Fourth episode of a series of five: the Battle of Matz (1918) Freed from the Russian front from December 1917, the Germans mounted a series of offensive operations on the Western Front in early 1918. From tactical success to tactical success, they advanced without obtaining a decisive strategic result. On the other side, we adapted and the Battle of Matz was the first where the French mounted a rapid and effective counter-offensive, halting the enemy's efforts. Among the factors that allowed such an adaptation, we must talk about the evolution of the infantry. Because from 1914 to 1918, it changed profoundly to the point of becoming unrecognizable... and of involving new technical, material and organizational issues alongside a figure of the soldier made up of specialization, refined supervision and motorization. Member channel of the Hérodote Label https://label-herodote.com/ Sources: 1-François Cochet and Rémy Porte, History of the French Army 1914-1918, Paris, 2017 2-Hervé Drévillon and Olivier Wieviorka (dir), Military History of France. II From 1870 to the present day, Paris, 2018 3-Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, Great War, Total War Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918, Washington DC, 2006 4-Michel Goya, The Invention of Modern Warfare - From the Red Trousers to the Tank (1871 - 1918), Paris, 2019 5-François Cochet, The Great War - End of a World, Beginning of a Century, Paris, 2014 6-David T. Zabecki, The German 1918 Offensives A Case Study in The Operational Level of War, New York, 2006 7-Elizabeth Greenhalgh, Cambridge The French Army and the First World War, Cambridge, 2014 8-Holger H. Herwig, The First World War. Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918, London, 2014 9-Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, The First World War (History of Warfare), London, 1999 10-Peter Hart, The Great War A Combat History of the First World War, Oxford, 2013 11-Goya, Michel. "The French Army and the Military Revolution of the First World War", Politique étrangère, vol. , no. 1, 2014, pp. 87-99. 12-Henri Ortholan, La guerre des chars, Paris, 2007. Note: -The concept of the Triple Entente refers to the alliance between France, Russia and Great Britain. This no longer holds after Russia's exit from the conflict and with the expansion of the conflict to other countries such as Belgium or the United States. Although this creates confusion for me with the Triple Alliance, the French camp is later called the Allied camp, while the German camp is called the Central States camp. We will use this name again. / surlechampdebataille / surlechampfr To support the channel financially: https://www.helloasso.com/association... Original theme music composed by Julien Théron and remixed by Clément BOTZ / Symphony Blacksmith. Logo designed by Camille Sanchez. 0:00 Introduction 01:09 Episode framework 02:30 In the East, too much new 04:30 The Spring offensives 07:44 Objective of Operation Gneisenau 10:41 The Battle of Matz 14:34 Consequences 15:45 From division to squad 17:44 The infantry division in 1918 18:57 New power of the company 20:50 A specialized infantry 22:51 Material implications 23:54 The end of the rifleman 26:51 The technology of the section 28:45 Triple improvement of the infantry 29:50 Integration of the truck 31:24 Truck and operational mobility 34:46 Conclusion 36:55 Credits