1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. The Battle of Amya started on August eighth, 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen, or one hundred and eight years ago today. 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Our episode on that battle came out eight years ago 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: on August eighth, twenty eighteen. For its one hundredth anniversary, 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: we are bringing it out today as a Saturday Classic. 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:27,159 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. We are coming 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,919 Speaker 1: up on the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Amion, 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: which started what came to be known as one hundred 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: Days Offensive. That was the ally's final push to win 12 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: World War One, and this particular battle and the one 13 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: hundred Days Offensive aren't really talked about as frequently as 14 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: some of the other big moments in World War All 15 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: of our other World War One related episodes are from 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: much earlier in the war a lot of the time 17 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: because it was the hundredth anniversary of that thing. So 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna set the stage a little bit in this 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: episode before we get to the battle itself, especially with 20 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: how events that played out in nineteen seventeen led to 21 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: all of this and how the Battle of Ambian ultimately 22 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: led to the end of the war. Also, World War 23 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: One was massive. There was a lot going on in 24 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: other parts of the world during the time period that 25 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: we're talking about, So we are really just focused on 26 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: Europe here, particularly the Western Front, with the key players 27 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: being the British Empire, France, the United States, and Germany. 28 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: It is much too large to also talk about all 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: of the other battles going on in all of the 30 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: other places, with all of the other countries in nineteen 31 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: seventeen and nineteen eighteen. So World War One started, of 32 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: course in nineteen fourteen. Although international tensions had been in 33 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: Europe for years before this point, things shifted with the 34 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. They 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 1: were shot to death in Sarajevo on June twenty eighth, 36 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, by Serbian nationalists Gavrilo Prinzip. The arch Duke 37 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: had been the heir to the throne of the Austro 38 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: Hungarian Empire. The Empire suspected that the Serbian government was 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: involved in the assassination, so Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia, 40 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: and soon much of Europe was involved in this conflict. 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: Within two weeks, the Allies of Russia, Belgium, France, and 42 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: Great Britain had all sided with Serbia. Germany had sided 43 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: with the Austro Hungarian Empire as part of what would 44 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: be called the Central Powers, and more declarations of war 45 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: followed from there. This quickly became a war of attrition, 46 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: with the war on land in Europe being fought primarily 47 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: along the Eastern and Western fronts. Battles went on for months, 48 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 1: with millions of casualties and catastrophic effects for the civilian population, 49 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: including famines and food shortages all over Europe. For most 50 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: of it, the situation between the Allies and the Central 51 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: Powers was essentially a stalemate. This was especially true along 52 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: the Western Front, which ran from the English Channel to Switzerland, 53 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: primarily through France. Something started to shift at the end 54 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventeen, though Russian involvement in the war had 55 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: never been popular there and the war had compounded ongoing 56 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: economic problems and food shortages in Russia. The February Revolution 57 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: started on March eighth of nineteen seventeen. It's called the 58 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: February Revolution because Russia was still on the Julian calendar, 59 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: so from the Russian point of view, that was February. 60 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: The February Revolution started with strikes and riots, and it 61 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: led to the abdication of Sir Nicholas. The Second Unrest 62 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: continued after the February Revolution. The Bolshevik Revolution followed in 63 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: November of nineteen seventeen, and that was followed by the 64 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: Russian Civil War. With all of this going on, Russian 65 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: involvement in World War I effectively ended, and Russia signed 66 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: an armistice with the Central Powers in December of nineteen seventeen. 67 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: A lot of the fighting along the Eastern Front at 68 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: this point had been between Russia and Germany, so with 69 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: Russia out of the picture, German forces were freed up 70 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: to move to the Western Front instead. More than forty 71 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: divisions of German troops prepared to do exactly that. After 72 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: Russia withdrew from the war. The United States had also 73 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: declared war on Germany in April of nineteen seventeen. Although 74 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: the US had avoided becoming directly involved in the war 75 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: until that point, it had been providing supplies and other 76 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: aid to the Allies for quite some time, so at first, 77 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: the United States declaration of war didn't do much to 78 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: shift the balance of power, but the US committed troops 79 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: to the war effort as well, and those troops started 80 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: arriving in June of nineteen seventeen and entered combat that October. 