Chapter 9 Chapter 8 1917: The Great Counteroffensive

The year 1917 was full of crises for both the Allied Powers and the Allied Powers, and the situation in Russia deteriorated in particular. At the beginning of the year, the Tsar sent a peace test to Austria-Hungary, preparing to negotiate a separate peace with the Allied Powers.After the news came out, Britain and France panicked. The British ambassador to Russia Buchanan began plotting with the left-wing hardline leaders in the Russian Congress to abolish the tsarist regime and establish a democratic republic.Before the British ambassador could do anything, riots broke out in the capital Petersburg at the end of February. The police shot and killed the demonstrators and atrocities aroused the mutiny of the troops. He lost control of the situation, and at this moment, like a lost child, he called senior generals and the Speaker of the National Assembly to ask: What should I do?Almost everyone wants him to abdicate. On March 15, when the Tsar personally wrote the abdication edict and gave up the throne to his brother, Duke Mitchell, the situation had changed drastically. A provisional government headed by Prince Lvov had been established in the capital, and the Romanov dynasty came to an end.This is the "February Revolution" in history.But at this time, there was a unique phenomenon in Russia where the provisional government representing the landlord class and the bourgeoisie and the Soviet regime representing the workers, peasants and proletariat coexisted.

On March 20, the Provisional Government issued an announcement stating that it would resolutely fulfill the obligations of the Allied Powers and carry the war to the end. On May 1, the interim government issued a note to the allies, reiterating its position that it would strictly fulfill its obligations.This foreign policy violated the will of the people, indicating that the Provisional Government had not learned the lesson of the collapse of the Tsarist regime. On June 5, the Russian Provisional Government removed Alexeiev from the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army and appointed Brusilov to take over the highest command of the Russian army.

As early as early January, the 12th Army of the Russian Northern Front launched a "Battle of Mitava".At the beginning, the Russian army made little progress, and then suffered a head-on blow from the German 8th Army, losing 23,000 people, but gaining nothing. In order to get rid of the domestic difficulties, the provisional government after the "February Revolution" decided to launch a major offensive, under the command of Brusilov.Beginning on June 29, the Russian Southwest Front Army first launched an attack on the Austrian Army. A week later, it made a breakthrough south of Stanislav. Some units of the upper Russian army began to refuse to execute the order to attack, so that the Russian army could not expand the results of the battle. On July 19, the German army arrived and launched a counterattack. The morale of the Russian army collapsed. Many troops gave up their positions without fighting and disbanded to go home.

The failure of the Russian Army's "June Offensive" aroused large-scale demonstrations in the capital Petersburg. The provisional government ended the situation where the two regimes coexisted through suppression. Kerensky became the new head of the government and Minister of War.The new cabinet originally planned to make the highly prestigious Brusilov the head of the government, but he firmly opposed any unnecessary sacrifices and risks, so he became a thorn in the side of many government officials. On July 30, a telegram from Kerensky dismissed Brusilov as Supreme Commander and replaced him with Kornilov. On September 1, Guttel commanded the German 8th Army to attack Riga. Guttel adopted a new "infiltration tactic" to break through the Russian defense line and cross the West Dvina River. On September 2, the Russian army retreated one after another, and the German army occupied Riga, an important military town in the north, on the way.After the fall of Riga, Kornilov, commander-in-chief of the Russian army, immediately ordered the 3rd Cavalry Army to march towards the capital and launch a military coup, but the troops refused to obey and scattered on the way.The provisional government, which had defied the hearts of the people and suffered defeats, was also in desperate situation at this time.

On November 7, 1917 (October 25th in the Russian calendar), the Bolshevik Party organized an armed uprising, overthrew the Provisional Government, and established the Soviet Socialist Republic, which was a proletarian regime and country. The events of the "October Revolution in Russia" later proved to be of epoch-making significance.The secret of success at that time was to take advantage of the general and strong anti-war and war-weariness mentality of the Russian people, and use "bread and peace" as the call to win the enthusiastic support of the broad masses of the people.

