FT. LEAVENWORTH SERIES | The Aisne-Marne Counteroffensive, 1918: The Turning Point of World War 1

Although the turning points of the American Civil War and World War II occurred in the middle of those conflicts, the outcome of the Great War was not decided until the last months of the war. The Ludendorff Offensives had pushed both sides into a deadly race against time that pitted German tactical successes against the ability of the Americans to arrive in sufficient numbers to give the Allies the crucial edge. The lecture will discuss how the Franco-American victory at Aisne-Marne changed the course of the war and convinced Ferdinand Foch that the strategic and operational advantage in the conflict had decisively shifted to the Allied cause.

Dr. Richard S. Faulkner is the William A. Stofft Professor of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He served 23 years in the U.S. Army and commanded a tank company in the 1st Armored Division during Operation Desert Storm. He is the author of The School of Hard Knocks: Combat Leadership in the American Expeditionary Forces, which was the recipient of the Society for Military History’s 2013 Distinguished Book Award. His second book, Pershing’s Crusaders: The American Soldier in World War I received the World War I Association’s 2017 Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Prize for the best work of history in English on World War I, the Organization of American Historians’ 2017 Richard W. Leopold Prize, and the Army Historical Foundation’s 2017 Excellence in U.S. Army History Book Award.

The Ft. Leavenworth Series is an annual roster of lectures focusing on significant historical events, usually with an emphasis on military history. Each lecture is presented by faculty from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Established by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1881, the CGSC is the graduate college for U.S. Army and sister service officers. The esteemed faculty and guests of the CGSC provide unique and captivating insights into the history of military conflict from the ancient to the modern ages at the Dole Institute of Politics.
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The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics is dedicated to promoting political and civic participation as well as civil discourse in a bipartisan, philosophically balanced manner. It is located on KU’s West Campus and houses the Dole Archive and Special Collections. Through its robust public programming, congressional archive and museum, the Dole Institute strives to celebrate public service and the legacies of U.S. Senators Bob Dole and Elizabeth Dole.

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