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French Army in World War I

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French infantry posing in a trench

During World War I, France was one of the Triple Entente powers allied against the Central Powers. Although fighting occurred worldwide, the bulk of the fighting in Europe occurred in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Alsace-Lorraine along what came to be known as the Western Front. Specific operational, tactical, and strategic decisions by the high commands on both sides of the conflict led to shifts in organizational capacity, as the French army tried to respond to day-to-day fighting and long-term strategic and operational agendas. In particular, many problems caused the French high command to re-evaluate standard procedures, revise its command structures, re-equip the army, and develop different tactical approaches.

Background

Further information: Causes of World War I

France had been the major power in Europe for most of the Early Modern Era: Louis XIV, in the seventeenth century, and Napoleon I in the nineteenth, had extended French power over most of Europe through skillful diplomacy and military prowess.[1] The Treaty of Vienna in 1815, confirmed France as a European power broker. By the early 1850s, Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck started a system of alliances designed to assert Prussian dominance over Central Europe.[2] Bismarck's diplomatic maneuvering, and France's maladroit response to such crises as the Ems Dispatch and the Hohenzollern Candidature led to the French declaration of war in 1870. France's subsequent defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, including the loss of its army and the capture of its emperor at Sedan, the loss of territory, including Alsace-Lorraine, and the payment of heavy indemnities, left the French seething and placed the reacquisition of lost territory as a primary goal at the end of the 19th century;[1] the defeat also ended French preeminence in Europe.[3] Following German Unification, Bismarck attempted to isolate France diplomatically by befriending Austria–Hungary, Russia, Britain, and Italy.[2]

Sometime after 1870, the European powers began acquiring settlements in Africa, with colonialism on that continent hitting its peak between 1895 and 1905.[4] However, colonial disputes were only a minor cause of World War I, as most had been settled by 1914.[4] Economic rivalry was not only a source for some of the colonial conflicts but also a minor cause for the start of World War I.[5] For France the rivalry was mostly with the rapidly industrializing Germany, which had seized the coal-rich region of Alsace-Lorraine in 1870, and later struggled with France over mineral-rich Morocco.[5]

Another cause of World War I was growing militarism which led to an arms race between the powers.[6] As a result of the arms race, all European powers were ready for war.[6]

France was bound by treaty to defend Russia, which was in turn bound by treaty to defend Serbia.[7] Austria–Hungary had declared war on Serbia due to the Black Hand's assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which acted as the immediate cause of the war.[7] France was brought into the war by a German declaration of war on August 3, 1914.[7]

Organization during the war

In January 1914, the French Army had 47 divisions, composed of 777,000 French soldiers and 47,000 colonial troops.[8] The French army organized into 21 regional corps, along with attached cavalry and field artillery.[8] Most of these troops were deployed in the French interior, the bulk of those along the eastern frontier as part of Plan XVII.[8]

Fear of war meant another 2.9 million men were mobilized in the summer of 1914, and heavy losses on the Western Front forced France to conscript men up to the age of 45.[8]

In June 1915, the Allied countries met in the first inter-Allied conference.[9] Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Serbia, and Russia were all represented, and agreed to coordinate their attacks.[9] However, such attempts were frustrated by strategic enemy maneuvers.[9]

In the spring of 1917, after the failed Nivelle Offensive, there was a series of mutinies in the French army.[10] The mutinies started on April 17, the day after the failed Nivelle Offensive, and ended on June 30.[10] Over 35,000 soldiers were involved with 68 out of 112 divisions affected, but fewer than 3,000 men were punished.[10] Of the 68 divisions affected by mutinies, 5 had been “profoundly affected”’ 6 had been “very seriously affected”, 15 had been “seriously affected”, 25 were affected by “repeated incidents” and 17 had been affected by “one incident only”, according to statistics compiled by French military historian Guy Pedroncini.[10]

By 1918, towards the end of the war, the composition and structure of the French army had changed. Forty percent of all French soldiers on the Western Front were operating artillery and 850,000 of the French troops were infantrymen in 1918, compared to 1.5 million in 1915.[8] Causes for the drop in infantry include increased machine gun, armored car, and tank usage, as well as the increasing significance of the French air force, the Armée de l'Air.[8]

At the end of the war on November 11, 1918, the French had called up 8,317,000 men, including 475,000 colonial troops.[8] France suffered over 4.2 million casualties, with 1.3 million dead.[8]

Commanders in Chief

A photograph of Joseph Joffre, Commander-in-Chief for most of the war, taken before 1918.