On November 9, the Soviet government announced the first decree, the peace decree, suggesting that all belligerent countries immediately sign a peace treaty that is fair, democratic, and does not cede territory or pay compensation.Due to the confrontation in ideology and interests, the Allied Powers expressed silence on this, and supported the command of Du Hening, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army based in Mogilev, and encouraged him to form another government team.The Allies were willing to start negotiations to end the two-front war so that troops from the East could be used on the West.So the Soviet government turned to negotiate with the Allies alone, and at the same time relieved Du Hening who did not implement the order, and Captain Krylenko, the Military People's Commissar, served as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. On December 2, the peace talks delegation of the Soviet government held talks with delegations from Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey in Brest-Litovsk. On December 15, the two sides signed a one-month temporary armistice agreement, stipulating that if one side terminates the armistice, it must notify the other party seven days in advance.

On December 22, the two sides entered substantive negotiations, and the Soviet government concluded that the basic principles were no land cession and no compensation. On December 25, Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Czernin, on behalf of the delegation of the four countries, declared that he was ready to agree to the basic principles of the Soviet government, but he added a condition: the Allied countries only promised to do so when other countries of the Allied Powers also fulfilled these basic principles. Fulfill obligations.This paved the way for the later forced Soviet government to sign a humiliating peace treaty that lost a large area of ​​​​territory.Chernin's statement was fiercely opposed in Germany by military hardliners.Ludendorff accused Hoffmann, the German representative and chief of staff on the Eastern Front, saying: "How can you let this note appear? We must acquire new territories to defend East Prussia." Hindenburg asked the Kaiser that the military To exert a decisive influence on the peace talks and assume full responsibility.

On January 9, 1918, the peace talks resumed. The Allied countries resolutely refused to continue the negotiations based on the Soviet government’s general peace proposal on the grounds that other countries refused to participate in the negotiations, emphasizing that at present only the issue of a separate peace negotiation can be discussed.The breakaway Ukrainian delegation appeared again in the conference hall. On January 18, the German representative Hoffmann showed Trotsky, the head of the Soviet delegation, a new map with changed borders, explaining the terms of the peace treaty. According to these terms, the western part of Russia that was originally occupied by Germany Territories, Poland, Lithuania, part of Latvia and part of Belarus are incorporated into Germany.The border south of Brest-Litovsk was negotiated with independent Ukraine.

At that time, the old Russian army was in a state of disintegration, and large numbers of troops on the front line abandoned their positions, leaving behind artillery and military supplies and retreating to the rear. This phenomenon could not be stopped.Although the decree on the establishment of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army had just been passed on January 28, the new army had not yet been established, and the new regime was unable to hold a long front, and had no way out except to accept a harsh peace treaty.There were three views in the Soviet government on the peace treaty. Bukharin believed that signing the peace treaty was a collusion with German imperialism and a betrayal of the world revolution. He advocated stopping the negotiations immediately and declaring a revolutionary war to Germany and its allies.Trotsky advocated neither a peace treaty nor a war, and unilaterally declared the end of the war and demobilized the army.He had illusions about the impending revolution of the German proletariat.Lenin believed that as long as the conditions did not damage the achievement of the "October Revolution" - the dictatorship of the proletariat, even under the harshest conditions, a peace treaty should be concluded as soon as possible.Lenin clearly instructed Trotsky that as long as the Germans do not issue an ultimatum, they will insist on not making concessions. Once the ultimatum is issued, they will sign the peace treaty and do not insist on it. For a harsh peace treaty. On February 9, the German representative and Foreign Minister Kühlmann demanded that the Soviet government delegation immediately sign the peace treaty proposed by Germany.The next day, Trotsky read a statement: the Soviet government will not sign the peace treaty, but to end the war and demobilize the army.The German representatives declared that if they refused to conclude a peace treaty, they would resume war operations.Trotsky categorically stated that it was impossible to continue the negotiations.At this point, the peace talks broke down.Trotsky turned a deaf ear to Lenin's instructions and insisted on going his own way, putting the Soviet state in an extremely dangerous situation.

