Free Essays on Vietnam War

When someone thinks of the Vietnam War, people think of all the men that died and risked their lives. No one ever takes in to consideration that there was women in that war that fought, helped saved soldiers, wrote articles on it, served in the Red Cross, and died in that horrible war. In the time of the war women were still perceived to not be capable of doing what men could do. They went into Vietnam proving that they have the skills, strength, and mental capability to be with the men. Army, Navy and Air Force Nurses and Medical Specialists numbered over six thousand (U.P). All Army nurses were officers, and were Direct Commissions (T.O.D.I). They became nurses first and then attended a ten day or so Orientation Course at (Ft. Sam Houston, Texas) to teach them how to be officers. In 1965, Maj. Kathleen Wilkes and SFC Betty Adams became the first U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members to serve as Military Advisors to the newly formed Women’s Corps of the Army of the Republic of (South) Vietnam (ARVN) (Starr 234). A lot of women requested to be sent to Vietnam but were declined. Many claim that they were being denied on purpose because many felt that women could not handle it. One WAC lieutenant complained, â€Å"What kind of delicate creatures do the brass think we are? There’s a war going on in Vietnam, but you have to be a civilian to get assigned there. Women are fighting in the jungles with the Vietcong. Yet we aren’t allowed to dirty our dainty hands† (234). Over five hundred WAC’s were stationed in Vietnam (U.P). Three factors collected to confine the amount of military women serving in Southeast Asia: (1) conventional outlook towards servicewomen; (2) desire to keep women from the unsympathetic realities of warfare; and (3) commanders believed it was easier to deal with only men. The women that did serve in Vietnam proved how capable they were of performance under all the aggressive fire. During 1968 Tet Offensive, Ca... Free Essays on Vietnam War Free Essays on Vietnam War Choices Tim O’Brien was drafted to the Vietnam War. He didn’t want to go to the war. So he went to the northern woods in the northern Minnesota. He had to make a choice whether to go to the war or not to go to the war. After spending six days with guy Elroy he decides to go. Tim O’Brien went to the war for the wrong reasons. He didn’t even think that there should be a war. He saw no reason at all why they should be fighting. He says â€Å"I was drafted to a war I hated... [I was] politically naive, but even so the American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong. Certain blood shed for uncertain reason. â€Å"He hated this war and had so many questions about it. he says â€Å" It was my view then, and still is that you don’t make a war without knowing why.† he didn’t believe in it and didn’t know why we were fighting so why should he go to a war. He didn’t want to go to war. He wasn’t made for war. He even says , â€Å"I was no solider. I hated dirt and tents and mosquitoes. The sight of blood made me queasy.......† Now come on he didn’t even like anything to do with outdoors what good would he even do for our country. He minds well stay home and go to school. He was too young and had too much to lose. He even got a scholarship to a good school. â€Å"... I had the world *censored*ed - Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude and president of the student body and a full ride scholarship for grad studies at Harvard.† It must have been a mistake cause I was too young. â€Å" a month after graduating from Macalester college. I was drafted to fight a war I hated. I was twenty-one years old, young, yes.† Way too young to go to war. He was too embarrassed not to go. He was afraid to be laughed out of town. â€Å" ... and it was easy to imagine people sitting around a table down at the old Gobbler Cafe on Mainstreet, coffee cups poised, the c... Free Essays on Vietnam War The Effects of the Vietnam War on its Veterans Thesis: The Vietnam War took many tolls on its soldiers; now the veterans have to deal with medical problems like Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), severe drug and alcohol addictions, and the effects of Agent Orange. I. Introduction II. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder III. Drug and Alcohol Addictions A. Alcohol B. Marijuana C. Heroin IV. Agent Orange A. Background Information B. Diseases of The Effects of the Vietnam War on its Veterans. Have you ever seen a homeless man sleeping in the street and hastily conclude that he is at the bottom of society? I bet that you never stopped to think about where that person has come from. He could have been just like you at one time, nineteen years old, just out of high school, ready to start his life, but then he was drafted. