Editing German spring offensive (section)

==''Blücher–Yorck''==
[[File:The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 Q6677.jpg|thumb|French and British troops marching back through Passy-sur-Marne, 29 May 1918.]]

{{Main article|Third Battle of the Aisne}}
While ''Georgette'' ground to a halt, a new attack on French positions was planned to draw forces further away from the Channel and allow renewed German progress in the north. The strategic objective remained to split the British and the French and gain victory before American forces could make their presence felt on the battlefield. The Americans were originally deployed in the quiet [[Saint-Mihiel]] sector in Lorraine where they had their first significant engagement in the defence of [[Seicheprey]] on 20 April. After the British had held off the ''Michael'' advance on the Somme, the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|US 1st Division]] was moved to reinforce the line in that sector in mid-April and launched their first attack of the war on [[Battle of Cantigny|Cantigny on 28 May 1918]].<ref name="AHM30">{{cite book |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/030/30-22/CMH_Pub_30-22.pdf |title=American Military History |publisher=Center of Military History, US Army |year=2005 |editor=Richard W. Stewart |volume=II |page=30 |access-date=2 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908062649/https://history.army.mil/html/books/030/30-22/CMH_Pub_30-22.pdf |archive-date=8 September 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The German attack took place on 27 May, between [[Soissons]] and [[Reims]]. The sector was partly held by four depleted British divisions which were "resting" after their exertions earlier in the year. In this sector, the defences had not been developed in depth, mainly due to the obstinacy of the commander of the French Sixth Army, General [[Denis Auguste Duchêne]].{{sfn|Edmonds|1939|pp=39–40}} As a result, the German creeping barrage was very effective and the Allied front, with a few notable exceptions, collapsed. Duchêne's massing of his troops in the forward trenches also meant there were no local reserves to delay the Germans once the front had broken. Despite French and British resistance on the flanks, German troops advanced to the [[Marne River]] and Paris seemed a realistic objective. There was a frenzied atmosphere in Paris, which German long-range guns had been shelling since 21 March, with many citizens fleeing and the government drawing up plans to evacuate to Bordeaux.<ref>Hart 2008, p.296</ref>

Yet again, losses were much the same on each side: {{nowrap|127,000 Allied}} and {{nowrap|130,000 German}} casualties up to 6 June.<ref name=marix105>Marix Evans, p.105</ref> German losses were again mainly from the difficult-to-replace assault divisions.