The Great Spring Offensive (Kaiserschlacht 1918)

This video shows the German high commands last ditch effort to take Paris. It achieved great success in the beginning, but because of heavy attrition, and supply problems, it would not save the German Empire. The German attacks went well at first but when they tried to push south by Alsace-Lorraine, the Allies held the line and even pushed back.

[theemperororsomethingidont]

We were on the verge of greatness we were this close

[jasonqueen]

The meme “failed by your own success” really personifies the entire kaiserschlact offensive if you asked me. They succeeded in breaking through the allied lines but they pushed so far and so fast to the point where they ended up outrunning their own artillery and supply lines. By the time central command realized the mistake it was too late, Amien was already on the horizon along with the allied counter attack that pushed them back to Cambrai

[alexG]

Basically the deeper the German Army pushed, the more they realized that the Allies had better quality and quantities of food, ammunition, clothing, civilian luxury goods, trucks, tires, horses, etc. Some of these offensives got bogged down because the vaunted German army, the envy of Europe, began looting uncontrollably and couldn't be brought back into operational conditions for hours or even days.

More importantly than even this however, was that the Spring offensive was like if a Kindergartener tried to solve an Algebraic equation. What I mean is that the German military planning for this operation under Ludendorff literally had no idea WHY they were even attacking. When asked what the objective for the offensive was Ludendorff said 'to break the allied armies' this came without a reason as to how they could do this, a reason what this would accomplish even if it succeeded or a reason why this attack would accomplish anything.

The German army staff was still thinking of wars like Napoleon did, instead of how the allied armies had come to recognize the scope of the war in strategic terms. Eventually Ludendorff recognized that Amiens was a key logistical allied hub and decided that that would be the objective of the Spring offensive. Additionally, the Spring offensive was primarily attacking in the least important and therefore least defended sectors of the allied armies, but instead of earmarking troops to go after the big fish like taking Ypres or Amiens, Ludendorff instead rewarded reinforcements to the armies that took the most land which is an insane thing to do when you've known for 4 years that taking land means nothing unless it reduces your enemies capacity to fight in a meaningful way.

I say all of this not to disparage Ludendorff, who suffered a nervous breakdown (he lost one of his beloved step-sons in the Spring Offensive and he also hadn't taken a single day off since the entire war began, working long hours and he barely slept. His own staff worried about his mental state and thought he would kill himself through overworking.) but to spell out why exactly the Spring offensive basically had no chance of any meaningful success in the way it was planned out.

[balistixmapping]

“The Emperor's Battle” is its translation, I guess.

[qazdr]

50 miles from Paris seems a lot further than I at first thought. They must have barely advanced more than 50 miles in the first place.

[gabrielagustinhomas]

Hey, why’d you leave us hanging? You didn’t finish. When’s Germany gonna take Paris?

[spaghettiking]

Amazing to see the frontlines actually move.

[PatriotMapper]

Oooooh, so that’s where Jschlatt got his name.

[reidavi]

A single country against the three strongest

[lechopuT]

"We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have lost the war...."

[TulioSampietro-tfcx]

I always found interesting that Belgium was never fully occupied the war. I wonder if it was a thing for the allies to prevent Belgium from being fully occupied.

[lanthanum]

This offensive seems to have no real objectives. The Germans decided to use the freed up troops from the east to attack the whole front instead of attacking only certain sectors to flip the table. I wonder if Ludendorff decided to use Stoßtruppen to break only few spots on the trenches like from Saint-Quentin to the west towards the channel, instead of Paris, to trap all Northern Entente forces at Dunkerque like in May 1940. This could make Germany be in the better position in the armistice which could possibly prevent the future WWII.

[Fritz]

Awesome Video! Imo the world would be a much better place if germany had won. R.I.P. Kaiserreich!

[ruhrgebietflair]

In my opinion Germany would have deserved an equal peace with the allies. Germany already lost so much in 1918 and then they just got spit on by the French. No wonder that somebody like Hitler could takes power after something like this.

[UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

I was imagining something more....sudden? I suppose

[Phed]

It's to clarify if Germany lost due to the depletion of their supplies or due to the U.S. military intervention. Maybe both things.

[tescomealdeals]

Germany: their troops are about to mutiny, quick break their spirit and make it to Paris
The millions of Americans about to arrive: allow us to introduce ourselves

[cal_in_cal_out]

Just imagine if the fresh US troops never came 😂😂😂