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless at least one third of homeless males are veterans (Shay 178). A large amount of veterans have severe problems in everyday society. Many veterans have to deal with physical health conditions as well as mental health problems. The Vietnam War took many tolls on its soldiers; now the veterans have to deal with medical like Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), severe drug and alcohol addictions, and the effects of Agent Orange. Perhaps one of the most devastating side effects of fighting a war is the amount of stress that is put on the soldiers. This is because of a mental health problem called Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a condition that is caused by an enormous amount of stress that is put on an individual. Post-Vietnam syndrome is another name for PTSD and the two are even more generally known as war neurosis (Scott 28). War neurosis has been recognized as a medical condition from a time dating back to the civil war (Scott 28). PTSD sets in anywhere from nine to thirty months after the over... Free Essays on Vietnam War The Vietnam War, the nations longest war, cost fifty-eight thousand American lives. Only the Civil War and the two World Wars were deadlier (â€Å"Vietnam War†). The U.S. Treasury spent over $140 billion on the war, enough money to fund urban renewal projects in every major American city (â€Å"Vietnam War†). The initial reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam seemed logical and compelling to American leaders. Following its success in WWII, the U.S. faced the future with a sense of moral rectitude and material confidence (â€Å"Vietnam War†). There were actually two phases of the War. During the first phase, which began in 1946, the Vietnamese fought France for control of Vietnam. At that time, Vietnam was part of the colony of French Indochina (Pike 373). The Vietnam War was actually the second phase of fighting in Vietnam (373). With everything going on in Vietnam and the United States, everything was falling apart including the governments, moral issues, and t he cities. The fight for the U.S. was led by many famous American presidents, five to be exact. The aftermath and turmoil of this war was a catastrophe, considering Vietnam still became a Communist country. How did the war start? Well, the French wanted colonialism throughout Vietnam. North Vietnam wanted a communist country and South wanted a non-communist – pro-American government. America just favored Vietnam’s independence and supported South Vietnam, surprising Ho Chi Minh [leader of the North] (â€Å"Vietnam War†). The United States aid to France and later non-communist South Vietnam was based on a policy of President Harry S. Truman. He had declared that the U.S. must help any nation threatened by Communists (Pike 373). President Dwight D. Eisenhower increased the level of aid, about $2 ½ billion worth, just to get defeated by the Vietminh in the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 (Seah 24). The U.S. had a great deal of difficulty in holding the army together in Sou... Free Essays on Vietnam War Vietnam War Encarta Encyclopedia defines the Vietnam War as a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular war in which Americans ever fought. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France during the First Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French controlled the South. The United States became involved in Vietnam because it believed that if all the country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. This belief was known as the â€Å"domino theory.† The U.S. government, therefore, supported the South Vietnamese government. This government’s repressive policies led to rebellion in the South, and the NLF was formed as an opposition group with close ties to North Vietnam. The toll in suffering, sorrow, in rancorous national turmoil can never be tabulated. No one wants ever to see America so divided again. And for many of the more than two million American veterans of the war, the wounds of Vietnam will never heal. An estimated fifty-eight thousand Americans lost their lives. The losses to the Vietnamese people were appalling. During the conflict, approximately 3 to 4 million Vietnamese on both sides were killed, in addition to another 1.5 to 2 million Lao and Cambodians who wer e drawn into the war. The financial cost to the United States comes to something over 150 billion dollars. Direct Americans involvement began in 1955 with the arrival of the first advisors. In 1965 the... Free Essays on Vietnam War When someone thinks of the Vietnam War, people think of all the men that died and risked their lives. No one ever takes in to consideration that there was women in that war that fought, helped saved soldiers, wrote articles on