alternatehistory.com

…American Contributions to the war during 1917 were limited. Partly this can be explained by the small size of the army and the nature of it. The United States Army was smaller than that of Belgium’s before the war started. It was also scattered over a wide geographic area, with many small detachments all over the Western United States, with more troops in the Philippines, Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean. It would take time for the United States to pull together full-sized formations to send to Europe, with the 1st Infantry division not arriving on the front lines until October 24th. By year’s end only four combat ready American divisions were in France, one regular army, two national guard and one composite Army/Marine division.

This can also be explained by a lack of shipping. German U-Boats caused significant losses in shipping that had to be made good. Furthermore, an oil shortage resulted in many ships having to carry oil in their double bottoms, which cut into their transport capacity. This shipping crunch, along with a shortage of American built weaponry forced the American Expeditionary Force to use a great deal of Entente weaponry. Even as constraints in shipping weight were reduced constraints in shipping bulk remained into 1919 forcing the US to take measures to conserve shipping volume. Vessels belonging to Germany that had been sitting in port in the US were seized to partially make up the difference, leading to such incidents as the United States Navy having a USS Kaiser Wilhelm II in commission while at war with her namesake’s government.

The Navy was able to contribute more immediately, with convoy escort duty starting within a matter of months and US destroyer squadrons were stationed in France and Britain by mid-summer. The first American combat loss was the loss of the destroyer Fanning to U-Boats on September 20th. This was quickly followed by the first US kill on October 1st by the Destroyers Cassin and Cummings.

The Battleships would take longer to arrive, with Battleship Division Nine arriving in Scapa Flow on December 1st, with the Battleships, New York, Texas, Florida and Wyoming, the British having requested coal fired battleships to conserve oil, forcing the American’s to leave the newer, more powerful battleships of the Nevada and Pennsylvania classes home. The Battleships were not considered combat ready by the British, due to all but the flagship New York having been stripped of experienced gun crews to man smaller vessels. It would take months of gunnery practice, as well as learning British practices before they could join the grand fleet…


-Excerpt from The Loss of Innocence: America in the Great War, Harper & Brothers, New York 2014


…The Italian campaign had gone as well as the German High Command had realistically expected. Better in some ways as they were considering the need to retreat behind the Adige to consolidate their logistics until the Entente obliged them by retreating instead. Italy had not been knocked out of the war, but it was in the process of rebuilding a shattered army and would not be performing any land-based offensives for a long time.

There were arguments that another attack should be launched. These were overruled given the previous attacks had already stretched Austro-German logistics to the breaking point, and that any future attacks would be against the French, British and Americans, not the Italians who had broken so easily.

Proposals for a counterattack at Passchendaele were also mooted. The 220,000 casualties they had taken there from July to October had severely weakened the army in Flanders and it needed time to rest and refit. Until then German reserves were needed in Flanders in case the Entente resumed the attacks they abandoned mid-October.

A November assault by the British at Cambrai, making extensive use of tanks contributed to this decision. While the Germans had been able to counterattack and reverse most of the British gains the attack revealed a weakness in their defenses. Skillful use of tanks, with proper coordination from infantry, artillery and airpower, let attacks achieve a measure of success without extensive preparations that would provide warning to the defenders. Large reserves were needed to counterattack such breakthroughs.

Cambrai further illustrated to the German high command that they were on a time limit. Entente material superiority was growing, and the tank was turning from a curiosity to a real weapon. Combined with American divisions starting to appear on the frontlines this made it clear time no longer favored them. The 1918 Offensive would have to be decisive and everything reserved for it…

…For the Entente the Italian campaign made a bad situation worse. It forced the British to call off the Passchendaele offensive after they had suffered 260,000 casualties, but before they could actually take the Passchendaele Ridge or break the German Army in Flanders. It also forced a reevaluation of the Entente Strategy.

Previously the Entente had been determined to beat Germany by knocking away the props. The Italians would defeat the Austrians, the Serbs, Italians and expeditionary forces from other powers would defeat the Bulgarians in Albania, while Franco-British colonial forces defeated the Ottomans. Without the support of their allies the Germans would not be able to maintain the front in France and would have to sue for peace.

The Italian campaign suddenly made putting any pressure on Austria-Hungary or Bulgaria impossible. The collapse of the front and near destruction of the Italian Army prevented any pressure being applied on the Austrians there. Furthermore, the Italians had to withdraw significant amounts of troops from Albania, leaving the position there as a small pocket around Valona and reducing any pressure on the Bulgarians.

The campaign against the Ottomans would continue, as it was perhaps the only place the war was going well for the Entente and good news was necessary to keep morale up. Otherwise the war would have to be won in France. Limited Anglo-American assaults in 1918 would occur to build morale and occupy jumping off points for a decisive offensive in 1919 that would make use of the incredible material superiority that the Entente was building. If that failed the Entente could take solace in the fact that only the Americans could really continue the war into 1920 without collapse, thus their victory could then be assured, even if that would be a ghastly alternative.

This would of course require that the Entente survive the German offensive that was sure to come in 1918…


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


Things happened, update got posted later than usual