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Peace Without Victors
Chapter 1. The Last Offensive (Spring 1918)
The Great War is never fondly remembered, even at the centennial commemorations in Western France, where the worst of the fighting took place, especially during the closing days of the war, now termed by historians as Kaiserschlacht. This offensive mounted in the face of the impending arrival of American forces, was perhaps the bloodiest of the entire war, despite being at the very end of the war.
Germany was very much a nation exhausted. Despite winning a victory against the beleaguered and collapsed Russian Empire in the east, she was still fighting a war tooth and nail in the west, staring across no man's land at the Entente Powers -- France and Great Britain. It was no guess that Germany, subjected to embargoes by the Royal Navy, and a continuing war in the west, was growing weaker by the day, with some of the most basic human needs, or even military needs, drying up like the Sahara Desert, as well as the unstable political situation as anti-war groups gaining influence amongst the sailors and soldiers.
In 1917, the United States, fed up with Germany's pushing of unrestricted submarine warfare, and the audacity to offer the Mexicans control of a large part of the Southwestern United States, joined the war -- which gave to the German High Command the necessity to launch an immediate operation against the Entente Powers before American reinforcements arrived on the Western Front. Another major development of 1917 that gave way to the Kaiserschlacht, was the "retirement" of General von Ludendorff in November 1917 after frequently clashing with General von Hindenburg and the Kaiser, althought the official report was that his "health had declined". Ludendorff was reassigned to command German forces to help put down Bolshevik cells in the Ukraine instead.
His replacement was appointed a week later, Max Hoffman, who became the primary commander of the offensive.
Gen. Max Hoffman, one of the leaders of the German Army during the Kaiserschlacht.
A major key point of the offensive was to press the Allies back and capture key tactical and strategic targets, such as Paris, promised to fall in one hundred days by the Schlieffen Plan, Dunkirk, Amiens, and other French cities on the frontline. Another major goal was to flank and shatter the British army entrenched at the Somme.
Many believe that had the British had preliminary awareness of the offensive, the Allies could have organized sufficient defenses and halted the offensive, or at least, delay it before the Americans arrived, so they could reinforce the line. However, with a lack of awareness and preparedness, the German offensive took the Allies well by surprise, unbelieving the sheer coordination and organization demonstrated by the Germans.
In the first five hours of the offensive, well over a million shells rained down on Allied positions on the front, with the German Army launching their numerous cooperative operations. In the initial days of Operation: Michael, the Germans broke open the Allied lines as they drove the British Fifth Army into massive retreat. They followed up this victory to further press the Third Army's flank, which also retreated at the German onslaught.
The Germans having a good advantage of a surprise attack lead to a massive push during Operation Michael. By the dawn of the 22nd, German forces had already taken the city of Peronne, forcing the Entente back across the River Somme. German forces in the southern part of the front of the offensive pushed with moderate resistance through Ham and Cugny.
The Germans crossed the Somme with heavy resistance, leading to a halt in the offensive for 24 hours to reorganize. The Entente took the time to reorganize their defenses, but the offensive began again on midday, March 23. The offensive pushed hard against the Allies as greater offensives mounted elsewhere on the front, forcing Allied manpower to spread thin.
The Germans advanced rapidly against the British as Entente organization was sapped severely by the seemingly renewed vigor of the Germans. By the beginning of the 24th, the Germans had advanced to Hamel and Cachy, providing them the means to converge on Amiens. The Battle of Amiens that ensued, lasting from March 24 to April 3, was expensive for the Germans and Entente alike, however, on April 3rd, the Entente retreated, allowing for the city's capture by German forces. The following day, Arras, which had held out against German encirclement, finally surrendered, this placed in Germany's hand, significant tactical gains, which even further boosted German morale in the face of an ever grim situation.
The end of Michael gave way to the start of Operation: George, which was to capture the city of Ypres and further weaken the British position in France. The German offensive initially met fierce resistance, but in much the same air as Amiens, the German offensive pressed hard on the thinly spread Allied manpower, giving way to the mass retreat of the Allies, abandoning the city of Ypres after 22 days of fighting. The Allies refused to halt their resistance however, and held the line just outside Ypres.
By the start of May 1918, the Germans had achieved several operational victories in the war. Discontent was growing in the French ranks as American soldiers had yet to arrive in France. Part of the reason of operational failure in March and April 1918 had been the complete lack of operational unity, however, with the failures on the Western Front, the Allied commanders began to bicker over how to proceed. Attempts by the French leaders to offer Ferdinand Foch as a united commander of the Entente troops were rebuffed by the British, who had suffered less losses in the long-run of the Kaiserschlacht Offensive in comparison to the French.
Continued offensives in May and June 1918 weakened the Allied position as German casualties topped no more than 85,000 soldiers, however, Allied casualties were much higher, in excess of 150,000 by the start of July 1918. The resistance of the individual Allied forces was hardening as the offensive continued, but alas, so was discontent. Allied soldiers were becoming frustrated by the lack of progress, as were domestic groups on all sides.
The final offensive of the First World War was undertaken in early July 1918, with the German army, in a final push before resigning to exhaustion and possibly defeat, stormed towards Rheims. The offensive caused a massive headache for both sides, but eventually culminated with the Allied retreat on July 20, 1918. Initial Allied hopes had pertained to a US-backed offensive, however, the US forces had still not yet shown up in France, with Wilson giving them a time-table such as September or October before the first Americans saw the front. They saw no joy in prolonging this bloody war any further, and so, two days later, with a war-devastated Europe, and a headache for everyone, as well as the stability of the French and German regimes on the brink, an armistice was proposed by the Entente Powers.
The Germans wasted no time in accepting, and a ceasefire was ordered on July 21, 1918. The Great War was over, and the process of working out a peace agreement for both sides was in the cards for the coming weeks.
---- Hi guys! Sakura_F here with another timeline that isn't likely to go anywhere or is extremely unrealistic, but I thought I'd take my shot at another TL that's more recent in history. I've always had an interest in World War I, especially the circumstances of the Kaiserschlacht and the Hundred Days Offensive, and I wanted to see what circumstances Germany would fall into in a post-WWI where the Empire barely survives by merit of exhausting the Entente into a peace treaty. So enjoy!
POD's are that the Entente doesn't see a final grand offensive coming, Americans fail to deliver manpower and supply support during the offensive, and the Germans don't hose up their logistics and tactics, as well as Ludendorff being dismissed in 1917 after clashing with Hindenburg.