French Stinks of Shallow Buried Dead, where Tommy stands at the Periscope.

Tired out, after nine months he's shed. All fear, all faith, all hate, all hope.

Robert Graves

Hello and welcome to the When Diplomacy Fails Special on World War I, episode 20.9, 1918.

It has been a long, long road to get here, folks, so if you've forgotten our considerable journey,

you should really re-equaint yourself,

because it is quite a story, I'm sure you'll agree.

Today is the day we conclude our World War I special,

so thanks for being a part of the reason I began this podcast all those months ago.

Before I break into nostalgic song, I think we should just jump right into it,

so I will now take

you to the year, 1918.

1918 was meant to be the year that Germany, free from its Russian commitments, could

finally bring its full force to bear against the Western allies of Britain and France, before

the manpower of America could

make any kind of impact. It was an ambitious plan and totally the opposite of the original

Schleifen plan that had brought the country to make war in the first place. If you remember back

to the first two episodes where I lamented on the planned German military strategy, then you'll

see what I mean. In the summer of 1914, Germany expected to take France quickly out of the

equation, restrict Britain at sea, and then turn towards Russia, with the help of Austria, and

wage war against it, probably for a few months, until Germany realized its full potential as master of the European continent.

Then, if required, it could turn its attention towards Britain, or if Britain was not an issue

...