OPERATION ALBERICH

About: 

• Operation Alberich was the code name of a German military operation in France during the First World War. 
  
  
• Alberich was a planned strategic withdrawal to new positions on the shorter and more easily defended Hindenburg Line, which took place between 9 February and 20 March 1917.  
  
  
• The retirement eliminated the two salients which had been formed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, between Arras and Saint-Quentin and from Saint-Quentin to Noyon. 
  
  
• The operation is regarded as a tactical success for the Germans, but is criticised for the disproportionate destruction it caused.