American Expeditionary Forces in Europe 1917-1918 from the German Perspective

Herman von Giehrl, a highly decorated member of the German General Staff, wrote this detailed, candid, but ultimately woeful tale of a great power’s ambitions thwarted by the arrival of American forces. It was originally published in 1921 in the German military journal, Wissen und Wehr. In this highly informative, emotional, yet objective work, we learn why the Germans embarked on unrestricted submarine warfare (and the unintended consequences), their staff estimates of the strengths and weaknesses of the young American forces, the courses of actions planned before the Americans interceded, and how the Americans’ arrival radically changed those plans for the balance of the war. Von Giehrl fought at the winter battle in Masuria and the battle of Gorlice-Tarnów in 1915; and was subsequently assigned to the General Staffs of the IX Reserve Corps and the XVI Army Corps. He was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) of the Military Max Joseph Order in October 1918 for the planning of the Abwehrschlacht (defensive battle) and the tactical retreats at the front, “in which the Aisne was crossed without appreciable losses.” After the war, von Giehrl worked in the War Department of the Grand General Staff in Berlin. When the Reichswehr was formed in 1919, he became head of the news department in the Reichswehrministerium (Defense Ministry). He was promoted to oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) on October 4, 1921 and selected early the next year to command the III Battalions in the 4th (Prussian) infantry regiment, where he remained until passing away in early 1923.