On the evening of February 16, the Soviet government received a notification from the German side that on February 18, the German army would resume military operations.The Germans did not abide by the agreement that seven days' notice must be given before the suspension of the armistice.The German and Austrian troops launched an offensive along the entire Eastern Front on February 18. The Russian army was vulnerable and defeated like a mountain. The German and Austrian troops penetrated two to three hundred kilometers into the Russian border in five days.On the second day of the offensive, the Soviet government telegraphed the German government, agreeing to sign the previously rejected peace treaty, and urgently sent a special envoy to send a copy of the telegram to the attacking German army.But the Germans were in no rush to answer.It was not until February 23 that the Soviet government received an ultimatum from the German government, with even harsher conditions than two weeks earlier.The ultimatum demanded that the Russian army immediately withdraw from the Baltic Sea coast, Finland and Ukraine, return Anatolia to Turkey, conclude a treaty with the independent Ukrainian government, demobilize the army, and restore the unequal 1904 Russian-German trade treaty to Russia. Ultimatums are to be answered within 48 hours.The next day the Soviet government announced its acceptance of the ultimatum and sent a delegation to Brest-Litovsk. On March 3, the two sides signed the peace treaty.Compared with before the war, Russia ceded about 1 million square kilometers of territory, with a population of about 50 million, accounting for one-third of the country's total population, where coal production accounted for 90% of the country, iron ore accounted for 70%, and also included the country's industrial 54% of the and 30% of the railways.

The "Brest-Litovsk Treaty" was indeed an unfortunate peace treaty for the nascent Soviet government, but the history of war has proved that signing a peace treaty at the moment of failure is a means of gathering strength.In the case of great disparity between the strong and the weak, if the weak insist on not compromising, it will be tantamount to self-destruction. On November 9, 1918, the bourgeois democratic revolution broke out in Germany, and the Hohenzollern dynasty fell.Germany and its allies were ultimately defeated in World War I. On November 13, the Soviet government announced the abrogation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.Facts show that Lenin's decision-making and the Soviet government's humiliation are extremely wise and correct. After Russia withdrew from the war, Romania immediately became an outcast without the protection of giants, and was forced to sign a peace treaty with the Allied countries in Bucharest on May 7, 1918.South Dobroja was ceded to Bulgaria, and North Dobroja was placed under the joint administration of Germany, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria.Germany monopolized Romania's oil and grain exports.However, in return for the cooperation of Margeloman's government, Germany and its allies allowed Romania to annex Russia's Bessarabia. From 1914 to 1916, the United States stayed out of the battlefield as a neutral country. While watching from the sidelines, it did business with both sides of the war and made a lot of war money.Because the navies of the allied countries imposed a naval blockade on Germany, the trade between the United States and Germany was difficult, but the trade with the allied countries such as Britain and France was very smooth.Also in terms of loans, as of April 1917, the Allied countries had received 2 billion U.S. dollars in loans from the United States, while Germany had only received 20 million U.S. dollars in loans.The war progressed less than 3 years, and the Allied countries were heavily in debt, but the United States became their big creditor.If one of the Allies fails, the United States will not even try to recover its debts, and will inevitably suffer huge economic losses.An invisible hand has tipped the United States toward the Entente bloc. The immediate reason for the United States to enter the war was Germany's declaration of "unrestricted submarine warfare."As early as August 20 and October 29, 1914, the United Kingdom revised the 1909 "London Declaration" twice, announcing a naval blockade against Germany and Austria.Britain's move was very risky diplomatically, because it violated the interests of neutral countries that had trade relations with Germany and Austria, especially the United States.However, out of retaliation, on February 4, 1915, Germany announced that it would blockade the waters around Britain with submarines, and that no matter what kind of ships entered the blockade area, they would attack them.This made the countries that traded with Britain, especially the United States, deeply dissatisfied. On May 7, 1915, the British luxury