The Hundred Days Campaign and the Armistice

The End of the War

In the spring and early summer of 1918, the Germans launched a series of massive offensives against the British and French. They hoped to win the war before the Americans, who joined the war in April 1917, could send sufficient forces to Europe to tip the balance permanently in the Allies’ favour. Though initially quite successful, these offensives had stalled by July. It was at this time that the Allies planned a series of counterstrokes that would eventually defeat the Germans and end the war. These Allied offensives have come to be known as the Hundred Days Campaign and Canadian troops played an enormous role in their success.

Front page of an English language newspaper, the Halifax Herald. A small map shows the path of German U-boats along the east coasts of the USA and Canada. Relevant headlines have been transposed. — <em>The Halifax Herald</em>, 13 August 1918

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Over the course of the Hundred Days Campaign the Canadian press relished in reporting Allied advances. Rumours of the collapse of the German army and the end of the war were rife throughout the summer and fall of 1918. Headlines denouncing the Germans and promoting Allied - particularly Canadian - successes are transcribed below.
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THE HUNDRED DAYS CAMPAIGN

The Hundred Days campaign began with the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918. The Canadian and Australian Corps, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog and backed by some 400 tanks and the element of surprise, drove deeply into German lines, advancing 13 kilometres in a single day. It had been important to conceal the whereabouts of the crack Canadian Corps since its location often pointed to an impending assault. While it was not possible to exploit very far beyond the first day’s gains, it was clear at Amiens that the Germans’ morale had cracked, both in the field and in the high command. They suffered 27,000 casualties and lost hundreds of artillery pieces as well as thousands of machine guns and mortars.

The Canadians’ next objective was Cambrai, an important transportation centre and a pillar of German defences in the West. The Canadian Corps launched its assault on 26 August and in two days had advanced five miles. Pausing to allow their artillery to pummel the German defences and cut much of the barbed wire entanglements, on 2 September the Canadians attacked the Drocourt-Quéant Line and, despite fierce German resistance, had penetrated the enemy defences by nightfall. The Germans were obliged to withdraw to the Hindenburg Line. In two days’ hard fighting the Canadian Corps had suffered some 5,500 casualties. On 27 September they breached the Canal du Nord and finally captured Cambrai on 11 October, following another very difficult battle.

The Germans retreated and the Canadians pursued them to Valenciennes and, crossing into Belgium, to Mons where on 11 November news reached them of the Armistice coming into effect at 11 a.m. that morning. The war was over. The Hundred Days Campaign might have further solidified the Canadians’ reputation as superb shock troops, but those three months had cost Canada 45,000 casualties, more than during any comparable period of the war.

Black and white photograph. A large group of German prisoners of war gather along the side of a river. Rubble and shrubs litter the ground. Ruins surround the men. — German Prisoners of War

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Black and white photograph. Across an abandoned city square, filled with rubble, several individual soldiers can be seen walking. Smoke fills the air. — Canadians in Cambrai, 9 October 1918

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Black and white photograph. Canadians in Valenciennes amongst a crowd of cheering French citizens. They wave various allied flags. The faces of men, women, and children are all joyous. — Canadians in Valenciennes, November 1918

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Black and white photograph. 42nd Battalion, playing bagpipes, marches a crowd of French citizens the streets of Mons. — 42nd Battalion in Mons

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Black and white photograph. A group of Canadian soldiers, playing bag pipes, marches through a crowded, cobblestoned street. Buildings line the street, and the group appears to be approaching an open area. French flags hang from buildings. — Canadians Marching Through Mons

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Black and white map uses different patterns to distinguish between Germany in 1914 and Germany in 1919. Land around the country was ceded to Belgium, Poland, France, and Czecho-Slovakia. Key cities and bordering countries are shown on the map. — Germany Territorial Losses After the War

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The treaty of Versailles gave Poland substantial territorial gains, including access to a port via the Danzig Corridor, which separated part of Germany from the main body of the country. This map compares Germany's 1914 borders to Germany after the Peace Treaty of 1919, indicating the land lost by Germany (and ceded to Poland, France, Belgium, or the "Associated Powers") and which areas will have their ownership decided by plebiscite. It notes that the Rivers Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Oder and Vistula have been internationalised.
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The First World War officially ended following the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty redrew the map of Europe, reducing the land holdings of Germany and allotting those territories to Belgium and France. Among other stipulations, Germany also faced economic and military restrictions, and was obliged to pay war reparations to other combatant countries. Finally, Germany was also compelled to accept sole responsibility for starting the war, a stipulation which fuelled German resentment towards Allied nations.