it, served in the Red Cross, and died in that horrible war. In the time of the war women were still perceived to not be capable of doing what men could do. They went into Vietnam proving that they have the skills, strength, and mental capability to be with the men. Army, Navy and Air Force Nurses and Medical Specialists numbered over six thousand (U.P). All Army nurses were officers, and were Direct Commissions (T.O.D.I). They became nurses first and then attended a ten day or so Orientation Course at (Ft. Sam Houston, Texas) to teach them how to be officers. In 1965, Maj. Kathleen Wilkes and SFC Betty Adams became the first U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members to serve as Military Advisors to the newly formed Women’s Corps of the Army of the Republic of (South) Vietnam (ARVN) (Starr 234). A lot of women requested to be sent to Vietnam but were declined. Many claim that they were being denied on purpose because many felt that women could not handle it. One WAC lieutenant complained, â€Å"What kind of delicate creatures do the brass think we are? There’s a war going on in Vietnam, but you have to be a civilian to get assigned there. Women are fighting in the jungles with the Vietcong. Yet we aren’t allowed to dirty our dainty hands† (234). Over five hundred WAC’s were stationed in Vietnam (U.P). Three factors collected to confine the amount of military women serving in Southeast Asia: (1) conventional outlook towards servicewomen; (2) desire to keep women from the unsympathetic realities of warfare; and (3) commanders believed it was easier to deal with only men. The women that did serve in Vietnam proved how capable they were of performance under all the aggressive fire. During 1968 Tet Offensive, Ca... Free Essays on Vietnam War America’s Longest War From the late 1950’s through the early 1970’s, America faced its most difficult challenge in recent history. That conflict was the Vietnam War. For the Americans, it was a war based on fear, economical protection, and public outcry, along with numerous executive changes that kept the war going for so long. There were many reasons why the Americans eventually left Vietnam. Those reasons are what remain of the legacies of the Vietnam War. The war started off with the Kennedy administration, in which believed that â€Å"Vietnam represents the cornerstone of the Free World in Southeast Asia, the keystone in the arch, the finger in the dike.† Should the â€Å"red tide of Communism† pour into it, Kennedy warned, much of Asia would be threatened (Herring 53). Kennedy didn’t take action once he came into office. Instead Kennedy supplied aid and money to the government to help them with relief. Kennedy then acted with stronger intentions only because the Diem government appeared on the verge of collapse. The president started to send highly skilled â€Å"advisers† to South Vietnam to properly train the soldiers of Vietnam to be successful in their missions. After a while, the Diem government questioned whether the United States knew what they were doing. â€Å"All these soldiers,† Diem complained. â€Å"I never asked them to come here. They don’t even have passports.† The growing uneasiness was clearly revealed in May 1963 when Nhu publicly questioned whether the United States knew what it was doing in Vietnam (Herring 113). In this atmosphere of confusion and mounting conflict, the Kennedy administration also began to discuss the possibility of troop withdrawals. In November 1, 1963, the South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother were murdered. The murder of Diem shocked President Kennedy and reinforced his concerns about American involvement in South Vietnam. Less than a month la... Free Essays on Vietnam War When someone thinks of the Vietnam War, people think of all the men that died and risked their lives. No one ever takes in to consideration that there was women in that war that fought, helped saved soldiers, wrote articles on it, served in the Red Cross, and died in that horrible war. In the time of the war women were still perceived to not be capable of doing what men could do. They went into Vietnam proving that they have the skills, strength, and mental capability to be with the men. Army, Navy and Air Force Nurses and Medical Specialists numbered over six thousand (U.P). All Army nurses were officers, and were Direct Commissions (T.O.D.I). They became nurses first and then attended a ten day or so Orientation Course at (Ft. Sam Houston, Texas) to teach them how to be officers. In 1965, Maj. Kathleen Wilkes and SFC Betty Adams became the first U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members to serve as Military Advisors to the newly formed Women’s Corps of the Army of the Republic of (South) Vietnam (ARVN) (Starr 234). A lot of women requested to be sent to Vietnam but were