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Hindeburg Line Construction


andrew pugh

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Good Evening All.

Could anybody tell me please,Considering all the planning, time, hard work and effort given to the construction of the Hindenburg Line, did the Germans antisipate being pushed back to these positions to warrant its construction.

Regards Andy.

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Andy;

Hindenburg and Ludendorff ordered its construction with the express intention of retiring behind it.

It shortened their front by removing a bulge and permitted them to economise around 10 infantry divisions worth of troops as a result.

It wasn't built as a 'you-never-know-we-might-need-it one-day' construction. It was built to enable the strategic retirement that duly followed.

David Stevenson observes, in his '1914 - 1918: The history of the First World War' that "foreseeing new Allied attacks in the West they withdrew in February to a new defensive line known as the Siegfried Stellung .... enabling the creation of a strategic reserve 1.3 million strong".

He goes on to say that, despite this foresight the German command team seemed to have" little idea how to win the war, except for hoping that the unrestricted U-Boat campaign would do it for them".

The withdrawal to the Siegried / Hindenburg lines dislocated the Nivelle Offensive (the details of which were, in any case, well-known to the German high command).

The shattering of that offensive, upon which so much hope had been placed, led to the French Army mutinies of spring 1917.

Simon.

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Good Evening All.

Could anybody tell me please,Considering all the planning, time, hard work and effort given to the construction of the Hindenburg Line, did the Germans antisipate being pushed back to these positions to warrant its construction.

Regards Andy.

As Simon says, the line was built because the Germans at the time had a shortage of manpower. They were not pushed back from a tactical point of view, they chose when and how to fall back and kept the initiative throughout. From a strategic point of view, it is quite possible to say that the losses on the Somme had forced the shortening of the line.

At the time the line was built, German hopes were pinned on bringing the Entente to the treaty table where they could hope to extract some territorial advantage from the war. It was hoped that the Hindenburg line would allow that to happen. Of course, the collapse of the Eastern front and the American entry on the side of the Entente changed everything and enforced a change of strategy.

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Apart from shortening the front the Hindenburg-line also gave the Germans another advantage: a new, strongly fortified defensive line. Which the Allies would not have.

When their voluntary retreat began in february 1917 the Germans totally destroyed the area between the old and the new frontline. And I mean totally: entire towns & villages were razed to the ground after the population was evacuated, roads were blocked, water wells contaminated, trees cut, etc.

So when the allies moved forward, rushing after the "fleeing" Germans, all they found was a ±30 km deep wasteland. without any defensive positions.

Meanwhile the Germans were waiting for them, hidden away in brand new trenches and bunkers.

It would take the Allies another 1,5 years to permanently break the Hindenburg-line.

Roel

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Without a doubt it was a strategic withdraw. And small harassing rear guard actions were fought over the old Somme grounds as the Allies began their forward movement. This new year would also mark the German use in elastic defense. The withdraw practically nullified Nivelle's offensive.

I concur with Tom's observations that Somme casualties had influence in the timing and construction of the Line.

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Jack Sheldon has written one of the most important contributions on this subject. He covers the building of the Hindenburg Line, and the associated decision-making processes, in 'The German Army at Cambrai'. It is an excellent chapter and well worth getting hold of if you are keen to learn more.

It should be noted that the 'line' was not fully completed, in depth, before the British and French forces reached it. Furthermore, parts of the line were located poorly.

Robert

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