liner "Lusitania" was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 without warning off the coast of Ireland. Among the 1,198 people killed, 124 American people.On August 19 of that year, another British cruise ship, the "Arabia", was sunk, killing four Americans.Germany's approach aroused the anger of the United States, forcing the Kaiser to announce on September 1, 2001: Stop submarine attacks on passenger ships and neutral ships.However, on February 21, 1916, Germany announced that starting from March 1, all armed merchant ships will be regarded as warships and will be attacked without warning. On March 24, a German submarine attacked a British merchant ship, killing seven Americans on board.The U.S. government immediately threatened to sever diplomatic relations between the two countries, and Germany had to make another concession, announcing on May 15 that it would abandon the principle of sinking without warning.Clearly, American anger over German submarine warfare extended far beyond the British naval blockade. As time went by, the German military felt that the prospect of war became more and more remote, and felt helpless about how to win as soon as possible.At this time, the Chief of Staff of the German Navy, Holt Endorff, made careful calculations and concluded that if a full-scale submarine warfare is carried out, the British resistance will collapse within half a year at most, and only submarine warfare can win the entire war.As a naval expert, he assured Congress that even if the United States entered the war, due to the power of submarine warfare, not a single American soldier would land in Europe.The German Supreme Command accepted this concept, and concluded through an analysis of the US military status that it would take at least a year for the US military to truly participate in the war as a new force.But Germany only needs half a year to force Britain to surrender.This is the idea of ​​the Germans launching the "indefinite submarine warfare" in 1917, all based on precise calculations. In fact, this calculation method is wrong. Until the end of the war, Britain's will to resist was not affected by submarine warfare at all. The 2 million troops of the United States also reached Europe, and German submarines did not kill a single American soldier at the bottom of the sea.Churchill disclosed after the war that Britain had long been aware of the possible harm caused by German submarine warfare. According to Churchill, Britain's resistance was like a 10-ton bridge, while Germany's submarine warfare was only an 8-ton submarine. Trucks, it's unrealistic to say that the car almost broke the bridge, and in fact there will never be such a chance.At the beginning, the British exclaimed loudly about Germany's submarine warfare. It was really a strategy to induce Germany to resort to unlimited submarine warfare. The purpose was to make Germany anger the United States and use German submarines to drag the Americans into the vortex of war. The Germans, on the other hand, saw submarine warfare as a winning weapon, even at the risk of the United States fighting against them. On January 9, 1917, Kaiser Wilhelm II issued a secret order to all naval ships: From February 1, unrestricted submarine warfare will be launched with the utmost effort. On January 31, Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States, notified the U.S. government of Germany's decision. The Americans were caught off guard and it was too late to protest. On February 3, U.S. President Wilson announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany and warned that he would take further action if U.S. ships were sunk and American lives were lost due to a German submarine attack.This is tantamount to telling Germany to rein in the precipice. Just when the relationship between the United States and Germany was extremely tense, another incident happened. On January 17, the British naval intelligence unit deciphered a secret message sent by German Foreign Minister Zimeimann to the ambassador in Mexico. The content said that if the United States entered the war, Germany would form an alliance with Mexico to deal with the United States, on the condition that Germany send Mexico Provide a lot of financial support, agree that Mexico regains the territories ceded to the United States in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in the past, and ask the President of Mexico to come forward to persuade Japan to join the Triple Alliance and jointly fight against the United States.The British delivered the deciphered message to the US ambassador to the UK Page at just the right time, that is, on February 23. On March 1, the "Zimmermann Telegram" became the headlines of all newspapers in the United States. Soon the German government foolishly admitted that this telegram was true, and its boldness was astonishing.The U.S. ruling and opposition parties were finally angered. On March 16, two American