Battle of the Aisne (1917)

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Battle of the Aisne
Part of: First World War
Front line 1917
Front line 1917
date April 16 to the end of May 1917
place On the Aisne , France
output German tactical victory
Parties to the conflict

German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire

Third French RepublicThird French Republic France Russia
Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire 

Commander

German EmpireThe German Imperium Erich Ludendorff Fritz von Below Max von Boehn Magnus von Eberhardt
German EmpireThe German Imperium 
German EmpireThe German Imperium 
German EmpireThe German Imperium 

Third French RepublicThird French Republic Robert Nivelle Henri Philippe Pétain Charles Mangin Denis Auguste Duchêne Olivier Mazel
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 
Third French RepublicThird French Republic 

Troop strength
41 infantry divisions
2430 guns
640 aircraft 		61 infantry divisions
7 cavalry divisions
3500 guns
losses

163,000 men

187,000 men

The Battle of the Aisne on the Western Front of the First World War began on April 16, 1917. After the unsuccessful breakthrough attempts in 1915, the French army launched another major offensive , this time meticulously prepared, against the Chemin des Dames ridge, which was considered impregnable . The Nivelle offensive , named after the French commander-in-chief, brought the French little gain in territory and heavy losses. After mutinies broke out among the attacking troops , the attack had to be broken off at the end of May.

French plan of attack

French commander in chief General Robert George Nivelle

After the failures on the Somme , the French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre resigned on December 3, 1916. The new commander became General Robert Nivelle , who had commanded the successful counter-offensive at Verdun . Nivelle shifted the center of gravity of the new French attack back to the central section of the western front , with enormous superior strength he prepared a major offensive against the Chemin des Dames on the Aisne. In coordination with the British Commander-in-Chief Douglas Haig , who was to begin his offensive earlier at Arras , the concept of the operations of 1915 was repeated, this time at both points with an even greater use of troops and material. For this purpose, Nivelle had deployed three armies head-on in the main part of the attack and behind them had a complete reserve army ready to push back. Nivelle had pulled together nearly a million soldiers and 200 of the then novel tanks. A fire from 3,500 guns initiated the battle on April 6th. Over 6.5 million shells were fired by the artillery within 10 days, including 178,000 rounds of the heaviest caliber. The attack, which took place over a total width of 40 kilometers, was to be carried out to the Laon  - Rethel line in a few days .

The French Army Group Groupe d'Armées de Réserve under General Micheler with a total of 61 infantry and seven cavalry divisions was to lead the main thrust .

General Joseph Alfred Micheler
General François Anthoine
General Charles Mangin

The German Defense

The German side only had 41 divisions , but was able to take advantage of the well-entrenched defender, whereby it should be noted that the German divisions no longer had normal division strengths before that, as they had been in the front line for a long time. As a result of its experience in the Battle of the Somme , which raged in the second half of 1916, the German army had begun to occupy its foremost front lines with less strength. In the event of attacks, sections of the front could also be abandoned in order to lure the opposing troops deeper into their own trench system. The impugned front north of the Aisne defended the Chemin des Dames, the German 7th under General Max von Boehn and the east in the area north of Reims subsequent 1st Army under General Fritz von Below .

Colonel General Max von Boehn (AOK 7)

After the German withdrawal on both sides of the Somme ( Operation Alberich ) on the Siegfried Line , the attention of the Supreme Army Command under General Erich Ludendorff was again primarily turned to the danger on the Aisne. From the room Cambrai was Army Headquarters  1 (AOK) removed and relocated as a precaution after Rethel, to counter better to the French there anticipated attack. The German Crown Prince Army Group , which had been warned by the French artillery fire launched on April 6, was able to assign 14 divisions to the 7th and 1st Armies as intervention reserves in the hinterland before the battle. After the English offensive had already started at Arras , the OHL expected the simultaneous attack by the French every day.

AOK 7, which is located in the main attack area and has its headquarters in Marle, had four corps groups with 22 divisions during the battle:

General of the Infantry Fritz von Below (AOK1)

The AOK 1 with its headquarters in Rethel, which adjoins Reims to the east, had been inserted between the 7th and 3rd Army on the Aisnefront since April 12;

The main French attack on April 16th

After ten days of artillery preparation , the French attacked on April 16 on the north bank of the Aisne in the area northeast of Soissons . The main thrusts of the 6th Army were directed against the front ledge of the Vailly group near Laffaux and Condé and against the elevations of the Liesse group on Chemin des Dames to the west of Craonnelle. The left wing of the Mangin Army penetrated with the XXXVII. Corps under baptism at Vailly between Chivres - Vailly - Chavonne into the German lines, at Soupir the VI. Corps under General de Mitry the break-in to the second defense position. The II Colonial Corps under General Blondlat , deployed on the right wing of the Mangin Army , advanced northwards at Craonnelle, but did not advance between Hurtebise and Craonne.

French infantry attacking the Chemin des Dames

In the Vailly group , the 183rd division attacked against Beaulne - Soupir was thrown back on Braye by the French 39th and 56th divisions . South Courtecon, the 16th Reserve Division had to cross the ridge west of Troyon and the area to Beaulne opposite the French XX. Abandon corps. The 19th Reserve Division under General Hermann von Wartenberg had to go back to the village of Ailles opposite the 10th Colonial Division and evacuated Hurtebise on the left wing. Both divisions of the Liesse group went back to the Chemin des Dames between the villages of Braye and Cerny.

