The Battle's Place in History
Although the Meuse-Argonne was "probably the bloodiest single battle in U.S. history," in the sense that it had the largest number of U.S. dead in a single battle, the battle is largely forgotten in the United States, and the Argonne war cemetery is largely ignored by tourists. The battle also hailed the debut of the Browning Automatic Rifle in combat, with both the US and France using them significantly for the first time in battle. According to the American view, the battle's pressure on the Germans was an important factor in their agreeing to the armistice: "Until the last, this battle had worried German commanders most; unlike other sectors of the front, here they had little space short of a vital objective that they could afford to trade for time." Many historians have since begun to debate the legitimacy of this claim, with many believing that the Meuse-Argonne offensive was simply a diversion from greater Allied offensives and successes elsewhere.
Read more about this topic: Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Famous quotes containing the words battle, place and/or history:
“Whose kiss
stings and stills;
your kiss was stale, satiate and pale
beside his,
who commands battles,
who kills
when the battle delays.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“There is a place prepared in hell,
For to sit upon a serpent’s knee.’”
—Unknown. Dives and Lazarus (l. 39–40)
“When the history of guilt is written, parents who refuse their children money will be right up there in the Top Ten.”
—Erma Brombeck (20th century)