merchant ships were sunk by German submarines.The news of the revolution in Russia has come. It is obvious that Russia on the Eastern Front has collapsed, and Britain and France are in danger on the Western Front. The war situation will turn sharply downward.The U.S. government feels that the time has come to turn things around and cannot wait any longer. On April 2, President Wilson delivered a speech to Congress, calling for a declaration of war on Germany. The reasons for declaring war were both righteous and high-sounding. On April 6, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution declaring war on Germany by a vote of 82 to 6 and the House of Representatives by a vote of 373 to 50. When the United States declared war on Germany, its army had only 200,000 people, its weapons were outdated, and the quality of its officers and soldiers was not high. In mid-May, the U.S. Congress passed the military service law, whose nature is compulsory military service. In order to facilitate the passage of Congress, it is called "electionary service".According to the plan of the U.S. military, if all goes well, by the end of 1918, the U.S. military can expand to 1 million people.In order to inspire the hearts of the Allies and as a symbol of the determination of the U.S. military to participate in the war, at the end of June 1917, General Pershing, commander of the U.S. Expeditionary Force, led the U.S. 1st Division to the European continent in Saint-Nazaire, France.The participation of the United States in the war determines the course and final outcome of the war. At the beginning of the new year in 1917, General Nivelle, the commander of the French Second Army, passed the command level of the army group and was directly promoted to the commander-in-chief of the French Army.Joffre was dismissed from the post of commander-in-chief because of his long-term domineering and meaningless struggle for two years.Neville was only an army commander during the Battle of Verdun. In the middle of the battle, Pétain was promoted to the commander of the French Army Group Central, and Nevel took over as the 2nd Army.During his defense of Verdun, his set of counter-offensive tactics achieved great success, making it difficult for the German army to move forward.Nivelle believed too much in his own experience, thinking that by applying the successful method of Verdun to the entire front, victory would be within easy reach. Nivelle's combat plan is: concentrate 1.2 million troops, and implement a pincer attack on a tongue-shaped protrusion in the Noiron area on the German defense line. The British army cuts into the root of the "tongue-shaped part" eastward in Arras. Reams cut into another "root" to the north, and the two armies closed the encirclement in Saint-Quentin and Guise, and wiped out the German army in the salient.The French Minister of War, Paynle, found Nivelle's plan so rash, and asked to resign, not wanting to take responsibility.British Prime Minister Lloyd George, on the other hand, admired his plan almost to the point of fascination.When the British generals were puzzled, Neville said confidently: "We can win everything within 24 to 48 hours." The German army had long been worried about the Nuwaron salient. On February 9, Ludendorff accepted Ruprecht's suggestion and began to withdraw the German army from the salient to the strong Siegfried line of defense (the Allied forces called it Hindenburg line of defense).The Germans did the most thorough damage to the area during the retreat, leaving it in ruins, and the retreat was completed on 5 April.The Germans straightened their lines and the huge salient disappeared.However, the Germans earned the title of "Huns" for this act of sabotage. After Nevel got the news that the German army was retreating from the salient, he insisted at first that it was impossible. When the troops cautiously entered the vacuumed salient and the news was confirmed, Nevel angrily accused the Germans of not using such shameless tricks.But he still did not give up the planned offensive. On April 6, the French military and political leaders held a final decision meeting at the Supreme Command in Kangbian.In view of the fact that the German defense line had been shortened and the defensive force had increased in thickness, Petain, Chief of Staff of the French Army, opposed this offensive and advocated caution.Neville believes that the greater the number of enemies, the greater the victory.In the end, he threatened to resign. Most of the participants were military laymen. On April 9, the British 3rd Army first launched an attack in Arras in order to mobilize the main force of the enemy to go north and achieve the goal of attacking the west. However, five days ago, the German army found a combat order from a French prisoner, so Learned the main attack direction of the coalition forces. On April 16, Nivelle issued a majestic offensive order: "The time has