The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps arrived in France early in 1916, troops which fought in Gallipoli, combined with many reinforcements were sent to France. Except for the Light Horse detachments and their reinforcements who stayed in the Middle east, all of the Australian Infantry Forces were now in France for the remainder of the war. As the second half of 1916 approached there were 90,000 Australian troops in France and another 25,000 stationed in the Middle East training, and another 90,000 in England also training in readiness for embarkation.

There can be many reasons one side wins a war, but they are not always the same reason the other side loses a war. The history of the war in Europe during 1918 shows the force of determination of military, political, and social. With the German war effort completely unraveling in 1918, but the was not seen by many observers or even visible at the start of the year. If you were right wing commentators and a neutral observer in the beginning of November 1917 and observed the political balance of forces in Europe, you would have had to be a mystic to predict the collapse of the Central Powers exactly twelve months later.

Understanding the German defeat in 1918, delve into the nature of the German state and the cataclysmic military, political, and economic decisions taken by the leadership since the start of the war. German defeat was built into the structure of the war effort of the Kaiser. The many allied mistakes at times were disastrous as those of the German Learship. Leadership failures of General Haig, Prime Minister Churhill, Nivelle Chamberlin, and Kerensky, and many other, giving Germany the logical consequence of her profound strategic disadvantages, rising out of the Allies ability to solve problems of supply and distribution, at the center of industrial warfare. Strength and sophistication of the German Army, in particular in defensive positions, enabled Germany to hold its own and to win on the Eastern Fronts long after their overall strategic position in the war was undependable. By March 1918, everything was coming apart, tactics, strategy, and the logistics of mechanized warfare. On the Front and home Front everything was falling apart, and at the same time requiring Germany to seek an Amristice ending a war she could never have won.

Whether the losses of the Australian infantry would allow it to participate in an important role was another matter. Diminished recruiting in Australia, and enormous casualties during many battles bought about many problems for the Australians Just when the many divisions in the Infantry Forces had reached effectiveness, the reinforcements for them were drying up. Meanwhile divisions were resting on a quiet front, waiting for reinforcements, largely that of sick and wounded men returning to the battle front. The Australians had a dogged determination with a persistence never before seen, by the German advances. Men unfortunately were buried alive in the collapses of the trenches bombarded by German grenades. With many instances of shell shock, mans nerves were giving way to strain. Australians were arguably the greater infantry men of the time.

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