Second Marne (3h 35min, jul 15, 1918 y – 10h 11min, aug 4, 1918 y)
Description:
July 15-Aug 4, 1918: Second Marne
A two-phase battle that marked the beginning of the end for German hopes of victory. It began with the last great German offensive of the summer (Operation Friedensturm), an advance from the tip of the Champagne salient formed by Blücher that was designed to establish bridgeheads across the Marne, threaten the capital and cut the Paris- Nancy railway.
But forewarned, the French met the attack head-on and held it on the river. Then on July 18 – in a curious echo of the First Marne battle in 1914 – a Franco-American force with 300 tanks counterattacked the vulnerable German flank.
By the time the fighting ended on August 4, the Allies had driven the Germans back to the Aisne (snuffing out most of the Champagne bulge) and had re-established the vital railway link between Paris and Châlons-sur-Marne.
Germany had been forced on the defensive and would remain there for the rest of the war.
Allied victory
Western front
In particular, the Germans suffered approximately 168,000 casualties, while the Allied forces lost 120,000 military members (France: 95,000; Britain: 13,000; United States: 12,000). Despite the heavy casualties, the Allies eventually won the Second Battle of Marne when German commanders demanded a retreat on July 20th.
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