Talk:Third Battle of the Aisne

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An entry from Third Battle of the Aisne appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 7 October 2005.

[edit] Good job

Nice work Spawnman! If you could though, it would be nice to return in the aftermth to a few topics you mention in the intro. A few questions still remain, and as i am completely ignorant on the matter, maybe you can expand a bit.

• For example, did the divisionary attack work? Did the allied troops need to redeploy?
• You say they captured 50,000 men; that seems like quite a victory, but the battle seems to be characterized as a draw with minor German gains.
• Was the German position sustainable? You note the advance was halted, and it had several problems (supply lines, counter attacks), so perhaps a kind of sketch as to the German position in the end would be nice. Were they surrounded, resupplied or something else?

The main bulk is looking good; i like your writing style, its very clear and to the point! --The Minister of War 07:22, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. To answer a few of your points:

• The German territory gain was quite big. They after all, did actually reach within 60 km of Paris, something which had not ben seen since 1914, see Great Retreat & First Battle of the Marne. So although the Germans gained lots in territory, they still lost the battle due to the fact that they basically ran out of steam at the last hurdle.
• I would assume the diversionary attack worked, as there were quite a few large-scale battles as the offensive continued. Also, the British troops mentioned, had recently been redeployed on the Aisne from Flanders before the subject battle.
• I'm not quite sure however, what exactly you mean by, was the German position sustainable?
• I'm glad you like my writing style...

Thanks. Spawn Man 11:49, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, this does clarify quite nicely; they'd make a nice addition to the article as well imho. But to see if i get you right, you mention that the attack was meant to ease the front in Flanders; does your answer mean that they were in fact succesful in diverting allied forces from Flanders to Paris?

About sustainable, you mention that the Germans run out of steam, but in the aftermath there is no mention of the consequences of this. To me it implies they were unable to hold the position, but maybe thats just me. Still, you note at the end that "Ludendorff, encouraged by the gains of Blucher-Yorck, would launch further offensives cumulating in the Second Battle of the Marne." implying they launched these offensives from this new position. So were they able to solve the supply line problem? --The Minister of War 12:56, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

Hi,

• Yes, I'm pretty sure that some forces were diverted from Flanders to the Aisne, although I haven't a clear or precise source on this.
• The German position was sustainable, but they could not actually capture Paris like they thought due to those ailments. NOTE: I didn't actually write the, "Ludendorff, encouraged by the gains of Blucher-Yorck, would launch further offensives cumulating in the Second Battle of the Marne", line. Someone else did. However I would presume that maybe while defending themselves from the Allied counter-attacks, their morale perked up, or the got supplies\reinforcements, & were able to launch the Second Battle of the Marne. I myself am not an actual expert on the topic, I just wrote down what my sources told me (very secret service!). So I would think that the person who wrote the above line would be better informed on that stage of the battle.... Thanks. Spawn Man 22:22, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 0.5 nom

This article was nominated for Wikipedia:Version 0.5 I failed this article because it has no references, well-written though, maybe try to combine the 3 Aisne battles together. Thanks Jaranda ^{wat's sup} 06:20, 6 June 2006 (UTC)