Introduction: Pt.1, Western Front Jan 1st 1917-Jan 1st 1918
British forces at Lens.
The year 1917 started with Europe in flames. The Allies were still embroiled in the struggle with Germany, although Russia was beginning to show signs of cracking. Germany had changed its strategy and now told its U-boats to end unrestricted submarine warfare. The Kaiser feared that the US’s massive industrial power would be able to defeat Germany right now. He also withheld sending an only recently uncovered document by the German Foreign minister Zimmerman. This would have proposed an alliance with Mexico and promised them Texas, New Mexico and Arizona if they were to attack the US.
On March 3rd 1917, British and Commonwealth forces opened up a new offensive on Lens. The Germans were convinced the British would attack at Vimy or Arras and were caught by surprise. The Germans were still in the process of withdrawing to the Hindenburg Line, and reluctantly yielded territory around Lens to buy time for the forces to the south and having been hit with murderous artillery barrages and gas attacks. The price they payed for this time was 80,000 dead while the British and Commonwealth, many of them Canadian, suffered similar casualties.
The new commander in chief of French forces, Nivelle, followed up on this by launching his own offensive along the Aisne in April. The result was a fiasco for the French armies with 120,000 dead and Alexandre Ribot, the prime minister of France, used him as a scapegoat. Nivelle was fired and replaced with Henri-Philippe Petain the victor of Verdun. The French infantry, however, had had enough. Throughout July, mutinies broke out in some units of the French army, which only completely ended in September with an agreement not to launch any more offensives for the near future. It was now up to Britain and her empire to take over offensive operations.
Artistic rendition of French forces on the Aisne
The Germans, meanwhile, realised that their forces were becoming depleted and would not be able to keep up action for much longer. The German High Command decided that once the bitter winter was over, they would launch an offensive to approach Paris and take advantage of French weakness.