Five Days From Defeat
Description
On 21 March 1918 Germany initiated one of the most ferocious and offensives of the First World War. During the so-called Kaiserschlacht, German troops advanced on allied positions in a series of ferocious attacks which caused massive casualties, separated British and French forces and drove the British back towards the Channel ports. Five days later, as the German advance continued, one of the most dramatic summits of the war took place in Doullens. The outcome was to have extraordinary consequences. For the first time an allied supreme commander - the French General Foch - was appointed to command all the allied armies, while the statesmen realized that unity of purpose rather than national interest was ultimately the key to success. Within a few months a policy of defence became one of offence, and paved the way for British success at Amiens and the series of unbroken British victories that led Germany to plea for armistice.
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Content
- Intro
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Maps
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Part One: 1914-17
- 1 A Council of War
- 2 The War to the End of 1917
- Part Two: The Approach to the Spring Offensive
- 3 Haig
- 4 How the French Saw the British
- 5 Haig's Support Circle and his Enemies
- 6 British Views of the French
- 7 Starving Haig
- 8 German Imperatives and Preparations
- 9 The Supreme War Council
- 10 After Wully
- 11 The SWC and the General Reserve
- 12 Haig's Plans and Prejudices
- Part Three: Five Days
- 13 21 March
- 14 22 March
- 15 Fifth Army's Defensive Failures
- 16 23 March
- 17 Channel Ports
- 18 The Diaries and the Official History
- 19 24 March
- 20 25 March
- 21 26 March
- 22 View from the Street
- Part Four: After the Conference
- 23 The End of the Kaiserschlacht
- 24 The Failure of Ludendorff's Offensive
- 25 The Hundred Days
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
- Plates
