WWI Battle Strategies

World War I Strategies and Battles

• Germans constructed a second line of defense behind their front lines, which allowed them to relocate their reserves to threatened sectors.
• Allied commanders believed that massive artillery bombardment was the only path to mobile warfare, but this tactic alerted Germans to relocate their reserves.
• The British broke through the German defense in Loos, but Sir John French's placement of reserves too far in the rear allowed Germans to close the gap before reinforcements could arrive.

Eastern Front

• In 1915, one million French men were killed or wounded with no significant successes.
• Ludendorff and Hindenburg urged a massive invasion of Russia, but Falkenhayn favored a limited campaign to push Russia back and eliminate the strategic threat to Austria.
• Germans helped bring about the Russian Revolution in 1917.
• The initial German offensive came in Galicia, where General August von Mackensen's attack caught the Russians by surprise, driving them out of Galicia and capturing 400,000 Russians.
• Falkenhayn ordered Hindenburg and Mackensen to drive Russian forces from Poland, but Ludendorff's request for reinforcements to destroy the Russian army was not provided due to situations in other theaters.

Dardanelles and Serbia

• The British assault on the Dardanelles posed a threat to the position of Central Powers in the Balkans and made it advisable to hold back reserves in case of Ottoman collapse.
• The attack on the Dardanelles was a strategic masterstroke of the war, but it failed to achieve its objectives, including forcing Turkey out of the war, opening crucial supply lines to Russia, and bringing Romania and Bulgaria to the war on the Allied side.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff

• Hindenburg and Ludendorff became national heroes after their victories on the Eastern Front.
• The Russian victory at Galicia (modern-day Ukraine) was a major effort directed against the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Galicia.
• Austria struck first in the south, launching three armies on divergent lines of advance into Poland, but retreated after encountering trouble.
• Russia might have collapsed Austria but faltered due to logistical difficulties and heavy losses.
• Germany bolstered Austria with 18 divisions, which eventually removed Austria as a major player from the Eastern Front.
• Russia got weakened too, logistically exhausted, and Ottoman decision to attack Russia in October 1914 with an offensive in the Caucasus and raids in the Black Sea further increased strains on Russia.

Year of Allied Failure (1915)

• Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the British Admiralty, wrote to the British cabinet that the war had settled into a stalemate and suggested that only mechanical means held the prospect for breaking the tactical deadlock.
• The French doctrine emphasized morale as the most important factor in battle, but they lacked technology, artillery support, and tactical conception necessary to break into German defenses.
• The French launched major attacks on the Champagne front while the British attacked further north, resulting in heavy losses.
• Aerial reconnaissance revealed German movements east of Paris, and Joffre structured the Battle of Marne between September 5-10, involving 2 million soldiers, the largest encounter fought till that date.

Battle of Marne

• The French attacked and forced the 1st Army of Kluck to face west, opposite to the direction of Bulow's 2nd Army, which was facing east, creating a gap between the two armies.
• However, the BEF could not exploit the gap in time, which could have destroyed the German right wing.
• German logistics were in serious straits, and Colonel Richard recognized the making of a disaster, ordering a retreat to Aisne in Moltke's name, which led to the failure of the Schlieffen plan and France's survival.

Stalemate and Trench Warfare

• Once on the Aisne, the front stabilized, and opposing armies attempted to regain freedom of movement by outflanking their opponents.
• The race to the sea only extended a ragged line of trenches to the channel, leading to a stalemate.
• New German Chief of General Staff Falkenhayn ordered an offensive in Flanders to drive the Allies from Antwerp and the channel ports, but it failed, resulting in heavy losses, including the death of 6,000 university students, one of whom was Hitler.
• The opposing armies were locked in a 500-mile front from Switzerland to the channel, with half a million French, German, and British soldiers dead.