Kittikhun
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- 2010
US didn't enter until 1918. what did they bring?
The US entered the war in April 1917 after the German Navy started their tactic of unrestricted submarine warfare once more.
You are right about the US not contributing much to the war effort. During the March Offensive of 1918, only one US Division was on the line on the start of the offensive, even after nearly a year had passed since the US declared war on Germany and its allies. I think the only US Division on the line during the start of the German offensive was the 1st US Infantry Division, commonly known as the 'Big Red One'- the division that assaulted Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 on D-Day with the US V Corps. This is due mainly to the fault of US General Pershing who believed that US soldiers needed more time to adjust to the concept of trench warfare. However, after the German March Offensive failed and the Allies counter-attacked with the One Hundred Days Offensive, the US contributed greatly in terms of manpower and material to the last days of the war.
Tanks have changed warfare since their introduction in World War One. In its first action at Flers-Courcelette in coordination with a combined British and Canadian assault on the village on September 16, 1916, during the Somme Campaign, the effects were-
*The tanks broke the stalemate of trench warfare for the most part (they tended to break down or get stuck in the ubiquitous mud and rain frequently) with their mobility, ruggedness, unpenetrable armour and use of machine guns and future implementation of light cannon (though, artillery and mortar fire could really mess up a tank).
*The German soldiers were confused and did not know how to repulse the tanks.
*Demoralised German infantry to go with their small and poor rations!- as previously stated and which should go with the previous point but what the hell.
*the Allies gained one of the biggest gains of ground in the whole Somme campaign before the tanks broke down or became bogged down in the sodding mud.
*Allied infantry soon learned how to work with tanks during an attack together with a 'walking barrage' (using the tanks for cover during an advance, which was still being used during the North African campaign during World War Two) effectively and ingeniously and these tactics would be become very useful later for future Allied campaigns.
*it improved the morale of Allied soldiers and helped a lot in future campaigns (Battle of Cambrai, for example) with their tremendous advantage of mobile armour and firepower as the Germans did not acquire tanks until 1918 and of which was the A7V where only small numbers of the prototype was built.
*the development of anti-tank weapons and anti-tank tactics such as anti-tank ditches was born.
*The concept of mobile warfare was being born and with the poor performance of horse cavalry on the Western Front, the use of cavalry in warfare was now obsolete and dead and never to be used again after the Australian Light Horse Beersheba attack in Palestine in 1917.
Note- The common belief of Polish cavalry charging German tanks during the start of the German Polish Campaign in World War Two is completely false and each history teacher who tells you that Polish cavalry actually in fact did charge impetuously against German armour should deserve a hard smack across the face and an immediate stop to watching unreliable documentaries!
That's about it, I think. It's not much and I can't think of any more than that but I'll look into it.
The US entered the war in April 1917 after the German Navy started their tactic of unrestricted submarine warfare once more.
You are right about the US not contributing much to the war effort. During the March Offensive of 1918, only one US Division was on the line on the start of the offensive, even after nearly a year had passed since the US declared war on Germany and its allies. I think the only US Division on the line during the start of the German offensive was the 1st US Infantry Division, commonly known as the 'Big Red One'- the division that assaulted Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 on D-Day with the US V Corps. This is due mainly to the fault of US General Pershing who believed that US soldiers needed more time to adjust to the concept of trench warfare. However, after the German March Offensive failed and the Allies counter-attacked with the One Hundred Days Offensive, the US contributed greatly in terms of manpower and material to the last days of the war.
Tanks have changed warfare since their introduction in World War One. In its first action at Flers-Courcelette in coordination with a combined British and Canadian assault on the village on September 16, 1916, during the Somme Campaign, the effects were-
*The tanks broke the stalemate of trench warfare for the most part (they tended to break down or get stuck in the ubiquitous mud and rain frequently) with their mobility, ruggedness, unpenetrable armour and use of machine guns and future implementation of light cannon (though, artillery and mortar fire could really mess up a tank).
*The German soldiers were confused and did not know how to repulse the tanks.
*Demoralised German infantry to go with their small and poor rations!- as previously stated and which should go with the previous point but what the hell.
*the Allies gained one of the biggest gains of ground in the whole Somme campaign before the tanks broke down or became bogged down in the sodding mud.
*Allied infantry soon learned how to work with tanks during an attack together with a 'walking barrage' (using the tanks for cover during an advance, which was still being used during the North African campaign during World War Two) effectively and ingeniously and these tactics would be become very useful later for future Allied campaigns.
*it improved the morale of Allied soldiers and helped a lot in future campaigns (Battle of Cambrai, for example) with their tremendous advantage of mobile armour and firepower as the Germans did not acquire tanks until 1918 and of which was the A7V where only small numbers of the prototype was built.
*the development of anti-tank weapons and anti-tank tactics such as anti-tank ditches was born.
*The concept of mobile warfare was being born and with the poor performance of horse cavalry on the Western Front, the use of cavalry in warfare was now obsolete and dead and never to be used again after the Australian Light Horse Beersheba attack in Palestine in 1917.
Note- The common belief of Polish cavalry charging German tanks during the start of the German Polish Campaign in World War Two is completely false and each history teacher who tells you that Polish cavalry actually in fact did charge impetuously against German armour should deserve a hard smack across the face and an immediate stop to watching unreliable documentaries!
That's about it, I think. It's not much and I can't think of any more than that but I'll look into it.
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