This talk analyses German higher-level operational command in the First World War through a case study of the Allied spring 1917 offensive (the battle of Arras and Nivelle offensive) and how the German army defeated it. Topics include the relationship between traditional principles, military organisation and personal factors; the increasing importance of intelligence; the difficulty of converting learning into performance; and the system for mitigating attrition.
Dr Tony Cowan was awarded his PhD by King’s College London.
His book Holding Out: The German Army and Operational Command in 1917 will be published by Cambridge University Press in spring. He has lectured and written about German higher-level command in the First World War, regional identities in the German army, the development of German defensive tactics and the state of the army at the end of 1916. He edited a translation of the German official monograph on the battle of Amiens and he was one of the historians on the British army’s major staff rides in 2016 and 2018 studying the lessons of the First World War.
Link to Register for the talk is here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-german-army-in-1917-by-dr-tony-cowan-tickets-513843789607