Joseph Joffre was Commander-in-Chief, a position he had held since 1911.[11] While serving in this position, Joffre was responsible for development of the Plan XVII blueprint for the invasion of Germany, which proved unsuccessful.[11] Joffre was thought to be the 'Savior of France' due to his serenity and a refusal to admit defeat, valuable at the beginning of the war, along with his regrouping of retreating allied forces at the Battle of the Marne.[11] Joffre was effectively relieved of his duties on December 13, 1916, following the Battle of Verdun and other losses. Due to his popularity, it was not presented to the public as a dismissal when he was promoted to Marshall of France on the same day.[11]

Robert Nivelle, who began the war as a regimental colonel, was appointed Commander-in-Chief.[12] However, after the failure of the Nivelle Offensive in April 1917, and the French army mutinies, he was removed from his position and given a post in North Africa.[12]

On May 15, 1917, Philippe Pétain was made Commander-in-Chief, and restored the fighting capability of the French troops by improving front line living conditions, and preferring defensive operations.[13] In the Third Battle of the Aisne, fought in May 1918, French positions collapsed due to Pétain's alien tactic of "tactical defense", and the consequence for Pétain was subordination to the Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch.[13]

Western Front

Soldiers of the 87th Regiment, 6th Division at Côte 304 (Hill 304), northwest of Verdun, in 1916

Germany marched through neutral Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan to invade France, and by August 23 had reached the French border town of Maubeuge, whose true significance lay within its forts.[14] Maubeuge was a major railway junction and was consequently a protected city.[14] It had 15 forts and gun batteries, totaling 435 guns, along with a permanent garrison of 35,000 troops, a number enhanced by the British Expeditionary Force.[14] The BEF and the French Fifth Army retreated on August 23, and the town was besieged by German heavy artillery starting on August 25.[14] The fortress was surrendered on September 7 by General Fournier, who was later court-martialed, but exonerated, for the capitulation.[14]

The Battle of Guise, launched on August 29, was an attempt by the Fifth Army to capture Guise, they succeeded, but later withdrew on August 30.[15] This delayed the German Second Army's invasion of France, but also hurt Lanrezac's already damaged reputation.[15] The First Battle of the Marne was fought between September 6 and September 12. It started when retreating French forces (the Fifth and Sixth armies), stopped south of the Marne River.[16] Victory seemed close, the First German Army was given orders to surround Paris, unaware the French government had already fled to Bordeaux.[16] The First Battle of the Marne was a French victory, but was a bloody one: 250,000 French soldiers died, with similar numbers believed for the Germans, and over 12,700 for the British.[16] The German retreat after the First Battle of the Marne halted at the Aisne River, and the Allies soon caught up, starting the First Battle of the Aisne on September 12. It lasted until September 28, it was indecisive, partially due to machine guns beating back infantry sent to capture enemy positions.[17] In the Battle of Le Cateau, fought on August 26–27, the French Sixth Army prevented the British from being outflanked.[18] The first major Allied attack against German forces since the incarnation of trench warfare on the Western Front, the First Battle of Champagne, lasting from December 20, 1914, until March 17, 1915; it was a German victory, due in part to their machine gun battalions and the well-entrenched German forces.[19]

The indecisive Second Battle of Ypres, from April 22 – May 25, was the site of the first German chlorine gas attack and the only major German offensive on the Western Front in 1915.[20] Ypres was devastated after the battle.[20] The Second Battle of Artois, from May 9 – June 18, the most important part of the Allied spring offensive of 1915, was successful for the Germans, allowing them to advance rather than retreat as the Allies had planned, and Artois would not be in Allied hands again until 1917.[21] The Second Battle of Champagne, from September 25 – November 6, was a general failure, with the French only advancing about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), and not capturing the German's second line.[9] France suffered over 140,000 casualties, while the Germans suffered over 80,000.[9]

The Battle of the Somme, fought along a 30 kilometres (19 mi) front from north of the Somme River between Arras and Albert. It was fought between July 1 and November 18 and involved over 2 million men. The French suffered 200,000 casualties.[22][23][24] Little territory was gained, only 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) at the deepest points.[24]

Battle of the Frontiers

The Battle of the Frontiers consisted of five offensives, commanded and planned by French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre and German Chief-of-Staff Helmuth von Moltke. It was fought in August 1914.[25] These five offensives, Mulhouse, Lorraine, Ardennes, Charleroi, and Mons, were launched almost simultaneously. They were the result of the French XVII and the German plans colliding.[25] The Battle of Mulhouse, on August 7–10, 1914, was envisioned by Joffre to anchor the French recapture of Alsace, but resulted in Joffre holding General Louis Bonneau responsible for its failure and replacing him with General Paul Pau.[26] The Battle of Lorraine, August 14–25, was an indecisive French invasion of that region by General Pau and his 'Army of Alsace'.[27] The Battle of the Ardennes, fought between August 21 and 23 in the Ardennes forests, was sparked by unsuspecting French and German forces meeting, and resulted in a French defeat, forfeiting to the Germans a source of iron-ore.[28] The Battle of Charleroi, which started on August 20 and ended on August 23, was a key battle on the Western Front, and a German victory.[29] General Charles Lanrezac's retreat probably saved the French Army, but Joffre blamed him for the failure of Plan XVII, even though the withdrawal had been permitted.[29]