81 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: Terms of actual troops, the American presence in the war 82 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: was pretty small in nineteen seventeen. That first arrival of 83 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: troops was only fourteen thousand men. By July of nineteen eighteen, though, 84 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: there would be more than a million American troops in 85 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: France alone, and unlike their counterparts who were already there, 86 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: these American troops weren't necessarily experienced, but they were fresh. 87 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: Most of the Allied troops who were already in Europe 88 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: were exhausted after months or years of fighting. So in 89 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: late nineteen seventeen, with Russia out of the war and 90 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: the United States ramping up to join it, Germany recognized 91 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: that it had a limited window of opportunity. The German 92 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: military was running out of everything, including people, but with 93 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: a quick decisive action, it might be able to force 94 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: the Allies to negotiate for peace before so many American 95 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: reinforcements arrived, or failing that, Germany might be able to 96 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: level the playing field, putting it on more equal footing 97 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: with the Allies during negotiations later on, rather than being 98 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: at a clear disadvantage. The Allies also recognized that Germany 99 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: had this one last opportunity to try to break out 100 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: of the stalemate. So at the start of nineteen eighteen, 101 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: Allied leaders were confident that a major German attack was 102 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: on the way and soon, but they weren't really sure 103 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: exactly when or where it came. On the first day 104 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: of Spring, that was March twenty first, nineteen eighteen, German 105 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: forces attacked a stretch of the Western Front south of 106 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: the French city of Arras. This was at a point 107 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,119 Speaker 1: where French and British forces met on the Western Front, 108 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: and it was the weakest point along that line. Part 109 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: of the German objective was to cut these two forces 110 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: off from one another and then at least in theory, 111 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: Germany could fight French and British forces separately, overcoming both 112 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: of them. The German attack incorporated air strikes, a massive 113 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: artillery of bombardment and gas, including tear gas, chlorine and phosterene, 114 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: and this attempt to break through the Allied line and 115 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: they were immediately successful. The morning they attacked was foggy 116 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: and the Allies were caught by surprise. The British third 117 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: and fifth Armies were forced to retreat, and on March 118 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: twenty first alone, the British military saw thirty eight thousand, 119 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: five hundred casualties that included twenty one thousand soldiers taken prisoner. 120 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: Germany was able to advance about four miles or six 121 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: and a half kilometers, reclaiming in one day all the 122 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: ground that they had lost over the previous two years. 123 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: This March twenty first assault was the start of what 124 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: came to be known as the Spring Offensive or the 125 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: Ludendorf Offensive, that was named after Quartermaster General Eric Ludendorf, 126 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: who was leading the German military with Field Marshal Paul 127 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: von Hindenberg. In Germany, it was called Kaiserschlacht or Kaiser's Battle, 128 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: and the first phase was codenamed Operation Michael because it 129 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: covered some of the same territory as the Battle of 130 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: the Somme in nineteen sixteen. Sometimes it is also called 131 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: the Set and Battle of the Somme. Operation Michael ended 132 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: on April fifth, and by that point the German army 133 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: had captured about twelve thousand square miles of territory It's 134 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: about thirty one thousand square kilometers. This had come at 135 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: a great cost, though, with about two hundred and forty 136 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: thousand casualties that the German Army just had no good 137 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: way to replace. Together, French and British forces, including those 138 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: from Canada, Australia and other parts of the British Empire, 139 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: had suffered nearly two hundred and fifty thousand casualties. Just 140 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: to be clear, casualty numbers include everyone killed, wounded, or captured. 141 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: That initial goal of splitting the British and French troops 142 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 1: didn't ultimately work out because Germany didn't have the manpower 143 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: to really divide and fight against both armies. The Allies 144 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: also quickly realized the threat and united the Allied troops 145 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: under the command of French General Ferdinand Foche to better 146 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: coordinate their efforts. So, rather than facing an army that 147 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: was divided and left in chaos, Germany instead faced a 148 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: force that was united under one command. The overall Spring 149 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: Offensive ended on July fifteenth, nineteen eighteen, with the Second 150 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: Battle of the Marne. General Ludendorff tried to capture the 151 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: city of Rem, hoping to divide the French forces and 152 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: set a stage for an assault on Flanders. But unlike 153 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: on March twenty first, General Fouche anticipated this attack. He 154 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: and the Allies mounted a counter attack, and by July