War chronicle · March–July · Somme, France
The spring offensives
Germany’s all-or-nothing attacks wreak havoc on the Western Front.
Now Russia has withdrawn from the war, Germany knows that an all-out attack on the Western Front is their best – and last – chance of total victory. The build-up of American forces in France will put the Allies in an unbeatable position.
The Germans attack British forces on the Somme with innovative ‘stormtroop’ tactics. A 40km-wide hole is torn in the British front line, up to 65km deep in places. Allied troops – including the New Zealand Division – rush south from Flanders to plug the gap.
The Germans follow up with four more offensives, all of which wreak havoc but ultimately fail to achieve the decisive victory they desperately need. They have lost 500,000 men, including most of their elite stormtroopers. The Allies suffer similar casualties. But while the Germans are reduced to conscripting 17-year-old boys, the Allies have the Americans arriving at the rate of 300,000 a month.
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