1917 - Execution at Verdun at the time of the mutinies The French Army Mutinies of 1917 took place in the Champagne section of the Western Front and started just after the conclusion of the disastrous Second Battle of the Aisne. The battle's architect, and French commander-in-chief, General Robert Nivelle, had been sacked on April 29 1917.[1] He was replaced by General Philippe Pétain. By this time, over one million French fatalities (306,000 in 1914; 334,000 in 1915; 217,000 in 1916; 121,000 in early 1917) out of a male population of twenty million had "deadened the French will to attack".[1] Western Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the contested armed frontier between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West. ...
Combatants France German Empire Commanders Robert Nivelle Charles Mangin François Anthoine Mazel von Boehm Fritz von Below Strength 1. ...
Robert Georges Nivelle (October 15, 1857 - March 22, 1924) was a French military commander during World War I. Born in Tulle, France, to a French father and English mother, Nivelle graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1878 and served in Indochina, Algeria, and China as an artillery officer. ...
April 29 is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Philippe Petain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain, was a French general, later Head of State of Vichy France, from 1940 to 1944. ...
The French armies at Chemin des Dames had suffered a steadily growing number of desertions since the end of April.[2] On May 27, those desertions turned to mutiny. Up to 30,000 soldiers left the front line and reserve trenches and returned to the rear.[2] Even in regiments where there was direct confrontation, such as the 74th Infantry Regiment, the men "wished their officers no harm"; they just refused "to return to the trenches".[1] The mutines "were not a refusal of war" simply "a certain way of waging it".[3] The Chemin des Dames, literally, the Ladies Way, was a pleasure walk along a ridge offering views across the Aisne and the surrounding landscape, and designated by the French king, Louis XV for the amusement of his daughters. ...
May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ...
In the behind-the-lines towns of Soissons, Villers-Cotterets, Fère-en-Tardenois, and Coeuvres, they refused to obey their officers' orders and refused to go to the Front.[2] On June 1, a French infantry regiment took over the town of Missy-aux-Bois. [2] The mutinies were "widespread and persistent", involving more than half the divisions in the French army.[3] On June 7, General Pétain and Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (the British commander-in-chief in France) had a "private talk": Pétain told Haig that "two French Divisions had refused to go and relieve Two Divisions in the front line".[4] The true figure was over fifty. [5] June 1 is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ...
Field Marshal Lord Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC (June 19, 1861 – January 28, 1928) was a British soldier and senior commander (Field Marshal) during World War I. He was commander of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of the Somme...
On about June 8, the military authorities took swift and decisive action: mass arrests were followed by mass trials. [2] Those arrested were selected by their own officers and NCOs, "with the implicit consent of the rank and file".[1] There were 3,427[1] Conseils de guerre ("courts-martial"), at which 23,385 men were convicted of mutinous behaviours of one sort or another [2]; 554 men were sentenced to death[1]; 49 men were "actually shot"[1]; and the rest sentenced to penal servitude.[2] June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ...
However, according to the historian, Denis Rolland, "there would have been about 30 executions. This number has always been controversial because of the impossibility of accessing the files until 100 years have elapsed."[6] Whatever the figure, along with the stick of military justice, General Pétain offered two juicy carrots: more regular and longer leave; and an end, for the time-being at least, to attacks.[1]
| “ | Friday, November 9 1917: Gemeau [7] .. said that the state of the French army is now very good, but at the end of May there were 30,000 "rebels" who had to be dealt with. A whole Brigade of Infantry had marched on Paris with their rifles after looting a supply column. Another lot seized a motor convoy. Some others occupied a village and a Brigade of Cavalry had to be employed to round them up. This was not done without opening fire on the village. This shows how really bad the condition of the French army was after Nivelle's failure, and Pétain had a very difficult job to get things in good order. (Haig's war diary)[8] | ” | November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Field Marshal Lord Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC (June 19, 1861 – January 28, 1928) was a British soldier and senior commander (Field Marshal) during World War I. He was commander of the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of the Somme...
Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an influential and acclaimed American film director and producer. ...
Paths of Glory (1957) is an anti-war film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. ...
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch Demsky December 9, 1916) is an American actor and film producer known for his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as sons of bitches. He is also father to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. ...
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Keegan, pp 356-8
- ^ a b c d e f g Gilbert, pp 333-334
- ^ a b Ashworth, pp 224-5
- ^ Blake, p 236
- ^ Keegan, p 382
- ^ il y aurait eu environ 30 exécutions. Ce nombre a toujours été un sujet de controverses du fait de l'impossibilité d'accéder librement aux archives avant 100 ans. (French) Wikipedia: Mutineries de 1917
- ^ Commandant E. A. Gemeau, French liaison officer on Haig's headquarters staff
- ^ Blake, p 265
References - Ashworth, Tony; Trench Warfare 1914-1918, Pan, London 2000
- Blake, Robert (editor); The Private Papers of Douglas Haig 1914-1918, London 1952
- Gilbert, Martin; First World War, Paperback ed. London, 1995
- Keegan, John, The First World War, Pimlico edition, London, 1999
Sir Martin John Gilbert, CBE (born October 25, 1936 in London) is a British historian and the author of over seventy books, including works on the Holocaust and Jewish history. ...
Sir John Keegan (born 1934) is an English military historian. ...
Further reading and links - (French) Pedroncini, G; Les mutineries de 1917, Presse universitaires de France, Paris, 1967
- (French) Offenstadt, Nicolas; Les fusillés de la Grande Guerre, Éditions Odile Jacob, Paris, 1999
- (French) Rolland, Denis; La grève des tranchées, Paris, Imago, 2005.
- (French) Mutineries de 1917
|
Feeds |
Contact