World War One question

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>>2136718
>Without the arrival of fresh American soldiers to not only reinforce Allied troops but boost their moral with the knowledge that they would be reinforced in the first place, could the Spring Offensive have succeeded
Well, after the Nivelle Offensive failed disastrously in 1917 and much of the French Army mutinied, Petain declared that no more major offensives would be taken until the Americans arrived. France was taken very near to the brink of social disintegration like the kind Russia was facing at the same time.
>If, in the "worst" case scenario, they were able to take Paris, would this force the Allies to end the war on Germany's terms?
France would likely capitulate, and experience MASSIVE political unrest if not revolution, given the communist and pacifist sentiments that were promulgating within it. I believe the United Kingdom would withdraw the BEF and continue the war in other fronts, like Italy, Greece, or Mesopotamia/Palestine. Germany would move its troops from the silenced Western Front to answer, and the war would continue. From there, I can't really say who would win, as I don't know how far Germany would go to keep its people fed with the Russian land it seized at Brest-Litovsk.

Hope this helps answer somewhat.

Also, I'd like to ask another question. What if, instead of the Spring Offensive, Germany deployed its troops in simultaneous offensives against Italy, the Salonica front, and the Ottoman front?

The Central Powers were running out of food by 1918 and American forces played only a marginal role in the actual combat on the Western Front. It's doubtful Germany could have won even if the American Expeditionary Force had never been deployed to Europe. American loans and weapons sales to the Entente played a much more significant role, and that would have not have gone away had France or Italy surrendered. The British made plans to continue the war from the Middle East on this basis in 1917 and still believed they were going to win

>>2136733
This does help, thanks anon.

>>2136752
So basically even if the American reinforcements weren't a factor and France had been knocked out of the war, American supplies would allow the British to continue prosecuting the war effort on other fronts, something Germany and the other Central Powers might not be able to do due to their food/supply situation. Alright, that makes sense. Thanks as well, anon.

>>2136769
American reinforcements did not *actually* make the difference in 1918 because the Entente was able to reestablish their defenses anyway. But the threat of future, unlimited American manpower was one significant factor in the German high command's recognition that the war was lost

>>2136775
I see, so American reinforcements were less of a danger in the matter of conventional warfare then they were in terms of morale, increasing that of the Entente will damaging that of the Central Powers. Makes sense, given that both sides would be hardened and experienced while the American troops would be new recruits.

>>2136795
Less morale than strategic calculation, and less a matter of battle-hardened vs green than one-legged 55yo men vs not

>>2136733
I'd like to add that German control over France would likely also lead to an early start to the Irish War of Independence, which would have received major German backing.

>>2136874
Simply continuing the war (with or without American aid) would likely have caused this. The Irish were not willing to accept another round of conscription and Labour was not willing to accept another round in urban Britain if Ireland was exempted

>>2136882
It would have also been far more bloody, as Germany could ship arms to the Irish through captured French ports, and the British had much more leeway with a global war as pretext for harsh measures.

>>2136718
The Germans had no chance at all. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, but they had a huge amount of men still available even without the Americans arriving, by late 1916 there were huge food shortages in Germany and almost all civilians were starving.
The French mutinies did not put the French out of the war at all, almost all were prepared to continue fighting and were actively defending their positions.
The British were very much capable of supporting them and leading offensives for them until they recovered.

>>2136934
>The French mutinies did not put the French out of the war at all
Bullshit.

The situation was so bad after the mutinies that all major offensives were off the table.

>" "I am waiting for the tanks and the Americans."
>Philippe Petain
What would he say without tanks and Americans?

>>2136944
>The situation was so bad after the mutinies that all major offensives were off the table.
Because they were not advancing, but were still defending. It didn't matter anyway because the British had plenty of men who could fight for them.

>What would he say without tanks and Americans?
The Americans supplied no significant tanks, when he was referring to tanks he was meaning French/British tanks. American troops arrived very slowly and so the Spring offensive and later offensives were won without much American support.

The American commitment was very limited, even after their arrival the only relevant offensive that they were involved in was the Argonne

>>2136952
The morale boost that the Americans gave was all-important in helping to put down the mutinies. Without that promise of aid, there was already significant pacifist and communist sentiment in the French Army. France WOULD have experienced collapse. Not a military collapse, but a societal one.

>>2136959
Maybe, but that doesn't mean it was actually physical military force that America provided in which won the war for them.

Also, the Mutinies were resolved by Petain by him provided extended rest periods and more frequent rotations

>>2136970
>but that doesn't mean it was actually physical military force that America provided in which won the war for them.
Fair point, but that's not what I'm arguing. All warring powers were pushed to the brink socially. Russia was the first to fall, and France was very nearly the next to go.