come! Confidence! Courage! Long live France!" The 5th and 6th French armies, led by 228 tanks, fought in dense formations and waves. The charge began.Neville was originally scheduled to win a complete victory within 48 hours, but the fierce battle continued until April 20, and only a few high grounds on the German defense line were captured.The French government learned that the army had suffered heavy casualties and insisted on stopping the campaign.The Nivelles offensive lasted only 5 days, and the French army suffered 180,000 casualties, the British army suffered 160,000 casualties, and the German army lost about 160,000 people. After the failure of the British and French offensive, Nevel was dismissed. On May 17, Petain took over as commander-in-chief of the French army.Petain's strategy is to stop all attacks, hold the existing positions, and wait for the main force of the US military to arrive before making a big move.From May 25 to June 10, a total of 80 serious "collective mutiny" cases occurred, involving about 45 divisions.The troops refused to fight and disobeyed orders. Some seized cars and trains and drove to Paris to support the workers' strike, and some organized soldiers' committees to replace the commanders.Pétain acted both hard and soft, pacifying and suppressing at the same time. It was not until mid-July of that year that the large-scale riots within the French army disappeared.A total of 23,385 people in the French army were convicted and 4,312 were sentenced to death.One of the two Russian brigades sent to fight in France also mutinied. The French government sent another Russian brigade to suppress it with force.The French wartime news blockade was very strict, and the outside world had never heard of the large-scale mutiny of the French army. Otherwise, if the German army took the opportunity to launch an attack, the consequences would be unimaginable. After the failure of the Nivelles offensive, the British commander-in-chief Haig decided to take a major breakthrough with the French army, but Pétain told him that the morale of the French army was low and they could not act before the end of July.Haig decided to go it alone.Haig had prepared for this attack as early as the previous year. It took him 15 months to secretly dig 24 tunnels under the Mason Ridge, fill them with 600 tons of yellow explosives, and lead them directly to the German positions. 25 to 50 meters deep. Before the British 2nd Army launched an attack on June 7, 19 tunnels of explosives were detonated, because two of them had been discovered and destroyed by the German army, and the other three had not been detonated due to malfunctions.When the engineers pressed the button, thunder rolled across the ground, landslides and ground cracked. British Prime Minister Lloyd George, who was far away at No. 10 Downing Street in London, England, also felt the ground tremble.The crater after the explosion was more than 30 meters deep and 130 meters in diameter.In this explosion alone, the German army killed and injured about 20,000 people.After the explosion, the British army rushed in from the gap, occupied the second line of defense at dusk, and captured more than 7,300 German troops.Afterwards, the German army launched a counterattack, and the battle lasted for several days. After paying the price of 25,000 people, the British army finally held the new position. Mason's victory stimulated the coalition forces. On July 31, Haig launched the so-called "Third Battle of Ypres" and decided to destroy the German submarine base on the Flemish coast.The British 5th Army was the main attack, and the British 1st and 2nd Armies supported the attack.The opponent is the German 4th Army.During the entire autumn battle, both sides tried their best and fought hard battles rarely seen in the Great War. Most of the 260 coalition tanks were trapped in the swamp and were destroyed by German artillery fire. The swamp became a tank cemetery.Sometimes it rained for ten days in a row, and the British army seemed to be rolling in mud.This huge war of attrition ended on November 10 in a world of ice and snow.The result was that the British occupied some high ground without a decisive victory.The British suffered about 245,000 casualties, the French 50,000, and the Germans 270,000. The smoke of the Ypres battlefield has not yet cleared. On November 20, the British 3rd Army of General Byrne launched the Battle of Cambrai. adverse effects.The battle lasted nine days, and the British failed to consolidate their initial gains. On November 29, the battle ended with the Germans regaining previously lost positions, and the two sides drew a draw.However, the tanks used in this battle are of great significance and have had a huge impact on the style of warfare after the 20th century. For the first time, the British army used tanks intensively and established the tank army.Ellis was commander of the army and Fuller was chief of staff.In order to