The Effect Of Operation Michael's Last Batch On The Western Front

Operation Michael marked the beginning of the German’s Spring Offensive. More accurately, it marked the beginning of the German’s last ditch effort to win the war. In late 23
October of 1917, Major Wetzell wrote a paper with the conclusion that the Entente’s army would be able to overwhelm them once the Americans joined in the spring of 1918. Therefore, the only chance that they had was to quickly win the war before that happened. Michael, termed the ’last card’, was planned out and put in motion on 10 March, 1918 with the goal of attaching on 21
March (Gudmundsson 392-394).
The military wasted no time or effort in getting ready. The newly created infiltration tactics and Sturmtruppen were a core element of the attack. More training courses
By the time the attack started, the
Germans had put everything in place for the greatest chance at winning.
Following all the preparation, Michael was a success. The British had been pushed 40 miles with a large gap driven through the armies (Holger 406). However, that was the silver lining. Cracks were developing in the plan and weaknesses were showing. Various issues of miscommunication, in some cases intensified by the battle, led to bad tactical engagements.

Sturmtruppen were good at their job and could sometimes outrun the covering artillery leaving them too far forward for resupplying, but too far back to safely attack the enemy. Other times, the artillery would push to fast leaving the Sturmtruppen uncovered surrounded by enemies. The biggest weakness was the fatigue on the Sturmtruppen. It was easy for them to continually push for the first few days, but then low rations, ammunition or motivation would prompt them to stop pushing and loot (Gudmundsson 164-168). Additionally, a substantial amount, an estimated 56,00 or 8%, of the German soldiers died (Holger 406).
Despite all these issues, the successes and chance to win the war prompted several
On 19 July, it had proven to be too much. The losses (many from the spreading Spanish Flu), lack of supplies, and exhaustion of the army coupled with the fresh
American troops prompted a retreat (Holger 417,418). From this point, it was all downhill as retreats followed retreats until 11 November when the armistice was signed (Gudmundsson 168).
The Sturmtruppen were an integral part of the final push to winning the war. Their infiltration tactics were still highly effective and they did manage to push almost all the way to
Paris. However, it was also the Sturmruppen’s weaknesses that led to the eventual loss. Lack of motivation and supplies forced the soldiers to slow down. Issues between units of the army doomed soldiers in bad situations. Had the push gone a bit farther, it’s possible that the Germans would have been able to defeat France, but, as such, they were instead pushed all the way back to
Berlin.

Germany found itself in a bad situation and then found an amazing