New Zealanders shared the feelings of despair. Those fighting there knew they would soon face greatly reinforced German forces, as divisions were transferred from the now quiet Eastern Front. Wracked by revolution, Russia sued for peace, with dire consequences for the Western Allies, whose own offensives on the Western Front had failed to make any significant progress. By its end, the Allied position seemed to have been undermined by dramatic events elsewhere. Instead, the year would bring frustration, depression and demoralisation.
Most anticipated that further attacks by the Allies would bring them to their knees in 1917. Belief that the Germans were beginning to buckle from the blows struck the previous year was reinforced when, in February, they suddenly pulled back some 40 km from the tortured Somme battlefield to a prepared position, the formidable Hindenburg Line.
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