declined. Many claim that they were being denied on purpose because many felt that women could not handle it. One WAC lieutenant complained, â€Å"What kind of delicate creatures do the brass think we are? There’s a war going on in Vietnam, but you have to be a civilian to get assigned there. Women are fighting in the jungles with the Vietcong. Yet we aren’t allowed to dirty our dainty hands† (234). Over five hundred WAC’s were stationed in Vietnam (U.P). Three factors collected to confine the amount of military women serving in Southeast Asia: (1) conventional outlook towards servicewomen; (2) desire to keep women from the unsympathetic realities of warfare; and (3) commanders believed it was easier to deal with only men. The women that did serve in Vietnam proved how capable they were of performance under all the aggressive fire. During 1968 Tet Offensive, Ca... Free Essays on Vietnam War The American conflict in Vietnam and Indochina during the 1960’s and 70’s has been seen through many different perspectives. Hollywood has given its portrayal in countless movies ranging from â€Å"Good Morning Vietnam,† â€Å"We Were Soldiers,† and â€Å"Platoon.† Books and magazines have also given their opinions in both fiction and non-fiction pieces of literature. Most of the time Vietnam is painted as a beautiful country cursed with a gruesome war. But no movie or book can describe what accurately went on more than the young soldiers who saw the violence with their own eyes. Military men had to deal with risking their lives, fighting a foreign enemy, being on constant edge, and dealing with the constant pressures that come with military service. This paper will focus on the U.S. Army’s role in Vietnam, the â€Å"politics† surrounding combat, and the graphic images witnessed by many infantrymen on the front lines. Between 1962 and 1975 approximately 2.5 Americans served in Vietnam and the Army had numerous combat units on the front lines fighting the enemy. When the first U.S. combat troops arrived in Vietnam in 1965 they were composed mainly of volunteers. The Air Force, Navy, and Marines were volunteer units. The escalating war, however, required more draftees. In 1965 about 20,000 men per month were inducted into the military, most into the Army; by 1968 about 40,000 young men were drafted each month to meet increased troop levels ordered for Vietnam (http://25thaviation.org/default.htm). The distinct element that the Vietnam conflict had over other major battles in U.S. history was that the fighting took place in â€Å"bits and pieces.† â€Å"There were no Normandies or Gettysburgs for us, no epic clashes that decided the fates of armies or nations. The war was mostly a matter of enduring weeks of expectant waiting and, at random intervals, of conducting vicious manhunts through jungles and swamps where snipers harassed us con... Free Essays on Vietnam War Vietnam War The Vietnam War is one of the most disgraceful periods in American history. Not only did the greatest superpower in the world get bested by an almost third-world nation, but we lost badly. Perhaps this war could have been won, or even prevented in the first place. The United States could have and should have won this war, with a combination of better weapons usage, better tactics, and better support from their home country. Before the War Even years before the war, Vietnam was a hotly disputed territory. Many countries had taken Vietnam over, and after World War II, Vietnam was in the hands of France. Obviously, the Vietnamese wanted their own country, and their long history of being a colony prompted the oppressed people to fight for their independence in the French-Indochina war. (7) Ho Chi Min, the leader of the Communist party, organized the Vietnamese independence movement, Viet Minh. Asking for support from America first, Ho Chi Min did not want to have to turn to communist support for the freedom of his people. Since the United States viewed helping Ho gain his independence from France as a move against their own allies, they declined. It was only after Russia and China offered to help that Ho adopted communist ideals and wanted to make all of Vietnam communist. The Vietnam War started simply because Ho Chi Min and his communist supporters wanted South Vietnam to become communist after the South split off in 1954 to become its own democratic nation. The United States saw this as a threat to democracy, and using the Domino theory, successfully threw the U.S. into the one of the worst wars it has ever seen. If only the United States had looked past its petty alliances and helped another country gain its independence like we had gained ours so many years ago, this war would have been completely avoided. Unfortunately for the families of over 64,000 soldiers, it wasn't. Beginnings of a Nightmare As early as 1954,...