eighteenth, 155 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: German forces were retreating. Germany could not afford this loss, 156 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: especially since American troops were now arriving in France at 157 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: a rate of about three hundred thousand per month. The 158 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen flu pandemic was also sweeping across the globe 159 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: at this point, including through all of the armies involved 160 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: in the war. But the war was not over yet, 161 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: which brings us to Ammia, and we're first gonna pause 162 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: and have a sponsor break before we dig into that. 163 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: The Spring Offensive and the Allied counter attacks at the 164 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: Second Battle of the Marn were a shift in how 165 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: the war was being fought on the Western Front for 166 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: years that had been defined by the trenches. Trenches had 167 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: been used during battles in one way or another for centuries, 168 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,439 Speaker 1: and they continued to be a part of warfare after 169 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: this point, but in World War One they were a 170 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: side effect of evolving military technologies, specifically machine guns and 171 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: artillery trenches were away for troops to gain some measure 172 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: of protection from these devastating weapons, even though it meant 173 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: that they couldn't really move once they were dug in. 174 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: During those years of stalemate, an attack on the enemy's 175 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: trench had usually combined a preliminary bombardment called a creeping 176 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: barrage with an advancing infantry. The barrage was supposed to 177 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: lay down artillery just ahead of the soldier's advance, providing 178 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: cover and clearing out the opposition, but a lot of 179 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: the time this did work. Barrages got too far ahead 180 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: of the troops, effectively serving as an advance warning for 181 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: the opposite side, or they tore up the terrain so 182 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: much that the soldiers had trouble crossing to get to 183 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: the enemy. Or barrages might move too slowly or fall short, 184 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: and the advancing infantry were killed as a result. Regardless, though, 185 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: armies wound up facing huge casualties in exchange for a 186 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: few yards of territory or none at all. By the 187 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: spring and summer of nineteen eighteen, though World War Ones, 188 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,719 Speaker 1: opposing armies were starting to make better use of all 189 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:40,200 Speaker 1: the available military technology to effectively assault the other side's trenches, 190 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: and the ally's first truly effective use of all that 191 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: technology was at the Battle of Homel, led by Australian 192 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: Core commander Lieutenant General John Monash. Monash planned the early 193 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: morning attack in absolute secrecy. He added smoke shells to 194 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: the creeping barrage to obscure the battlefield. He also used tanks, 195 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: which had been introduced in nineteen sixteen, to plow through 196 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: the Germans barbed wire and fortifications and to deliver supplies 197 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: from behind the infantry advance. Eighteen aircraft were involved as well, 198 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: including some older ones specifically chosen because their engines were 199 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: loud enough to cover up the sound of the tanks. 200 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: The planes dropped bombs and flares, providing covering fire, and 201 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: reported back with information about the Germans positions. The plan 202 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: also included faking troop movements in using dummy installations to 203 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: further disguise what they were doing, and sending messages back 204 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 1: and forth by pigeon. This battle was an enormous success 205 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: for the Allies. The Allied troops, including American and Australian forces, 206 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: attacked early in the morning on July fourth. Within two hours, 207 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: they had obtained all of their objectives. This was really 208 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: the first time that all of the available military technology 209 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: had been put into use at once in such a 210 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: coordinated way. It was so effective that all of the 211 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: commanders of the British Expeditionary Force got a report about 212 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: it detailing what had gone so well after the battle 213 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: was over. The Battle of Amia built off these same 214 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: strategies that Monash had put into place at Homel. The 215 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: city of Amia was a major junction for railroads and communications, 216 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: and Germany had repeatedly tried to take it during the 217 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: Spring offensive. Germany had not succeeded, but it had stretched 218 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: out its line in the attempt, creating a bulge that 219 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: it didn't have the manpower to thoroughly defend. The Allies 220 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: attack on the salient was as before planned in total secrecy. 221 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: Before it started, they used fake radio transmissions and phony 222 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: troop movements to disguise their activity during the day, while 223 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: putting the men into their real positions at night. The 224 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: assault combined air support, artillery, tanks, and infantry. In terms 225 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: of numbers, the Allies had seventy five thousand men, more 226 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,199 Speaker 1: than five hundred tanks, and nearly two two thousand aircraft 227 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: that troops included British, Canadian, Australian and French infantry, tank brigades, 228 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: British cavalry divisions, the Royal Air Force and American troops 229 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: that were held in reserve. Australian and Canadian troops formed 230 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: the spearhead of the infantry attack at Amia. By this point, 231 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: Australia's military had distinguished itself as part of the Australian 232 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: and New Zealand Army Corps that's ANZAC in the Gallipoli Campaign, 233 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: and the Canadian units had developed a reputation as the 234 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: British Empire's shock troops. Germany was out everything in this battle. 