Battle of the Meuse-Argonne from the German Perspective

De: Hermann von Giehrl

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

The final 42 days of World War I—seen not through triumph, but through the eyes of the defeated.
In Battle of the Meuse-Argonne from the German Perspective, a rare and remarkably candid account written by a German Army staff officer, the French and American forces are the enemy—but nationalistic fervor is notably absent. Originally published in 1921 in The Infantry Journal, this day-by-day military analysis offers an unfiltered German perspective on the largest and deadliest American-led campaign of the war.

Major von Giehrl, writing as a soldier—not a propagandist or politician—breaks the Meuse-Argonne offensive into three hard-fought phases:

• September 26–29: The initial shock

• October 4–16: Attrition and collapse

• November 1–11: The final unraveling

With each passing day, von Giehrl documents shifting front lines, diminishing supplies, falling morale, and mounting casualties—on both sides. His reflections on the battle-weary French and German troops are piercing in their honesty. But it is his description of the newly arrived Americans—young, bold, and still untouched by terror—that adds a haunting poignancy to this military chronicle.

When the Americans arrived in Europe, the tide changed. This is how it looked through the eyes of the defeated. More than a battlefield report, this is a soldier’s farewell to a world shattered by four years of modern war. It is sobering, thoughtful, and uncomfortably relevant.