Hundred Days Offensive

For the final period of Napoleon's rule that coincided with the War of the Seventh Coalition, see Hundred Days.

Hundred Days Offensive
Part of the Western Front of World War I

Allied gains in late 1918
Date8 August – 11 November 1918
Location
Amiens, France to Mons, Belgium
Result

Allied victory

Belligerents
 France
 British Empire
 United States
Belgium Belgium
 Italy[1][2]
 Portugal
Siam		  German Empire
 Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
French Third Republic Ferdinand Foch[a]
French Third Republic Philippe Pétain[b]
French Third Republic Paul Maistre[c]
French Third Republic Émile Fayolle[d]
French Third Republic Noël Castelnau[e]
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Douglas Haig[f]
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Henry Wilson[g]
United States John J. Pershing[h]
Belgium King Albert I[i]
Tamagnini de Abreu[j]
Gomes da Costa[k]		 German Empire Paul von Hindenburg[l]
German Empire Erich Ludendorff[m]
German Empire Wilhelm Groener[n]
German Empire Max von Gallwitz[o]
German Empire Rupprecht of Bavaria[p]
German Empire Wilhelm of Prussia[q]
German Empire Max von Boehn[r]
German Empire Albrecht of Württemberg[s]
Strength
Strength on 11 November 1918:[3]
French Third Republic c. 2,559,000
British Empire c. 1,900,000
United States c. 1,900,000[t]
Belgium c. 190,000		 Strength on 11 November 1918:[3]
German Empire c. 3,562,000
Casualties and losses
18 July – 11 November:
1,070,000[4]
French Third Republic 531,000
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 412,000
United States 127,000		 18 July – 11 November:
German Empire 1,172,075+[4]
100,000+ killed
685,733 wounded
386,342 captured
6,700 artillery pieces
Breakdown
  • Men and material captured, by country
    • BEF: 188,700 prisoners, 2,840 guns[5]
    • French: 139,000 prisoners, 1,880 guns[6]
    • US: 44,142 prisoners, 1,481 guns[6]
    • Belgian: 14,500 prisoners, 414 guns[6]
Austria-Hungary 17,500[7]
2,500 killed
5,000 captured
10,000 wounded

The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Western Front, the Allies pushed the Imperial German Army back, undoing its gains from the German spring offensive (21 March – 18 July).

The Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line, but the Allies broke through the line with a series of victories, starting with the Battle of St Quentin Canal on 29 September. The offensive led directly to the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended the war with an Allied victory. The term "Hundred Days Offensive" does not refer to a battle or strategy, but rather the rapid series of Allied victories.

  1. ^ Caracciolo, M. Le truppe italiane in Francia. Mondadori. Milan 1929
  2. ^ Julien Sapori, Les troupes italiennes en France pendant la première guerre mondiale, éditions Anovi, 2008
  3. ^ a b Neiberg p. 95
  4. ^ a b Tucker 2014, p. 634.
  5. ^ Bond 1990, p. 20.
  6. ^ a b c Reid 2006, p. 448.
  7. ^ Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire During the Great War 1914–1920, The War Office, pp. 356–357.


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