Editing Western Front (World War I) (section)

== 1918 ==
[[File:Western front 1918 german.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of the final German offensives, 1918]]
Following the successful entente attack and penetration of the German defences at Cambrai, Ludendorff and Hindenburg determined that the only opportunity for German victory lay in a decisive attack along the Western front during the spring, before American manpower became overwhelming. On 3 March 1918, the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] was signed and Russia withdrew from the war. This would now have a dramatic effect on the conflict as 33 divisions were released from the Eastern Front for deployment to the west. The Germans occupied almost as much Russian territory under the provisions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as they did in the Second World War but this considerably restricted their troop redeployment. The Germans achieved an advantage of 192 divisions in the west to the 178 entente divisions, which allowed Germany to pull veteran units from the line and retrain them as ''[[Stosstruppen]]'' (40 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions were retained for German occupation duties in the east).{{sfn|Herwig|1997|pp=393–397, 400–401}}

The entente lacked unity of command and suffered from morale and manpower problems, the British and French armies were severely depleted and not in a position to attack in the first half of the year, while the majority of the newly arrived American troops were still training, with just six complete divisions in the line.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|pp=139–140}} Ludendorff decided on an offensive strategy beginning with a big attack against the British on the Somme, to separate them from the French and drive them back to the channel ports.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|p=140}}{{sfn|Carlyon|2006|p=543}} The attack would combine the new storm troop tactics with over 700 aircraft,{{sfn|Murphy|2005|p=69}} tanks and a carefully planned artillery barrage that would include gas attacks.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|pp=140–141}}{{sfn|Carlyon|2006|pp=544–545}}

=== German spring offensives ===
{{Main|German spring offensive}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-P1013-316, Westfront, deutscher Panzer in Roye.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[A7V|German tank]] in [[Roye, Somme|Roye]], 21 March 1918]]
[[Operation Michael]], the first of the [[German spring offensive]]s, very nearly succeeded in driving the entente armies apart, advancing to within shelling distance of Paris for the first time since 1914.{{sfn|Marshall|1964|pp=353–357}} As a result of the battle, the entente agreed on unity of command. General [[Ferdinand Foch]] was appointed commander of all entente forces in France. The unified entente were better able to respond to each of the German drives and the offensive turned into a battle of attrition.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|pp=141–143}} In May, the American divisions also began to play an increasing role, winning their first victory in the [[Battle of Cantigny]]. By summer, between 250,000 and 300,000 American soldiers were arriving every month.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|p=146}} A total of 2.1&nbsp;million American troops would be deployed on this front before the war came to an end.{{sfn|Tucker|Roberts|2005|p=1254}} The rapidly increasing American presence served as a counter for the large numbers of redeployed German forces.{{sfn|Baldwin|1962|p=146}}

=== Entente counter-offensives ===
{{Main|Second Battle of the Marne|Hundred Days Offensive|Armistice of 11 November 1918}}
[[File:232 2 arrivée de régiments italien en France.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Italian regiments in 1918]]
In July, Foch began the [[Second Battle of the Marne]], a counter-offensive against the Marne salient which was eliminated by August. The [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Battle of Amiens]] began two days later, with Franco-British forces spearheaded by Australian and Canadian troops, along with 600 tanks and 800 aircraft.{{sfn|Ekins|2010|p=24}} Hindenburg named 8 August as the "Black Day of the German army."{{sfn|Griffiths|1986|pp=155–156}} The [[II Army Corps (Italy)|Italian 2nd Corps]], commanded by General [[Alberico Albricci]], also participated in the operations around Reims.{{sfn|Edmonds|1994|pp=2, 31, 242, 245–246}} German manpower had been severely depleted after four years of war and its economy and society were under great internal strain. The entente fielded 216 divisions against 197 German divisions.{{sfn|Kennedy|1989|pp=266–302}} The [[Hundred Days Offensive]] beginning in August proved the final straw and following this string of military defeats, German troops began to surrender in large numbers.{{sfn|Herwig|1997|pp=426–428}} As the entente forces advanced, [[Prince Maximilian of Baden]] was appointed as [[Chancellor of Germany (German Reich)|Chancellor of Germany]] in October to negotiate an armistice. Ludendorff was forced out and fled to Sweden.{{sfn|Herwig|1997|pp=426–428}} The German retreat continued and the [[German Revolution]] put a new government in power. The Armistice of Compiègne was quickly signed, stopping hostilities on the Western Front on 11 November 1918, later known as [[Armistice Day]].{{sfn|Griffiths|1986|p=163}} The German [[Wilhelm II of Germany|Imperial Monarchy]] collapsed when [[Wilhelm Groener|General Groener]], the successor to Ludendorff, backed the moderate Social Democratic Government under [[Friedrich Ebert]], to forestall a revolution like those in Russia the previous year.{{sfn|Herwig|1997|p=446}}