235 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: Exact numbers are in dispute. It is difficult to track 236 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: down precise numbers in a conflict like this, but they 237 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: had a much smaller fighting force, with only about five 238 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: hundred thirty guns and three hundred and seventy aircraft. They 239 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: had three lines of trenches, but these trenches weren't well 240 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: fortified and the communication networks among them were really spotty. 241 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: When the attack started at four twenty in the morning 242 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: on August eighth, nineteen eighteen, it came as a total surprise. 243 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: Fighting at the Battle of Amia went on for three days. 244 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: By that point, the Allies had advanced eight miles it's 245 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: about thirteen kilometers. They had liberated more than one hundred 246 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: towns and villages from the Germans. They'd also captured a 247 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty millimeter or eleven inch Krupp naval 248 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: gun that had been used to shell Amia from about 249 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: twenty five kilometers or that's sixteen miles away. This gun 250 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: had been mounted on a railway carriage, and the Australian 251 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: thirty first Battalion, fifth Division captured it by commandeering the 252 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: carriage and driving it back into Allied territory. They're very 253 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: proud of capturing this gun. I mean, it's not surprising 254 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: that they were, but it comes up a lot in 255 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: accounts of this day. After this hugely effective first day, 256 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: the Allied advance slowed over August ninth through eleventh. The 257 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: German forces started to regroup and offer a stronger resistance, 258 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: and on the eleventh, Sir Arthur Curry of the Canadian 259 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: Corps con General Sir Henley Rowlinson of the British Fourth 260 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: Army that they should consolidate their gains instead of continuing 261 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: to try to push ahead against increasingly tougher resistance. But 262 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: before that decision, the battle had devastated the German army. 263 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: Ludendorf called August eighth the black day of the German 264 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: Army in the history of the war. He also said 265 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: that it quote put the decline of that fighting power 266 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: beyond all doubt, and in such a situation as regards reserves, 267 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: I had no hope of finding a strategic expedient whereby 268 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: to turn the situation to our advantage. This wasn't just 269 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: because of the tens of thousands of casualties that the 270 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: German army saw that day. It was also that it 271 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: revealed the terrifically terrible morale among the German troops. At 272 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: least twelve thousand of them were taken prisoner, with huge 273 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: numbers of soldiers surrendering at once. There were even stories 274 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: of whole groups of Germans surrendering to a single Allied soldier, 275 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: or surrendering even when they they had the Allies in 276 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: that particular spot vastly outnumbered. Altogether, this was the worst 277 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: German defeat since the start of the war. Until this point, 278 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: Allied leaders had thought the war would last at least 279 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: until nineteen nineteen but this was the start of the 280 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: final one hundred days offensive that finally ended it, and 281 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: we're going to talk more about that after we pause 282 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:32,880 Speaker 1: for a little sponsor break. After the Battle of Amion, 283 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: both General Eric Ludendorf and Kaiser Wilhelm the Second, the 284 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: Emperor of Germany, agreed that there was no way for 285 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: the German army to recover. Their goal became to avoid 286 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: an outright surrender, and the German army continued to fight 287 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: even as it fell back toward Germany. The Allied forces 288 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: continued to press ahead in this final push to bring 289 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: the war to an end. The last major objective to 290 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: this end was the Hindenburg Line, which was Germany's last 291 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: large scale fortification. The Hindenburg Line was a set of 292 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,440 Speaker 1: three well defended trenches that had been established in nineteen seventeen. 293 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: The Allies planned their assault on the Hindenburg Line for 294 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: a full month before actually attacking its forward outposts near Fe, 295 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: France on September eighteenth, nineteen eighteen. The Allied forces finally 296 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: breached the Hendenburg Line on September twenty ninth, after four 297 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:29,400 Speaker 1: days of heavy fighting, including firing nearly a million artillery 298 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: shells and At that point, Paul von Hendenberg and Eric 299 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: Ludendorf told Kaiservilhelm that the war was lost. On October first, 300 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,159 Speaker 1: at a meeting of representatives of all the major German 301 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: political parties, Ludendorf and Hendenberg told the assembled group the 302 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: reality of the situation. A lot of them were shocked 303 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: to learn that things were going so badly for Germany. 