Conflict & Dates:
The Second Battle of the Marne lasted from July 15 to August 6, 1918, and was fought during World War I.
Armies & Commanders:
Allies
- Marshall Ferdinand Foch
- 44 French divisions, 8 American divisions, 4 British divisions, and 2 Italian divisions
Germany
- Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff
- 52 divisions
Second Battle of the Marne Overview:
Despite the failure of his earlier Spring Offensives, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff continued to seek a breakthrough on the Western Front before large numbers of American troops arrived in Europe. Believing that the decisive blow should come in Flanders, Ludendorff planned a diversionary offensive at the Marne with the goal of pulling Allied troops south from his intended target. This plan called for an attack south through the salient caused by the Aisne Offensive of late May and early June as well as a second assault to the east of Reims.
In the west, Ludendorff assembled seventeen divisions of General Max von Boehm's Seventh Army and additional troops from the Ninth Army to strike at the French Sixth Army led by General Jean Degoutte. In Champagne, twenty-three divisions of Generals Bruno von Mudra and Karl von Einem's First and Third Armies were poised to attack General Henri Gouraud's French Fourth Army. In advancing on both sides of Reims, Ludendorff hoped to split the French forces in the area. Supporting the troops in the lines, the French were buttressed by approximately 85,000 Americans, as well as the British XXII Corps.
Attacking on July 15, Ludendorff's assault in Champagne quickly bogged down. Utilizing an elastic defense-in-depth, Gouraud’s troops were able to quickly contain and defeat the German thrust. Taking heavy losses, the Germans halted the offensive around 11:00 AM and it was not resumed. For his actions, Gouraud earned the nickname the "Lion of Champagne." While Mudra and Einem were being halted, their comrades to the west faired better. Breaking through Degoutte's lines, the Germans were able to cross the Marne at Dormans and Boehm soon held a bridgehead nine miles wide by four miles deep.
The French Ninth Army, which had been held in reserve, was rushed forward to aid the Sixth Army and seal the breach. Aided by American, British, and Italian troops, the French were able to halt the Germans on July 17. Seeing an opportunity, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, ordered a long-planned, large-scale counteroffensive to commence the next day. Committing twenty-four French divisions, as well as American, British, and Italian formations to the attack, Foch sought to eliminate the salient in the line caused by the earlier Aisne Offensive.
Slamming into the Germans with Degoutte's Sixth Army and General Charles Mangin's Tenth Army (including the 1st and 2nd US Divisions) in the lead, the Allies began to drive the Germans back. While the Fifth and Ninth Armies conducted secondary attacks on the eastern side of the salient, the Sixth and Tenth advanced five miles on the first day. Under heavy pressure, Ludendorff ordered a retreat on July 20. Pushing forward, the Allies liberated Soissons, at the northwest corner of the salient on August 2, which threatened to trap those German troops remaining in the salient.
The next day, German troops moved back into the lines they occupied at the beginning of the Spring Offensives. Attacking these positions on August 6, Allied troops were repulsed by a stubborn German defense. The salient retaken, the Allies dug in to consolidate their gains and prepare for further offensive action.
Aftermath:
The fighting along the Marne cost the Germans around 139,000 dead and wounded as well as 29,367 captured. Allied dead and wounded numbered: 95,165 French, 16,552 British, and 12,000 Americans. The final German offensive of the war, its defeat led many senior German commanders, such as Crown Prince Wilhelm, to believe that the war had been lost. Due to the severity of the defeat, Ludendorff cancelled his planned offensive in Flanders. The counterattack at the Marne was first in a series of Allied offensives that would ultimately end the war. Two days after the battle's end, British troops attacked at Amiens.