World War I - 1918 Overview

World War I - 1918 Overview By 1918, World War I had been underway for over three years. Despite the bloody stalemate that continued to ensue on the Western Front following the failures of British and French offensives at Ypres and Aisne, both sides had reason for hope due to two key events in 1917. For the Allies (Britain, France, and Italy), the United States had entered the war on April 6 and was bringing its industrial might and vast manpower to bear. To the east, Russia, torn by the Bolshevik Revolution and resulting civil war, had asked for an armistice with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) on December 15, freeing large numbers of soldiers for service on other fronts. As a result, both alliances entered the new year with optimism that victory might finally be achieved. America Mobilizes Though the United States had joined the conflict in April 1917, it took time for the nation to mobilize manpower on a large scale and retool its industries for war. By March 1918, only 318,000 Americans had arrived in France. This number began to climb rapidly through the summer and by August 1.3 million men were deployed overseas. Upon their arrival, many senior British and French commanders wished to use the largely untrained American units as replacements within their own formations. Such a plan was adamantly opposed by the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General John J. Pershing, who insisted that American troops fight together. Despite conflicts like this, the arrival of the Americans bolstered the hopes of the battered British and French armies which had been fighting and dying for since August 1914. An Opportunity for Germany While the massive numbers of American troops that were forming in the United States would ultimately play a decisive role, the defeat of Russia provided Germany with an immediate advantage on the Western Front. Freed from fighting a two-front war, the Germans were able to transfer over thirty veteran divisions west while only leaving a skeleton force to ensure Russian compliance with the Treat of Brest-Litovsk. These troops provided the Germans with numerical superiority over their adversaries. Aware that growing numbers of American troops would soon negate the advantage Germany had gained, General Erich Ludendorff began planning a series of offensives to bring the war on the Western Front to a swift conclusion. Dubbed the Kaiserschlacht (Kaisers Battle), the 1918 Spring Offensives were to consist of four major assaults code-named Michael, Georgette, Blà ¼cher-Yorck, and Gneisenau. As German manpower was running short, it was imperative that the Kaiserschlacht succeed as losses could not be effectively replaced. Operation Michael The first and largest of these offensives, Operation Michael, was intended to strike the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) along the Somme with the goal of cutting it off from the French to the south. The assault plan called for four German armies to break through the BEFs lines then wheel northwest to drive toward the English Channel. Leading the attack would be special stormtrooper units whose orders called for them to drive deep into British positions, bypassing strong points, with the goal disrupting communications and reinforcements. Commencing on March 21, 1918, Michael saw German forces attack along a forty-mile front. Slamming into the British Third and Fifth Armies, the assault shattered the British lines. While Third Army largely held, the Fifth Army began a fighting retreat (Map). As the crisis developed, the commander of the BEF, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, requested reinforcements from his French counterpart, General Philippe Pà ©tain. This request was refused as Pà ©tain was concerned about protecting Paris. Angered, Haig was able to force an Allied conference on March 26 at Doullens. This meeting resulted in the appointment of General Ferdinand Foch as the overall Allied commander. As the fighting continued, British and French resistance began to coalesce and Ludendorffs thrust began to slow. Desperate to renew the offensive, he ordered a series of new attacks on March 28, though they favored exploiting local successes rather than advancing the operations strategic goals. These attacks failed to make substantial gains and Operation Michael ground to a halt at Villers-Bretonneux on the outskirts of Amiens. Operation Georgette Despite the strategic failure of Michael, Ludendorff immediately launched Operation Georgette (Lys Offensive) in Flanders on April 9. Assaulting the British around Ypres, the Germans sought to capture the town and force the British back to the coast. In nearly three weeks of fighting, the Germans succeeded in reclaiming the territorial losses of Passchendaele and advanced south of Ypres. By April 29, the Germans had still failed to take Ypres and Ludendorff halted the offensive (Map). Operation Blcher-Yorck Shifting his attention south the French, Ludendorff commenced Operation Blà ¼cher-Yorck (Third Battle of the Aisne) on May 27. Concentrating their artillery, the Germans attacked down the valley of the Oise River towards Paris. Overrunning the Chemin de Dames ridge, Ludendorffs men swiftly advanced as the Allies began committing reserves to halt the offensive. American forces played a role in stopping the Germans during intense fighting at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood. On