‘Last throw of the iron dice’ is latest lecture in Great War series

Dr. Scott Stephenson presented the 14th lecture of the “General of the Armies Great War Centennial Lecture Series” at the Stove Factory Ballroom in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas on March 14. Stephenson’s lecture was entitled “The Last Throw of the Iron Dice: The Ludendorff Offensives of 1918.”

During his presentation Dr. Stephenson discussed how 100 years ago, in the spring of 1918, the Germans launched a desperate bid to win the war. Three times they broke through Allied lines and each time they seemed to push the Allies to the brink of defeat. According to Stephenson, as a tactical achievement, the Ludendorff Offensives were an achievement unmatched in the Great War, but as an example of operational art and strategic vision it was something entirely different. Stephenson presented his lecture speaking from the dual points of view of General Erich Ludendorff and that of history, symbolically represented by Clio, the Greek Muse of history. In comparing a Ludendorff point of view to that of the actual historical outcome, Stephenson made clear that Ludendorff’s tactics, while initially successful, were ultimately defeated by Allied counterattacks because of the exhaustion and moral defeat of the best troops in the German lines.

Dr. Scott Stephenson served 25 years as an Army officer, retiring in 2001. He has a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy, a master’s in history from Syracuse University, and a doctorate in history from the University of Kansas. He has taught military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College for 25 years. His book, The Final Battle: Soldiers of the Western Front and the German Revolution of 1918, won the 2010 Tomlinson Prize for Best Book in English on World War I.

The CGSC Department of Military History hosts the General of the Armies John J. Pershing Great War Centennial Series with support from the CGSC Foundation. The lecture series is intended to foster understanding of this world-changing conflict during its 100-year commemoration. More than any other single event, World War I was the decisive, shaping experience of the Twentieth Century. It was a brutal war that brought down four empires, led to revolution in Russia, and eventually brought the United States onto the world stage as a major power. We live with its results to this day.

The CGSC Foundation has received support for all Pershing lectures in academic year 2018 from First Command Financial Services in Leavenworth, Kansas, as well as the national headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Kansas City, Missouri.

The next lecture in the series is scheduled for May 9 at 6 p.m. at the Stove Factory Ballroom (417 S. 2nd Street) in Leavenworth, Kansas. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. (More details TBP.) All lectures in the series are free and open to the public.

For more photos from this lecture visit the album on the CGSC Foundation Flickr site.