cross the 12-foot-wide anti-tank trench of the German army, each tank carried a large bundle of firewood into the trench, and the tank drove through the trench from above.Shrouded in dense fog at dawn, hundreds of tanks followed the 200 barrage of barrages. The five British divisions were divided into several attack waves and followed the tank clusters. They broke through the four German defense lines within six hours.The two German divisions in the offensive sector were smashed, and 8,000 Germans were captured, while the British lost only 4,000.Due to the proper tactics of the tank attack, the 6-hour victory surpassed the third battle of Ypres which lasted 4 months.But by nightfall, more than a third of the tanks were out of action due to breakdowns and shelling.The British army did not have great hopes for the results of the battle, and was unprepared for a breakthrough in development, so they were at a loss in the face of such a great success, and neither advanced nor retreated.A few days later, the occupied positions were gradually abandoned under the German counterattack.During the battle, the German anti-tank operations were also very good. The German artillery used trucks to tow field guns, maneuvered to meet the tanks, and deployed 88mm anti-aircraft guns on the reverse slope. target.In addition, German aircraft also carried out aerial bombardment of British tanks.In short, Cambrai battlefield is the cradle of modern mechanized warfare. In April 1917, in order to cooperate with the offensive on the Western Front, Nivelle sent Foch to Italy and asked Cadorna to launch an offensive on the Italian front as a response.At the same time, a plan to aid Italy was drawn up.After the Nivelles offensive failed, the Italian army delayed the so-called "10th Battle of Isonzo River" on May 14.By the end of the battle on June 8, the Italian army had captured some territory in the Isonzo River and Trento area, but no decisive results were achieved.In this campaign, the Italian army suffered more than 150,000 casualties and captured more than 120,000 Austrian soldiers. On August 18, Cadorna concentrated 52 divisions and 5,000 artillery pieces, and launched the last and 11th battle of the Isonzo River.The 2nd and 3rd armies of the Italian army attacked north and south of Gorizia respectively. The goal was to seize the natural mountainous area in order to stabilize the front line of defense.Confronting the Italians was the 5th Austrian Army.The attack of the Italian 3rd Army in the south was strongly blocked by the Austrian army, and was contained on August 23, with little success and great losses.The 3rd Army of the Italian Army in the north progressed relatively smoothly and achieved significant results.Two of the armies forcibly crossed the Isonzo River and captured the strategic Bayinzatai Plateau.However, because the artillery and supplies could not keep up, the Italian High Command stopped the attack on August 29. The attack launched by Italy put Austria-Hungary in a difficult situation. The Chief of Staff of the Austrian Army Konrad believed that the only way to restore the decline was to turn to the offensive. He asked Ludendorff to provide 12 German divisions to assist the offensive.Ludendorff found that Austria-Hungary had a tendency to negotiate a separate peace due to its new defeat, so he decided to send troops to help, but he told Conrad that he could only send 7 German divisions.As a result, these 7 German divisions and 8 Austrian divisions were combined into the 14th Army, under the command of General von Bello of Germany. On October 23, the Austro-German allied forces launched an attack on the front line of Plezzo-Tolmino-Gorizia, and used General Guter's "infiltration tactics" in the Battle of Riga, Russia to break through the Italian defense line.The 14th Army of the Audemars Piguet made significant progress in the direction of Plezzo and Tolmino. The Italian army was vulnerable and collapsed across the board. The Italian king, who was inspecting the front line, was almost captured in Wuding, the headquarters of the Italian army.On the second day of the offensive, the Austro-German coalition forces occupied Caporetto in one fell swoop.The battle was thus named the Battle of Caporetto. On October 26, Cadorna ordered the retreat to the Tagliamento River, and the Austro-German army invaded the Italian mainland for the first time. On that day, the Bozzelli government resigned and Orlando became prime minister. On November 2, the Austrian army forcibly crossed the Tagliamento River, but the Italian army was powerless to resist and retreated to the Piave River again. On November 8, Cadorna was removed from the position of Chief of Staff of the Italian Army and replaced by Armando Diaz. On November 10, the Austro-German allied forces began to launch another offensive, and the 11th Austrian Army on the Trento side also launched an offensive.By the end of December, the fronts of both