Race to the Sea

The First Battle of Albert was the first battle in the so-called 'Race to the Sea', so-called because the campaign was attempting to reach the English Channel in an effort to outflank the German army.[30] The First Battle of Albert was fought on September 25–29, 1914, after the First Battle of the Marne and the First Battle of the Aisne. It occurred after both sides realized that a breakthrough was not possible.[31] It was evident that both the French Plan XVII and the German Schlieffen Plan had failed.[31] Both sides then proceeded to attempt to outmaneuver the other, and the battle ended indecisively.[31] The Battle of Arras, which was another attempt on the part of the French to outflank the Germans, was started on October 1.[32] Despite heavy attacks by three corps from the First, Second, and Seventh armies, the French held on to Arras, albeit losing Lens on October 4.[32] The Battle of the Yser, fought between October 18 and November 30, was the northernmost battle in the 'Race to the Sea'.[33] The battle was a German victory, and fighting continued along the Yser River until the final Allied advance that won the war.[33] The last of the 'Race to the Sea' battles, the First Battle of Ypres, started on October 19, marked the formation of a bond between the British and French armies.[34] The battle was an Allied victory and ended, according to France, Britain, and Germany, on November 13, 22, or 30 respectively.[34]

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was the longest of the war, lasting from February 21, 1916, until December 18.[35] The battle started after a plan by German General Erich von Falkenhayn to capture Verdun was executed, but after a few weeks, the battle had become a series of local actions.[36] For the French, the battle signified the strength and fortitude of the French Armed Forces.[36] Many military historians consider Verdun the "most demanding" and the "greatest" battle in history.[36] Verdun cost the French over 550,000 casualties, the Germans 434,000, of which about half were killed.[35]

The German attack on Verdun began with one million troops, led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, facing only about 200,000 French soldiers.[35] The following day, the French were forced to withdraw to the second line of trenches, and on February 24, they were pushed back to the third line, only 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Verdun. The newly appointed commander of the Verdun sector, General Philippe Pétain, stated that there would be no more withdrawals, and had every French soldier that was available fighting in the Verdun sector, eventually involving 259 out of 330 infantry regiments.[35]

Nivelle Offensive

In October 1916, troops under Robert Nivelle's command captured Douaumont and other Verdun forts, making him a national hero.[37] Nivelle formulated a plan using his "creeping barrage" tactics that would supposedly end the war in 48 hours with only 10,000 casualties. War Minister Hubert Lyautey, General Philippe Pétain and Sir Douglas Haig were all opposed to the plan. After Aristide Briand supported the "Nivelle Offensive", Lyautey resigned.[37][38] Starting on April 17, one million French soldiers were deployed on a front between Royle and Reims.[37]

The main action of the Nivelle Offensive, the Second Battle of the Aisne, started on April 16, 1917, with the French suffering 40,000 casualties on the first day.[39] By the time the battle was over on May 9, the French had suffered 187,000 casualties, while the Germans suffered 168,000.[39]

The Allies eventually suffered over 350,000 casualties fighting the Nivelle Offensive.[37] As a result of the Second Battle of the Aisne and the Nivelle Offensive, 35,000 French troops mutinied starting on April 17. 68 out of 112 divisions were affected.[10] The mutinies ended on June 30, and contributed to Nivelle's replacement by Pétain.[10]

Kaiserslacht

The French army was heavily involved in the defence of the allies' line of defense during the final German offensives. When the British troops were attacked during operation Michael, 40 French divisions were sent to help them. Those troops finally took part in the battle. Then, the third German offensive was launched against French positions in Champagne. The French troops began to lose ground but eventually, the Germans were stopped by a counterattack led by General Charles Mangin.

In July, a last German assault was launched against the French on the Marne. The German troops were crushed by about 40 French divisions helped by British and American troops. This was a turning point in the war on the western front.

