Chemin des Dames and the Nivelle Offensive

The Chemin des Dames offensive of April 1917 broke the French army's spirit. General Nivelle promised breakthrough within forty-eight hours, end of war within weeks. His plan—massive artillery followed by rapid advance—ignored terrain realities and German defensive improvements. The ridge road, named for Louis XV's daughters, became a synonym for military catastrophe.

The attack began April 16 in sleet and snow. French soldiers, many from southern regions, struggled through mud toward German positions built into limestone caves impervious to shelling. Machine guns, pre-sighted on French assembly areas, created carnage. Senegalese troops, suffering terribly in unexpected cold, lost cohesion. Tank support, promised as war-winning innovation, failed when machines bogged down or broke down.

Within days, Nivelle's promise of quick victory proved hollow. French medical services, prepared for 10,000 casualties, faced 40,000 wounded in first day alone. Ambulance driver Georges Duhamel described scenes "from Dante's imagination—men without faces, without limbs, begging for death. We who came to save could only watch them die."

The offensive continued for weeks, gaining minimal ground at enormous cost. French soldiers, promises broken yet again, reached breaking point. Mutinies began in late April, spreading through May. These were not revolutionary uprisings but strikes—soldiers refusing offensive operations while maintaining defensive positions. They had not lost patriotism but faith in their commanders.