German spring offensive

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The German spring offensive, also known as Kaiserschlacht ("Emperor's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following the American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources. The Imperial German Army had gained a temporary advantage in numbers as nearly 50 divisions had been freed by the Russian withdrawal from the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. There were five German offensives, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, Blücher-Yorck, and Marneschütz-Reims, the last also nicknamed the Friedenssturm, or "Peace Offensive". Michael was the main attack, which was intended to break through the Allied lines, outflank the British forces (which held the front from the Somme River to the English Channel) and...

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