1914-1918 by David Stevenson

Author:David Stevenson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2004-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

15

The Central Powers’ Last Throw, Autumn 1917–Summer 1918

In autumn 1917 the Central Powers regained the initiative. Their counterattack against the Kerensky offensive initiated a reversal of fortunes comparable to those marked by Gorlice-Tarnow in spring 1915 and the Brusilov offensive in summer 1916. It also signalled a partial return to a war of movement. Although the Allied attacks on the Isonzo, in Flanders, and in Palestine continued until the autumn, from that point on the Germans swept all before them. After expelling the Russians from Galicia in July, they captured Riga in September, and at Caporetto in October they inflicted on Italy one of the most spectacular defeats of the war. The Bolshevik Revolution in November enabled them to conclude a ceasefire on the Eastern Front and to impose peace treaties on Russia and Romania in spring 1918, before carving out a vastzone of satellite states from the Arctic Circle to the Caucasus. Finally on the Western Front, where the Cambrai counterstroke had already pushed back the British, five great German attacks from 21 March to 15 July 1918 confronted the Allies with their most dangerous crisis since 1914. With the defeat of these offensives, however, yet another turn in military fortunes restored the Allies’ advantage, and this time definitively.

The Central Powers could seize their opportunity because their enemies faltered. By summer 1917 three years of slaughter had driven Russia into revolution and France into mutiny. America gave carefully rationed naval and financial aid, but was still converting to war production and as yet had placed no units in the line. Yet Germany and Austria-Hungary were also nearing exhaustion, even if a revolution in tactics gave them an operational advantage. Russia’s withdrawal strengthened OHL’s commitment to a massive western offensive as Germany’s final bid for victory. Turning their backs on peace by negotiation – which it is true the Allies had also rejected – Berlin and Vienna opted once again for military breakthrough as the best exit from their impasse. By doing so they gambled away most of their remaining assets and left themselves exposed to a decisive counterstroke.

*

As in previous war winters, the Germans opted for a spring offensive in the belief that time was against them. The danger signals were indeed at red. Among their allies Bulgaria, which was still led by King Ferdinand and prime minister Radoslavov, had fended off the Allies in Macedonia, but internal opposition was growing.1 Austria-Hungary, after its waywardness since Karl’s accession, now snapped back into line, but its so-called ‘German course’ proved a mixed blessing. The new solidarity between Berlin and Vienna reflected the change in military fortunes: with the Russians out of Galicia and the Italians routed, Austrian soil was cleared of invaders. Paradoxically, in many ways Austria-Hungary’s war was won, if not by its own efforts. Moreover, after Bolshevik Russia published the inter-Allied secret treaties, the extent of Italy’s territorial appetite became public knowledge, and experience had demonstrated that the other Allies would not break with Rome. Nor were Karl

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.