sides had stabilized along the Piave River.Five divisions of the British army and six divisions of the French army have also arrived on the Italian battlefield. The Battle of Caporetto was one of the most important battles of World War I. The two sides invested a total of 2.5 million troops and was the largest mountain battle.The Italian army killed 10,000 people, wounded 30,000, captured 300,000, and another 400,000 were disbanded and became stragglers.The German army highly used the combat principles of targeting, concentration, surprise attack, and economy, and combined them perfectly, thus achieving a frontal breakthrough that was rare in the war.The defeat of Italy hastened the Allied process of establishing a unified Allied Army command.At the Rapallo meeting from November 5th to 7th, it was decided to establish a high-level military committee composed of heads of all allied countries and representatives of the staff headquarters of Britain, France, Italy, and the United States. At the Chantilly Conference on November 15, 1916, the Allies demanded that the Allied forces in Thessaloniki launch an offensive in 1917 to defeat the Bulgarian army. From April 25 to May 23, 1917, a total of 660,000 Allied forces attacked the Bulgarian army. Due to the lack of heavy artillery and mutiny within the French army, they were forced to stop after 20,000 casualties.The ratio of the coalition forces to attack is: 240,000 British troops, 200,000 French troops, 130,000 Serbian troops, 50,000 Italian troops, 17,000 Russian troops, and 23,000 Greek troops. On June 14, under the persecution of the Allied Powers, King Constantine of Greece abdicated, and his son Alexander succeeded to the throne and appointed Venizelos to form a cabinet. On June 29, Greece joined the war on the side of the Allies.In the same month, the Serbian government on Corfu Island and the Yugoslav Committee in London jointly issued the "Corfu Declaration" to establish a unified country for the South Slavs, including Serbs, Horvathians, Slovenians, and Serbia and Negoslavia. Romania, Austria-Hungary, the southern Slavic lands. In Mesopotamia, after the British Army Townsend's troops were forced to surrender, the British army immediately began to gather strength. By the end of 1916, the new commander Maude commanded an army to re-launch the offensive. The British army occupied the Turkish army 2:1 The advantages. On February 24, 1917, after a month and a half of fierce fighting, the Turkish Sixth Army was defeated and retreated to Baghdad. On March 9, the British and Turkish armies clashed again. After tenacious fighting, the Turkish army was forced to retreat further to Mosul. On March 11, British troops occupied Baghdad.Although the victory of the British army in Mesopotamia was insignificant to the main battlefield of the Great War, it was a great spiritual encouragement to the Allies who had suffered repeated setbacks in the past year. While the British army marched towards Baghdad, the troops of Russian Baratov also turned to attack on March 2, 1917. By April 4, the Russian army had successively captured Hamadan and Hanakin. Later, because the troops were not acclimatized, they had to withdraw to the Persian mountains. On June 10, according to the joint operation agreement between the British and Russian armies, the Russian army launched an attack on the Turkish army in the direction of Mosul. On July 5, the Turkish army switched to a counterattack and drove the Russian army back to its original starting position. In September, the British army took advantage of the opportunity that the Turkish army was attracted by the Russian army to launch a strike, achieved great results, and reached the border area of ​​​​Mosul province. On the Palestine front, the British army attacked the Turkish military strongholds in the Gaza Strip twice in March and April 1917, but both were repelled, and the British army suffered heavy casualties.Allenby soon succeeded Maury in command. On October 30, 1917, the strengthened British army launched a surprise attack on the Beersheba area. After a week of fighting, on November 6, it broke through the frontal defense line of the Turkish army and forced it to retreat.However, an important prerequisite for desert warfare is the guarantee of water. After the British army won the victory, due to the lack of water for men and horses, it was impossible to further expand the fruits of victory. On November 9, Allenby changed his offensive target to the coastal areas of Gaza, and occupied Jaffa on November 17.Then they turned around again and occupied the historic city of Jerusalem on December 9.At the end of the year, due to the exhaustion of the British army and the onset of the local rainy season, the British army stopped fighting.The British victory in Palestine, like Mesopotamia, had little effect on the main battlefield, and from a grand strategic point of view it was an indirect route to the goal.