June 3, as fighting still raged, Ludendorff decided to suspend Blà ¼cher-Yorck due to supply problems and mounting losses. While both sides lost similar numbers of men, the Allies possessed an ability to replace them that Germany lacked (Map). Seeking to widen the gains of Blà ¼cher-Yorck, Ludendorff began Operation Gneisenau on June 9. Attacking on the northern edge of the Aisne salient along the Matz River, his troops made initial gains, but were halted within two days. Ludendorffs Last Gasp With the failure of the Spring Offensives, Ludendorff had lost much of the numerical superiority which he had counted on for achieving victory. With limited resources remaining he hoped to launch an attack against the French with the goal of drawing British troops south from Flanders. This would then allow another attack on that front. With the support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Ludendorff opened the Second Battle of the Marne on July 15. Attacking on both sides of Rheims, the Germans made some progress. French intelligence had provided warning of the attack and Foch and Pà ©tain had prepared a counterstroke. Launched on July 18, the French counterattack, supported by American troops, was led by General Charles Mangins Tenth Army. Supported by other French troops, the effort soon threatened to encircle those German troops in the salient. Beaten, Ludendorff ordered a withdraw from the endangered area. The defeat on the Marne ended his plans for mounting another assault in Flanders. Austrian Failure In the wake of the disastrous Battle of Caporetto in fall 1917, the hated Italian Chief of Staff General Luigi Cadorna was sacked and replaced with General Armando Diaz. The Italian position behind the Piave River was further bolstered by the arrival of sizable formations of British and French troops. Across the lines, German forces had largely been recalled for use in the Spring Offensives, however they had been replaced by Austro-Hungarian troops that had been freed from the Eastern Front. Debate ensued among the Austrian high command regarding the best way to finish off the Italians. Finally the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arthur Arz von Straussenburg, approved a plan to launch a two-pronged attack, with one moving south from the mountains and the other across the Piave River. Moving forward on June 15, the Austrian advance was quickly checked by the Italians and their allies with heavy losses (Map). Victory in Italy The defeat led Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary to begin seeking a political solution to the conflict. On October 2, he contacted US President Woodrow Wilson and expressed his willingness to enter into an armistice. Twelve days later he issued a manifesto to his peoples which effectively transformed the state into a federation of nationalities. These efforts proved too late as the multitude of ethnicities and nationalities that formed the empire had begun proclaiming their own states. With the empire collapsing, Austrian armies at the front began to weaken. In this environment, Diaz launched a major offensive across the Piave on October 24. Dubbed the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the fighting saw many of the Austrians mount a stiff defense, but their line collapsed after Italian troops broke through a gap near Sacile. Driving back the Austrians, Diazs campaign concluded a week later on Austrian territory. Seeking an end to the war, the Austrians asked for an armistice on November 3. Terms were arranged and the armistice with Austria-Hungary was signed near Padua that day, taking effect on November 4 at 3:00 PM. German Position After the Spring Offensives The failure of the Spring Offensives cost Germany nearly a million casualties. Though ground had been taken, the strategic breakthrough had failed to occur. As a result, Ludendorff found himself short on troops with a longer line to defend. To make good the losses sustained earlier in the year, the German high command estimated that 200,000 recruits per month would be needed. Unfortunately, even by drawing on the next conscription class, only 300,000 total were available. Though German Chief of Staff General Paul von Hindenburg remained beyond reproach, members of the General Staff began to criticize Ludendorff for his failures in the field and lack of originality in determining strategy. While some officers argued for a withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, others believed the time had come to open peace negotiations with the Allies. Ignoring these suggestions, Ludendorff remained wedded to the notion of deciding the war through military means despite the fact that the United States had already mobilized four million men. In addition, the British and French, though badly bled, had developed and expanded their tank forces to compensate for numbers. Germany, in a key military miscalculation, had failed match the Allies in development of this type of technology. Battle of Amiens Having halted the Germans, Foch and Haig began preparations for striking back. The beginning of the Allies Hundred Days Offensive, the initial blow was to fall east of Amiens to open the rail lines through the city and recover the old Somme battlefield. Overseen by Haig, the offensive was centered on the British Fourth Army. After discussions with Foch it was decided to include the First French Army to the south. Beginning on August 