The Second Battle of the Marne was the last major German offensive of World War 1. It began on July 15, 1918, and ended on August 6, 1918. The Germans were hoping to win the war with this offensive, but they were unsuccessful. In fact, they lost ground, and many of their commanders, including Crown Prince Wilhelm, believed that the war was lost.
The battle was fought from July 15 to August 5, 1918, in the final year of World War 1. German Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff believed that the war could be won by attacking Flanders, so he launched a diversionary attack in the Marne region of France.
The goal was to lure Allied forces away from Belgium and weaken their defenses in Flanders. However, the Allies were prepared for the German attack and were able to repel it.
The Battle
The Second Battle of the Marne was launched in July 1918, following an earlier German push towards Paris. The Germans had recaptured the Chemin des Dames ridge, a strategic position that had been lost in the 1917 Nivelle Offensive.
On the day of the offensive, 23 German divisions attacked the French Fourth Army to the east of Reims. A further 17 divisions attacked the French Sixth Army to the west. The Germans aimed to split the French forces and capture Reims.
The French were joined by 85,000 U.S. forces and troops from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The BEF was primarily located in Flanders, but some troops were sent to the Marne.
The German attack to the east of Reims was a failure and was halted on the first day. The attack to the west of Reims was more successful, breaking through the French Sixth Army and crossing the Marne at Dormans. However, the French Ninth Army, supported by British, American, and Italian troops, halted the German advance on July 17.
With the Germans having failed to break through, Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch authorized a counter-offensive on July 18. The counter-offensive was launched by 24 divisions of the French army, in addition to U.S., British, and Italian troops and some 350 tanks. The aim of the counter-offensive was to eliminate the large German salient among the French lines.
The counter-offensive was successful, with Mangin's French Tenth Army and Degoutte's Sixth Army advancing five miles on the first day alone. Berthelot's French Fifth Army and Eben's Ninth Army meanwhile launched subsidiary attacks in the west.
The Germans were forced to retreat on July 20, and by August 3, they were back where they had started at the launch of the great spring 1918 offensive. The Allied counter-offensive was finally halted on August 6 by the now solidly entrenched Germans.
The casualties were high, with France suffering 95,000 casualties, Germany 168,000, Britain 13,000, and the U.S. 12,000.
As a consequence of the disastrous result in the Marne, Ludendorff's planned Flanders offensive was initially postponed, then entirely canceled.
No further large-scale attempt to win the war was undertaken.