Anticipând victoria? Ofensiva de primăvară a Germaniei în Primul Război Mondial
Anticipating Victory? German Spring Offensive in the First World War

Summary/Abstract: In the first months of 1918, the pace of war on the Western Front was in a certain stalemate. More than 5 million soldiers were trapped in a muddy and cold trenches line, from the British Channel to the border between France and Switzerland. Both, French, British, Belgians, Ame­ricans and Portuguese forces will face the so­-called Spring Offensive ordered by the German High Command. By launching the strongest attack on the Western Front, Germany strove for achieving a fast and decisive victory before the full potential of United States would be deplo­yed on the battlefields in France. In order to achieve this objective, Ludendorff, the mastermind behind of this action, stated that: “We must strike at the earliest moment before the Americans can throw strong forces into the scale. We must beat the British”. To this end, Ludendorff plans were based on the idea of launching a lightning strike against British Expeditionary Force whi­ch was meant to separate the Allied forces. By using the additional 50 division made available following the Russian surrendered, Ludendorff tried to defeat decisively the Allied forces and win total victory. But his confidence failed to match operational reality. Germany’s last offen­sive in the First World War failed and accelerated the inevitable defeat.

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