from command in the winter of 1917 and command handed over to August von Mackensen, who attempted to organise a defence. However, the hastily-constructed ‘Mackensen Line’ was broken by the BEF at the Battle of Trier on 8 June. After this, German forces were in a state of absolute retreat and combat devolved into a series of fighting rearguard actions as the BEF cut towards the Rhine. The defeat at Trier convinced the German High Command that an armistice was the only option. Ludendorff, now in command of what was left of Germany’s reserve forces, informed the Kaiser that he could not guarantee that he could keep his armies in the field and recommended that Germany adopt a democratic constitution to better encourage a favourable peace from the Entente. When Wilhelm II demurred, he was removed in a coup on 3 October. In his place, his son was crowned Wilhelm III and the liberal Max von Baden was appointed Chancellor, with instructions to seek an armistice.
An armistice was hurriedly agreed upon in a British troop train outside Cochem, with negotiations lasting lasting from 8-11 July. It was signed at around 5:30 am and came into effect at midday. The terms of the armistice were an immediate end to all fighting, the surrender of German artillery and machine guns west of the Rhine and the evacuation of German troops from the Rhine Province and the Rhur region. Although peace had still to be negotiated, after 5 years the fighting had finally stopped.