Picardy
Picardy names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Picardy BATTLES OF British
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLES OF British, who had borne the brunt of the attack, had lost not much over 100,000. Furthermore, it was now evident that the Germans had spent themselves considerably, and were forced to slacken their efforts, to gain breath. It was at this time, March 28, 1918, that the announcement was made that General Foch had been made commander-inchief of all the forces on the western front. In the last two days of the month the Germans again renewed their efforts, with the added weight of heavy re-enforcements of troops that had been brought from the eastern front. Six villages around Montdidier were taken from the French, though two of these were retaken the following day. Between Montdidier and Moreuil the Germans delivered especially heavy attacks. Moreuil changed hands several times during the two days. Between Moreuil and Lassigny the Germans were successfully checked. On the British front the Germans were equally active. But here they gained no ground and only lost heavily in casualties. South of the Somme the British regained possession of the village of Demuin. At the end of this two-days' effort it was obvious that the German offensive was more than ever a failure. The critical moment had passed. Early in the morning of April 4, 1918, the Germans launched a new offensive, headed directly toward Amiens, from three directions. Fifteen German divisions were directed toward the French, and fourteen against the British; altogether about 350,000 men, on a sixteen mile front. Ten desperate assaults were delivered against the French, rench, during duri the day and the succeeding night, but although the Germans gained some ground, the French could not be dislodged from their main positions on the higher ground, in the neighborhood of the village of Morisel. Grivesnes was subjected to exceptionally heavy pressure, but the French were able to sustain their hold at this point. So battered were the Germans by these efforts that on the following day the French, under General Pétain, succeeded in making some considerable gain of territory through their counter - attacks region south of Moreuil. The and western outskirts of which had been captured a few days previously by the Germans, were also again in the hands of the French. Meanwhile the British south of the Somme were also subjected to a severe pressure. The British fought bornly, but were forced back to within nine miles of Amiens. But the net result of this two-days' spurt of activity by the Germans was a slight gain purchased at a price in men lost decidedly too heavy. Now there came another of those characteristic lulls, following these great efforts, which were probably periods during which activity was merely transferred to behind the German lines, in the bringing up of new men and war material. The lull was short. On the morning of April 10, 1918, the Germans broke loose again, directing their fierce attacks against the British positions between the Lys river and Armentières. Here the British were driven back to the line running through Wytschaete, along the Messines Ridge, to Ploegsteert. Farther south the Germans crossed the Lys. Still farther south the British held their positions. Givenchy was recaptured from the Germans, important in that it was on high ground and commanded the road to Bethune. It was now obvious that the Germans had given up their original plan of driving a wedge in between the British and the French, and that now, instead, they hoped to exhaust the British by sheer weight of superior numbers. During the next week the British were called on to test their utmost endurance. Again and again the Germans brought up new contingents and hurled them prodigally at the British lines. On April 15, 1918, the British were driven out of Bailleul. Other notable gains were made by the Germans on this day. Wytschaete was taken and Haig's men were driven from most of their positions along the Messines Ridge. At the end of the week, however; on April 20, 1918, it began to become quite obvious that the Germans had fought themselves to a standstill; that it could now be said that the main offensive was a failure, and that the Allies could now look into the future with confidence. During this last phase of the offensive the Germans had all but exhausted themselves in the Lys region, and though at times the British had been strained to the point of breaking, they had succeeded in holding back the Teuton onslaught. The net result to the Germans had been a considerable gain of territory, encour- , in the aging to the layman behind the th lines, northern but of slight value from a military point Cantigny, of view, in that the price for this territory had been too heavy in men. Fighting in this region continued with considerable fury for some weeks, but the big battles of Picardy had been stub- fought, and lost by the Germans.
Picardy BATTLES OF, a series of bloody battles constituting the
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLES OF, a series of bloody battles constituting the great German offensive against the Allied lines on the western front, beginning early in March, 1918, centering toward Amiens, in Picardy, officially known as the Department of the Somme. It constituted one of the chief efforts of the Germans to break through the Allied front and gain a decisive victory and was perhaps the most critical moment of the war. Beginning in the first week of March, 1918, the German forces began a number of local attacks and raids in force, obviously with the purpose of feeling out the weakest point in the Allied lines. Here, and at this time, the American troops first took part in the fighting to any significant extent. On March 21 the Germans launched their great offensive, over a front fifty miles in width, extending from the river Oise, in the neighborhood of La Fère, to the Sensée river, near Croisilles. The British, under General Sir Hubert Gough, held the front from the Oise to a point north of the Omignon river, where another British army, under General Sir Julian Byng, continued the line on to the Scarpe river, joining here a third British force under General Sir Henry Thorne. Facing the three British armies was an equal number of German armies. Here was the main point of attack, 241 PICARDY, BATTLES OF
Picardy an ancient province in the N
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an ancient province in the N. of France, bounded on the W. by the English Channel, and on the E. by Champagne. The territory now forms the department of Somme, and portions of the departments of Aisne and Pasde-Calais. It was the scene of intense fighting during the World War (1914- 1918) notably in the Battle of the Somme. Here the Germans on March 21, 1918, began the first of the great drives that ended in disaster.
Picardy BATTLES OF.) Here
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLES OF.) Here, on March 24, 1918, the British were heavily attacked by the Germans and driven back. Though a failure in its main objective, the German offensive succeeded in gaining a considerable area of territory, in the form of a wide salient, of which Péronne was in the center. applied in mineral chemistry to certain dioxides in which
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's, writing in 1921, could still describe the 1918 Picardy battles as recent news, ending with the German offensive "fought, and lost by the Germans"; what it could not yet weigh was the sequel, the Allied counter-stroke at Amiens on 8 August 1918 that opened the Hundred Days and led to the armistice in November. Historians now group these March-April battles under the German code names for the spring offensive, chiefly Operation Michael, and reckon the losses on all sides far higher than the "not much over 100,000" British figure given here. Picardy itself has changed status twice since: made an administrative region of France in 1972, it was abolished on 1 January 2016 and merged with Nord-Pas-de-Calais to form Hauts-de-France, so the name now survives as a historic rather than official one. The ground fought over around Amiens, Montdidier and the Somme is today a landscape of cemeteries, memorials and battlefield museums drawing visitors from Britain, Australia and Canada.
Written for this edition, 2026.