304 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: Germany requested peace negotiations on October third. Ludendorf revised his 305 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: opinion a little later in October, as Allied attack slowed 306 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: down to allow the supply lines to catch up to 307 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: the troops advance. But by that point word of the 308 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: dire condition of the German military had spread through its 309 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: civilian population. Like much of the rest of Europe, German 310 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:18,160 Speaker 1: civilians had faced extreme hardship during the war, including near 311 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: starvation conditions thanks to an Allied blockade. In the face 312 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: of such grim news, the war just no longer had 313 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: the support of the German people, especially once he heard 314 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: the terms of the armistice, which involved making Germany completely 315 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: unable to renew hostilities. Ludendorff wanted to renew the fight, 316 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: but on October twenty sixth he was forced to resign. 317 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: By this point, there were rampant desertions going on all 318 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: over the German military. A massive mutiny also swept through 319 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: the Navy in late October and early November over orders 320 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: that they stayed an attack on the Royal Navy in 321 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: an attempt to derail the armistice negotiations. The art Armistice 322 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 1: was finally signed on November eleventh, nineteen eighteen, at five am, 323 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,640 Speaker 1: and the war ended at eleven am that same day. 324 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: The Canadian Corps also liberated the city of malt France 325 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: that day, which was where the last shot of the 326 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,719 Speaker 1: war was fired. It was also the site of one 327 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,360 Speaker 1: of the war's earliest battles, and there's actually an episode 328 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: about that battle in our archive. By this point, Kaiservillhelm 329 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: the Second had been forced to abdicate and had gone 330 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,720 Speaker 1: into exile, and German Chancellor Friedrich Ebert had started to 331 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: form a provisional government. During the last hundred days of 332 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: the war, French forces saw five hundred and thirty thousand casualties. 333 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: There were more than four hundred thousand casualties among the 334 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: British troops, including the troops from the rest of the 335 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: British Empire. That's not just from the UK. American forces 336 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: saw one hundred and twenty seven thousand casualties, and there 337 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,479 Speaker 1: were seven hundred and eighty five thousand casualties just among 338 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: the Germans, with three hundred and sixty eight thousand taken prisoner. 339 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: The German army was also very clearly defeated after that 340 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 1: initial rally in the Spring Offensive, the tide of the 341 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,919 Speaker 1: war had turned hard against it, and with millions of 342 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: American troops on the ground in Europe dramatically increasing the 343 00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: ALLIS numbers, there was just no way that Germany could 344 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: have turned that around. But the false idea spread through 345 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: the German military that Germany had not been defeated. Instead, 346 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: this idea took route, didn't take root, as though it 347 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: came out of nowhere, like it was intentionally spread that 348 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: the German Army had been stabbed in the back by 349 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: civilian leaders who negotiated and signed the Armisis. According to 350 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: this mindset, which was spread by Ludendorf and other high 351 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: ranking officers intentionally, the officials who signed the armistice were traders. 352 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: Adolf Hitler would later brand them the November criminals. This 353 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: led to a whole conspiracy theory about a betrayal of 354 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: the German military at the hands of Jews, which became 355 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: part of Nazi propaganda the years after the war. The 356 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: terms of the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles that 357 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: ended the war also contributed to the run up to 358 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: World War II. Under that armistice, Germany had to surrender 359 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: territory and war materials, including thousands of pieces of artillery, guns, trains, aircraft, battleships, submarines, destroyers, 360 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: and other naval vessels. Germany was also to surrender its 361 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: prisoners of war immediately, but there were no reciprocal terms 362 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: for the other nations to return German prisoners. Under the 363 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 1: Treaty of Versailles, Germany was prohibited from joining the League 364 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: of Nations until nineteen twenty six. The treaty also drew 365 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: new borders that gave territory to Germany's neighbors, stripped Germany 366 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: of its colonies, and required Germany to pay reparations that 367 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,640 Speaker 1: were economically disastrous. All of this ultimately contributed to Hitler's 368 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 1: rise of power, which we talk about in our episode 369 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: On the Night of the Long Knives is a really 370 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: bummer place to end an episode so if you were 371 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: listening to this and you were like, this reminds me 372 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: of Wonder Woman. Yes, obviously, Ludendorf in Wonder Woman is 373 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: a fictionalized version of this guy who we talked about 374 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 1: in this show. Thanks so much for joining us on 375 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 376 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 377 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 378 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.