Waged from 18 to 22 July between the French with American and British assistance and the German armies, the battle was part of the much larger Allied Aisne-Marne counter-offensive.
As these were the main supply routes for the German forces in the Marne salient, cutting them would severely impair the Germans' ability to supply its armies defending it. This would force them to retreat and give up their gains. The Russian withdrawal from the war after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March freed 42 German divisions which had been fighting on the Eastern Front , providing a temporary numeric advantage over the Allies on the Western Front.
The first two offensives, Michael and Georgette , were aimed at the British armies. The objectives were to separate the British and French forces, to push the British armies back to the English Channel and to cut the rail line through Hazebrouck , the main supply line for the British force. The fourth offensive, Gneisenau , was an attempt by the Germans to straighten the line from Noyon to Montdidier between the two large salients created by the first three offensives.
The fifth and final spring offensive, Marneschutz-Reims , was two-pronged, aimed at capturing Reims and its rail center, giving the Germans complete control of the Reims—Soissons rail line. When the United States entered the war in , the United States Army was in a woeful state of unpreparedness. It had approximately , M Springfield rifles on hand, about light field guns , heavy field guns, and fewer than 1, machine guns of four non-interchangeable types.
In the aviation section there were 55 training airplanes, all obsolete. Of the 65 officers and about 1, men there were 35 officers who could fly, five of whom were combat ready. The U. But until the United States actually entered the war, nothing had been done to carry it out. Little if any action was taken to increase the size of the United States Army and no action was taken to equip or train it. Pershing and his staff, a United States Army division comprised roughly 28, men including officers.
