Demoralized and Depleted
While their tactics were sound, the German Army was on its last legs by the time of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Most of the German divisions were made up of young boys and old men (defense divisions or Stellungsdivisionen) while the remaining divisions with high quality troops (attack divisions or Angriffsdivisionen) had been practically destroyed during the German 1918 Spring Offensives. Food was short, morale was low and desertion rates were high. Because of this, it would only be a matter of time before the German lines collapsed under the American onslaught, yet the Deutsches Heer was still able to put up a determined and stubborn defense.[1]
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