Key Facts
- Duration
- 47 days (Sep 26 – Nov 11, 1918)
- U.S. troops involved
- 1.2 million
- Total Allied forces
- ~2 million (incl. French & Siamese)
- Total casualties
- Over 350,000
- American deaths
- 26,277
- German deaths
- 28,000
Strategic Narrative Overview
Launching on September 26, 1918, over one million American soldiers alongside French and Siamese troops attacked heavily fortified German positions. Early phases were hampered by inexperienced troops, difficult wooded terrain, and a severe Spanish flu outbreak that compounded battlefield losses. Despite heavy casualties and slow initial progress, Allied forces steadily broke through successive German defensive lines over 47 days of fighting.
01 / The Origins
By mid-1918, the Allied powers sought a decisive blow against the German Empire on the Western Front. The United States, having entered the war in 1917, committed its American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to a major offensive in the Meuse River and Argonne Forest region of northeastern France. The operation formed part of the broader Hundred Days Offensive, a coordinated Allied effort to collapse German lines before winter.
03 / The Outcome
The offensive concluded with the Armistice of November 11, 1918, ending World War I. German forces had been pushed back and their defensive capacity exhausted along this sector of the front. The campaign's enormous cost—over 350,000 Allied casualties—underscored both the scale of American involvement and the devastating final weeks of the war on the Western Front.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
John J. Pershing, Henri Gouraud.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.