The End of the War

German Offensive of 1918

• Entire action took place between March 21 to April 5, 1918

• Germany used new tactics that relied on surprise

• The Germans would use a very short artillery barrage then sneak small groups of soldiers through to weak points in allied lines

• More heavily armed German soldiers would then move up to reinforce their new trenches

German Offensive of 1918

• Germany advanced an amazing 60 kilometres

• The front lines moved to less than 120 kilometres of Paris

• Heavy rail guns fired shells on Paris causing citizens to flee

End of the Offensive

• The Allies were able to hold the Germans back from making anymore significant gains

• From May to July 1918 the Allies were able to slowly take back much of the land the Germans had gained

• The offensive and the following counter by the Allies meant that the Germans did not have the manpower to mount anymore significant attacks

The One Hundred Days Offensive

• The Allies launched several offensives from August 8 to November 11, 1918

• The Battle of Amiens (Aug 8-10), and the Battle of the Somme (Aug 15-29) were two decisive victories for the Allies

• The Germans were forced to retreat to their heavily fortified Hindenburg line

Armistice

• Fighting continued until minutes before the armistice at 11:00am on Nov. 11

• The armistice was signed on a railway car in France