8, the offensive relied on surprise and the use of armor rather than the typical preliminary bombardment. Catching the enemy off guard, Australian and Canadian forces in the center broke through the German lines and advanced 7-8 miles. By the end of the first day, five German divisions had been shattered. Total German losses numbered over 30,000, leading Ludendorff to refer to August 8 as the Black Day of the German Army. Over the next three days, Allied forces continued their advance, but met increased resistance as the Germans rallied. Halting the offensive on August 11, Haig was chastised by Foch who wished it to continue. Rather than battle increasing German resistance, Haig opened the Second Battle of the Somme on August 21, with the Third Army attacking at Albert. Albert fell the following day and Haig widened the offensive with the Second Battle of Arras on August 26. The fighting saw the British advance as the Germans fell back to the fortifications of the Hindenburg Line, surrendering the gains of Operation Michael (Map). Pushing on to Victory With the Germans reeling, Foch planned a massive offensive which would see several lines of advance converging on Liege. Prior to launching his attack, Foch ordered the reduction of the salients at Havrincourt and Saint-Mihiel. Attacking on September 12, the British quickly reduced the former, while the latter was taken by Pershings US First Army in the first all-American offensive of the war. Shifting the Americans north, Foch used Pershings men to open his final campaign on September 26 when they began the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (Map). As the Americans attacked north, King Albert I of Belgium led a combined Anglo-Belgian force forward near Ypres two days later. On September 29, the main British offensive commenced against the Hindenburg Line with the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. After several day of fighting, the British broke through the line on October 8 at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. The German Collapse As events on the battlefield unfolded, Ludendorff suffered a breakdown on September 28. Recovering his nerve, he went to Hindenburg that evening and stated that there was no alternative but to seek an armistice. The next day, the Kaiser and senior members of the government were advised of this at the headquarters in Spa, Belgium. In January 1918, President Wilson had produced Fourteen Points on which an honorable peace guaranteeing future world harmony could be made. It was on the basis of these points that the German government elected to approach the Allies. The German position was further complicated by a deteriorating situation in Germany as shortages and political unrest swept the country. Appointing the moderate Prince Max of Baden as his chancellor, the Kaiser understood that Germany would need to democratize as part of any peace process. Final Weeks At the front, Ludendorff began to recover his nerve and the army, though retreating, was contesting each bit of ground. Advancing, the Allies continued to drive towards the German frontier (Map). Unwilling to give up the fight, Ludendorff composed a proclamation which defied the Chancellor and renounced Wilsons peace proposals. Though retracted, a copy reached Berlin inciting the Reichstag against the army. Summoned to the capital, Ludendorff was compelled to resign on October 26. As the army conducted a fighting retreat, the German High Seas Fleet was ordered to sea for one final sortie on October 30. Rather than sail, the crews broke into mutiny and took to the streets of Wilhelmshaven. By November 3, the mutiny had reached Kiel as well. As revolution swept across Germany, Prince Max appointed moderate General Wilhelm Groener to replace Ludendorff and ensured that any armistice delegation would include civilian as well as military members. On November 7, Prince Max was advised by Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Majority Socialists, that the Kaiser would need to abdicate to prevent an all-out revolution. He passed this on to the Kaiser and on November 9, with Berlin in turmoil, turned the government over Ebert. Peace at Last At Spa, the Kaiser fantasized about turning the army against his own people, but was ultimately convinced to step down on November 9. Exiled to Holland, he formally abdicated on November 28. As events unfolded in Germany, the peace delegation, led by Matthias Erzberger crossed the lines. Meeting aboard a railroad car in the Forest of Compià ¨gne, the Germans were presented with Fochs terms for an armistice. These included the evacuation of occupied territory (including Alsace-Lorraine), military evacuation of the west bank of the Rhine, surrender of the High Seas Fleet, surrender of large quantities of military equipment, reparations for war damage, repudiation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, as well as acceptance of continuation of the Allied blockade. Informed of the Kaisers departure and the fall of his government, Erzberger was unable to obtain instructions from Berlin. Finally reaching Hindenburg in Spa, he was told to sign at any cost as an armistice was absolutely necessary. Complying, the delegation agreed to Fochs terms after three days of talks and signed between 5:12 and 5:20 AM on November 11. At 11:00 AM the armistice went into effect ending over four years of bloody conflict. Test your knowledge of the battles of WWI.