The Grand offensive

During the summer 1918, General Ferdinand Foch was appointed supreme commander of the allied forces. After the decisive defeat of the Germans at the second Battle of the Marne, Foch ordered an offensive against Amiens. Some French units participated in this battle. Then, a general offensive was launched against the German positions in France. The First French army helped the British troops in the north, while 8 French army formed the center of the offensive. An additional army was sent to help the Americans. The French forces were the most numerous of all the allied troops, and during the last stage of the war, they took about 140,000 prisoners. The French forces remained the backbone of the allied offensive while the British empire troops, helped by the French army spearheaded it by attacking in Flander and Western Belgium were they first smashed the Hindenburg line. Meanwhile, the French army managed to liberate most of northern France and to enter in Belgium.

Those numerous offensives lead the German army on the verge of disaster and when Germany sought for an armistice, the French and American troops were ready to launch an important offensive in Lorraine, where the Germans were collapsing.

Equipment

At the outset of the war, the primary French field gun was the French 75, (75mm caliber, entered service in 1897).[40] The French had about 4,000 of these guns, an adequate number, but despite accuracy, quick firing, and lethality against infantry, German howitzers outranged the French 75, with a range of 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), by 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), and used heavier shells, inflicting more damage than the French guns.[40] In 1913, General Joseph Joffre authorized the limited adoption of the 105mm Schneider, a howitzer with a range of over 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).[40]

A French 75 in action at Cape Helles in 1915

When war broke out in August 1914, the German Army had about 12,000 Maschinengewehr 08 machine guns, the British and French armies had a few hundred.[41] French models of machine gun used during the war included the Hotchkiss M1914, the Chauchat, and the St. Étienne Mle 1907.[41]

The first tank was ready for combat by January 1916. Although a British invention, it did not take long for Colonel Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne to persuade Joffre to begin production of French tanks.[42] An order for 400 Schneider CA1s and 400 St Chamonds was placed shortly.[42] The French deployed 128 tanks in April 1917 as part of the Second Battle of the Aisne, but they were unreliable.[42] However, the Renault FT-17 proved more worthy, and the French produced a total of 3,870 tanks by the end of the war.[42]

Grenades came to the attention of German military planners as a result of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–1905, and by the beginning of the Great War, the Germans had 106,000 rifle grenades and 70,000 hand grenades.[43] The French and Russian armies were better prepared than the British, expecting to find themselves besieging German fortresses, a task suited to the grenade.[43] The French, along with the British, persisted in the use of rifle grenades,(they used a special cup for launching), throughout the war, increasing their range from 180 and 200 metres (590 and 660 ft) to 400 metres (1,300 ft).[43]

The mortar also interested the Germans, for a specific use: an invasion of France's eastern front.[44] The advantage of a mortar was that it could be fired from the relative safety of a trench, unlike artillery.[44] At the beginning of World War I, the German Army had a stockpile of 150 mortars, which was a surprise to the French and British. The French were able to use the century-old Coehorn mortars from the Napoleonic Wars.[44][45] Subsequently, the French borrowed the design of the British Stokes Mortar, and collaborated on mortar designs with the British throughout the war. Eventually, large mortars could throw bombs 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).[44]

Despite the technological advances in grenades, machine guns, and mortars, the rifle remained the primary infantry weapon, in large part because other weapons were too cumbersome and unwieldy for an infantryman, and remained the weapon of choice for snipers.[46] Rifles remained virtually the same during the war years, mostly because research tended to be focused on larger weapons and poison gas.[46] The average range of a rifle throughout World War I was 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), but most were only accurate to 600 metres (2,000 ft).[46] The French rifle of choice was the Lebel Model 1886, officially styled the Fusil Modèle 1886-M93, from 1886, its major design flaw was its eight round tubular magazine which could cause explosions when the nose of one cartridge was forced onto the base of another.[46] In 1916, the Berthier rifle, officially titled the Fusil d'Infanterie Modele 1907, Transforme 1915, was issued as an improvement, it was clip-loaded.[46] The original, produced in 1907, only held 3 rounds, but later versions in 1915 and 1916 held 5 and 6 rounds, respectively, and a carbine version of the Bertheir, dubbed the Berthier carbine, but titled Mousqueton modele 1916, was released in 1916.[46] The carbine was preferred over a 'normal' rifle because of the advantages in handling in a confined space, such as a trench, and was one of the few significant advances in rifle technology, although periscopes and tripods were produced for trench warfare.[46]

Contrary to popular belief, the first country to use chemical warfare in World War I was not Germany, but France, who used tear gas grenades against the German army in August 1914, however, the Germans were the first to seriously research chemical warfare.[47] Poison gas, (chlorine), was first used on April 22, 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres, by the German army.[47] April 1915 saw the first innovation in protection against chemical warfare: a cotton pad dipped in bicarbonate of soda, but by 1918, troops on both sides had charcoal respirators.[47] By November 11, 1918, France had suffered 190,000 chemical warfare casualties, including 8,000 dead.[47]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to World War I forces of France.
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