The Nivelle Offensive

In 1917 French general Robert Nivelle launched an offensive against the Germans on the River Aisne which he was convinced would break the Western Front once and for all.  After nine days of fighting 187,000 French soldiers had been killed, wounded, or missing, and the French Army was in a state of mutiny.

In this episode we look at the Nivelle Offensive, why it happened, and what went so wrong for the French Army.  We look at the mutinies and discover a story where fact and fiction are sometimes hard to separate, and hear about a vitriolic soldier's song deemed so inflammatory it was banned in France for over 50 years after the Great War ended. 

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