alternatehistory.com

…When the Entente military leadership met again in January 1917 the mood was much different than in the previous years. Rather than trying to win the war outright in the year’s campaign it was instead a desperate attempt to avoid losing the war. Russia had taken enormous casualties in the previous fall in the failed Brusilov offensive and the counterattacks that followed. The ability of the Russians to resist major Central Powers offensives was in doubt, it was feared one good blow by the Germans could knock them out. This would render the situation in the West impossible, therefore it could not be allowed.

To prevent that the Entente would launch major offensives as soon as possible to tie down Central Powers troops and give time for the Russians to recover. Attacks would be conducted by the British and French on the Western front at the Aisne river with a number of diversionary attacks before the main offensive. The Italians would launch their own offensive on the Isonzo, and the British would launch a middle eastern campaign against the Ottomans, to prevent them from attacking the Russians.

The goals for this offensive were again preceded by other events. In order to build a reserve on the Western Front and avoid diversion of troops for their eastern campaign Hindenburg and Ludendorff had ordered a withdrawal to a shorter, better located line in the west. This Hindenburg, or Siegfried Line as it was sometimes known at the time, could be manned by fewer divisions. The gap between the lines would be devastated so that the entente would have to rebuild transportation infrastructure before they could launch an offensive. The withdrawal, codenamed Alberich, occurred over late February and early March and occurred without incident, successfully delaying the Entente offensive by several weeks.

The other incident was the February Revolution. The war had been hard on Russia’s economy, something amplified by mismanagement from above. The stress of sustaining a massive army and replacing equally massive losses was too much for Russia’s backward economy to deal with. This was exacerbated by poor management from the Czar and his ministers, made worse when he left for the front and the Czarina took over, with her even worse choices of ministers, rows with the Duma and awful advice from her confidant Rasputin, before his assassination.

In February 1917, early February by the Julian calendar still used by Russia, mid-February by everyone else’s, things came to a head. Imminent famine, high casualties, inflation, corruption, stagnant wages and more contributed to a series of strikes and protests in St. Petersburg. This led to clashes between protesters/strikers and the police/gendarmes trying to disperse them. The Army was called out when lesser measures failed to suppress the disturbances, and quickly tore itself apart with mutiny. The disturbances then began spreading to other cities. The Czar attempted to return and restore order but was foiled by strikers. He then made the decision to abdicate, first in favor of his son, then his brother, who refused. The centuries old monarchy was ended, replaced by a provisional government of the former Duma, all within a matter of weeks.

These events while preempting the 1917 offensive did not stop them. The first preliminary offensives started on April 1st with the main offensive to start on the 16th. The early offensives made limited tactical success before the main offensive, taking certain key points close to the front.

The Main offensive turned out differently. German aerial reconnaissance had detected the preparations by the Entente and were able to pre site their guns against Entente targets. This let the outnumbered German artillery stymie its Entente counterpart. Despite this the early phases of the offensive were successful, albeit with high casualties. A segment of the Hindenburg line was even captured. However, by the end of April the offensive had like most others bogged down and was achieve much lesser gains for much higher casualties.

The casualties of offensive, along with poor conditions in General reached a breaking point. Continuing efforts to drive the offensive on, driven by a desperate need to save the Russians, caused the first Mutinies to occur on May 1st. These early mutinies were independent and focused on a desire for better conditions, more leave and such. They were dealt with, but the dam had broken. By May 7th more mutinies were breaking out, these focused on stopping the offensive. They were suppressed brutally as French High Command was terrified by the prospect of Russia falling, reinforced by what were obviously preliminary attacks by the Central Powers on the Eastern front.

This suppression engendered more hatred and rebelliousness and by May 16th the offensive had effectively stopped. It was officially called off on the 20th, as the French Army High Command negotiated with the mutineers. The mutineer’s demands were simple, no offensives until the Americans arrived en masse, better conditions, more leave. French high command was willing to support the latter but not the former, the Americans would not be present in numbers for another 12 months, Russia might not last the Summer. For a few days there was an impasse, then the Germans counterattacked.

The Mutiny had hampered coordination between units of the French army. While most of the mutinous units were willing to fight on the defensive the ability to coordinate between other units and supporting arms was almost nonexistent. What few units did refuse to fight opened holes in the French lines that left other units exposed to flanking and forced to withdraw, surrender, or be destroyed. In order to prevent a potential catastrophe, the French High Command sacked General Nivelle and agreed to the Mutineers demand that there be no more offensives until the Americans arrived. They were eventually able to stabilize the lines back at the starting position, having made no gains in the French sector.

For the rest of 1917, the burden of the Western front would lie solely on British shoulders. The British portion of the offensive had made gains, but their casualties too were heavy, especially during the hasty attacks to distract the Germans during the mutiny. They would have no chance to recover as the threat to the Russians remained. Further offensives would need to be launched to keep the pressure off Russia. Plans for British attacks in Flanders were quickly made…



-Excerpt from European Wars for Americans, Harper & Brothers, New York, 2004