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America And The Ludendorrf Offensive

The Entry of the USA and the Failure of the Ludendorff Offensive.



The Entry of the USA.







Both of these factors were very important in determining the outcome of the war. The American factor was important because when America joined the war, it was a critical period for the allies (April 1917). At the time they joined, Britain only had six weeks supply of corn, the French armies were exhausted after Verdun and French morale was so low that ten divisions had mutinied so the American involvement boosted the allies morale. At the time the Russian army was disintegrating after the February revolution so the German army for the first time, could transfer all their troops on the Eastern front to the Western front, so for the first time in the war having numerical superiority on the Western front, also because of the treaty of Brest-Litovich the Germans had much more guns and equipment that the allies. Also at the time, the Italians contribution was much weakened by the battle of Caporetto in November, so the situation at the time for the allies was quite dire! The US navy, when America entered the war, sent lots of destroyers to Ireland to help with anti-submarine patrols. Also, US Admiral Simms enabled Prime Minister Lloyd George to overcome Admiralty resistance to the convoy system so cutting our ship losses from twenty five percent to one percent, which was vital, if Britain was to stay in the war. Also America closed off the submarine threat from Germany by laying a big mine barrage across the North Sea. Although it was not until June 1918 before the Germans had enough troops in Europe to do any serious damage to the Germans and it was not until September that the Americans were strong enough to launch a major offensive (the Meuse-Argonne battle that engaged 1.2 million Americans for 47 days). The US armies also gave the allies the margin of Victory by giving us many men and guns that we...

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