Passchendaele, Cambrai, and Messines Ridge: The major battles of 1917

In early 1917, the German forces had retreated to a better defensive position, known as the Hindenburg Line.

The new line was strengthened by a series of fortifications, and it was thought to be almost impenetrable. 

In response, Douglas Haig, who was the commander of the British forces in France, decided that it was time to assault the Hindenburg Line.

In March 1917, the British and French began planning offensives, but over the course of the rest of the year, the Allies struggled to break through the line, even with the help of new artillery tactics and tanks.

In April of 1917, the British and Australian forces launched an attack against the Germans at Bullecourt.

The First Battle of Bullecourt took place on the 11th of April. Australian infantry advanced, protected by the tanks.

However, German artillery quickly disabled the tanks and, while the Australians were able to seize part of the German trenches, they were cut off from reinforcements. 

This meant that, by the time the Germans counterattacked, the Australians were forced to withdraw and give up all of their gains.

This was a disastrous defeat for the Allies, and resulted in over 11,000 casualties.

There was a Second Battle of Bullecourt, which was part of the larger Battle of Arras, that began on the 3rd of May, 1917.

Once more, the Australians advanced and captured part of the German trenches.

This time, British reinforcements helped them fight off the subsequent German counterattacks and they were able to hold their gains.

By the 15th of May, the Germans finally withdrew from the town.

Around the same time, the Battle of Arras took place. It began on April 9th and lasted until May 3rd.

This was a British and French offensive that aimed to push the Germans back from their positions in Arras, France.

This battle became most famous for the use of underground tunnels by the British to surprise the Germans.

Also, one of the most significant roles was played by Canadian troops when they captured Vimy Ridge to help swing the conflict against the Germans.

The battle was largely successful, with the Allies recapturing most of the territory that had been lost to the Germans in this region.

The next significant battle took place around two months later. It was known as the Battle of Messines Ridge. 

Taking place between the 7th and 14th of June, British and Belgian armies tried to capture the German-held ridge near Messines, Belgium.

This was to be a precursor to the much larger Battle of Passchendaele.

It began with the detonation of 19 underground mines, which created huge craters.

It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.

At its end, the battle was considered to be a resounding success, with the Allies capturing all of the objectives they had set out to achieve.

One of the biggest and most famous battles of this year was the Third Battle of Ypres, which is also known as the Battle of Passchendaele.

It lasted for almost five months, from July 1917 until November. Once more, the British and French worked together to try and seize the German lines at Ypres. 

For ten days before the battle had even began, Allied artillery pounded the German positions, resulting in significant casualties.

However, when the infantry assault began, weather played an important part in the battle.

Constant, heavy rain quickly turned the battlefield into a muddy quagmire. It was made much worse by the fact that the artillery barrage had churned up the soil so much that by the time the water soaked into the ground, it became impossible to walk through.

Canadian forces played a significant role in the later stages of the battle, when they made a notable advance in October.

Ultimately, the British and French forces finally captured the Passchendaele Ridge. 

By the end of the battle, British forces had suffered 300,000 casualties, while the Germans suffered around 260,000.

It was a technical victory for the Allied forces, as they had taken the high ground around Ypres, but had only advanced five miles.

In the same month that Passchendaele ended, the Battle of Cambrai took place.

Occurring between November and December, a largely British offensive once more assaulted the German lines.

This battle is significant because it was the first time that tanks were used in large numbers on the battlefield. 

The initial success of the British during the attack was due to the new artillery tactic known as the "Creeping Barrage", which would become a vital element of combined arms warfare.

At its conclusion, the British had captured some significant territory from the Germans.

However, they were eventually pushed back out of this territory by German counterattacks.

One of the most important events of the year was not a battle at all, but a political revolution in Russia.

In March of 1917, the revolution led to the overthrow of the Russian monarchy. It was replaced by a new communist government.

This revolution caused a significant split within the Allied forces, as many countries were hesitant to support a communist regime.

However, the Allies decided to continue supporting Russia in order to prevent them from being forced into an alliance with Germany.

The new revolutionary government signed a peace treaty with Germany in December of 1917, which effectively ended Russia’s participation in the war.

This meant that German soldiers who had been fighting the Russians on the eastern front were now free to be transferred to the western front.

These are just a few of the most important World War One battles that took place during 1917.

As you can see, it was a year of significant progress for the Allies, which would set many of the pieces in place for their final victory in November 1918.

However, the next twelve months would see some of the most brutal battles of the war, as Germany brought in all of the troops from the eastern front.