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Grand Offensive

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Grand Offensive
Part of the First World War
DateSeptember 26November 11, 1918
Location
Result Allied Victory
Belligerents

United Kingdom British Empire

France France
Template:Country data USA-48 United States

Belgium Belgium
German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ferdinand Foch Paul von Hindenburg
Erich Ludendorff

The Grand Offensive is a common, if informal, term for the series of attacks by the Allies and Associated Powers on the Western Front, commencing on September 26, 1918. Allied attacks between mid-July and mid-September had been conducted sequentially, and Germany was able to resist them by shifting reserves from other parts of the Front. Foch's intention was to deprive Germany of the chance to shift their reserves by launching a number of simultaneous attacks, in the hope that at least one would result in a breakthrough. In the event, there were no breakthroughs, but the operations were generally successful, and resulted in Germany suing for terms.

The Grand Offensive includes the following separate battles:

With the Allies attacking at four separate points, a conference was held at Spa on September 29. At this conference, Ludendorff advised Kaiser Wilhelm II that an armistice should be sought, as German defeat was now inevitable. Foreign Secretary Hintze went further by suggesting that in view of the situation on the Western Front, revolution would break out if Germany did not reform her constitutional systems. The result of this conference would be the Kaiser's abdication on November 9.

References

  • To Win a War, John Terraine, 2000, Sterling Publishing, ISBN 0304353213
  • Imperial War Museum Book of 1918: Year of Victory, Malcolm Brown, 1998, Sidgwick and Jackson, ISBN 0283063076
  • Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War, Robert Doughty, 2005, Harvard University Press, ISBN 1067401880X