Kaiser’s Battle


21 March – 18 July 1918

WW1 - Kaiser's Battle

In February 1918 the Germans side the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Bolshevik government of Russia which had come into being following the Russian Revolution in 1917. This ended the war on the Eastern Front and released more than a million German soldiers to come and fight in the West. By this stage America had entered the war and the Germans released that once their troops arrived on the battlefield it would tip the balance in the favour of the Allies.

The Facts


  • Date: 21 March – 18 July 1918
  • Location: Northern France; West Flanders, Belgium
Countries Involved
British Empire
France
United States
Italy
Portugal
Siam
German Empire
Countries Commanders
Ferdinand Foch
Douglas Haig
Philippe Pétain
John Pershing
Alberico Albricci
Tamagnini de Abreu
Erich Ludendorff
Number of Casualties
Over 850,000 Around 690,000

So a whole series of offensives were launched on the Western Front in the spring of 1918 to try and end the war with a German victory. The first of these began on 21st March 1918 when the Germans attacked between Cambrai and the Somme, breaking through the British lines until they were eventually stopped in April 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux. While the British lost heavily in these German attacks, the German Army suffered crippling casualties which virtually destroyed its combat effectiveness by the summer of 1918.

German prisoners and British troops near Boesinghe

German prisoners and British troops near Boesinghe

Australian infantry - Ypres

Australian infantry - Ypres

Derelict tank used as the roof of a dug out

Derelict tank used as the roof of a dug out

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