The attacks of the I. and V. Corps of Generals Muteau and Baucheron de Boissoudy between Craonne and La Ville-aux-Bois with a thrust on Corbeny remained before the resistance of the 5th Guard Division , the Bavarian replacement and the 9th Bavarian reserve -Division lie. The 5th Guard Division under General Walther von der Osten held the "Winterberg" near Craonne opposite the French 1st Division, the Bavarian replacement division under General Hermann von Burkhardt rejected the attacks on the village of Chevreux.

The attack of the French XXXII. Corps under General Passaga had first broken through the front lines of the 5th Reserve Division of Group Aisne , which had to go back to the positions prepared about 2 kilometers further back. A quick counterattack by the 50th Division under General von Engelbrechten stopped the break-in.

To the north of Berry-au-Bac , between Juvincourt and Guignicourt, smaller French tank units with Schneider CA1 were deployed under officers Bossut and Chaubès in the direction of Corbeny; the tanks suffered serious losses after a few kilometers due to technical defects and the artillery of the Bavarian 5. Reserve division. A flank attack by the 213rd Division, which was scheduled at the same time, forced the remnants of the French tank groups back into their starting positions. Of around 132 tanks used here, 64 were stuck, 57 of which were destroyed. It was not until the second phase of the battle on May 5 that the still immature tanks were used again to support the infantry of the 6th Army against the Laffaux section; the newly deployed St. Chamond heavy tank type did not meet expectations.

Main directions of attack of the French 6th and 5th Armies at Vailly, against the Chemin des Dames and at Brimont

The on Neufchatel scheduled 42nd Division of the French XXXII. Corps succeeded in taking the western half of the height 108 at Sapigneul , otherwise the opposite German 4th Division under General Erich Freyer was able to maintain its positions. The releasing 10th Reserve Division under General Viktor Dallmer did not reveal any further terrain on the slopes of the Fontaines valley.

Opposite the Brimont group , the places Loivre and Courcy were taken by the VII Corps under General de Bazelaire and the ridge running to the northwest was reached at Fort de Brimont . The French 14th Division penetrated the position of the German 21st Division and stormed the forest west of Orainville and north of Berméricourt. In the Courcy - Brimont section, units of the Russian Volunteer Corps under General Nikolai Lochwitzki were deployed on April 18 .

In the northeastern apron of Reims, the not yet storming XXXVIII. Corps under General de Montdésir the connection to the attacking 4th Army east of the city.

The simultaneous attack in Champagne on April 17th

The simultaneous attacks of the French 4th Army between Prunay and Auberive in Champagne

The French 4th Army attacked with a threefold superiority between Prunay and the Suippes against four German position divisions of the Prosnes group . On the left wing, the VIII. Corps under General Alexis Hély d'Oissel was initially unsuccessful in the resistance of the German 29th Division . The main thrust of the Anthoine army led the XVII. Corps under General Noël Jean-Baptiste Dumas , he met the positions of the German 214th and 58th Divisions on the contour line from Cornillet to Pöhlberg. On the right wing in the valley of the Suippes, the French XII. Corps under General Pierre Nourrisson won the eastern apron of Aubérive and penetrated the adjoining front of the 30th Division to the east . After General Anthoine had strengthened his center with the X. Corps under General Charles Alexis Vandenberg , the German AOK 1 had to withdraw the Prosnes group north to Moronvilliers.

The further course of the attacks

Already on April 16 and 17, the German 7th Army counterattacks with the intervention divisions prepared before the battle. On the Aisne, this meant that the other French assaults against the defensive fire of the fresh German troops collapsed with devastating losses. The French tried to cut off the corner of positions projecting on Sancy-Vailly north of Vailly. The opponents wrestled until the night of April 18 to the corner of Laffaux and Mont des Singes (Affenberg) in loss-making individual fights. On April 19, the French XI. Corps under General Louis Ernest de Maud'huy launched into battle between Hurtebise and Cerny . The strong French pressure in the middle of the battle front at La Ville-aux Bois and east of it against the torn up positions of the 9th Reserve Division caused the AOK 7 under Colonel General von Boehn to move the Sissone group, which was struggling hard, to the Chevreux - Le Poteau area to take back south of Juvincourt.

On April 21, the French reserve army was called up by Fismes and introduced into the battle front in the front section between the Hurtebise-Ferme east to the Aisne. From left to right, the French 10th Army was subordinate to the XVIII., IX., V., XXXII. and the III. Corps, plus two cavalry corps as reserves. The now shortened section of the front of the 5th Army, which followed eastwards to Reims, still had command of the newly supplied IInd, and the previously subordinate VII. And XXXVIII. Corps.

Formation of French St. Chamond tanks

By April 25, the French had about 30,000 dead and 100,000 wounded. Nevertheless, the offensive was resumed on May 4 and 5, 1917, although the French commander-in-chief Nivelle had announced that it would cease if the goals of the first day of the attack were not achieved.

The entire attacked height of the Chemin des Dames was again a site of unimaginable suffering on both sides. North of Laffaux up to Vauxaillon, the French I. Colonial Corps (with the 3rd Colonial Division and the combined Brecard Division) was also deployed against the right wing of Group Vailly on May 5th. The main attack points of the battle remained in the section of the 10th Army, the village of Craonne and the Winterberg there was fiercely fought. There were heavy individual fights around the dragon's cave (Caverne du dragon) west of the Hurtebise Ferme , a spacious underground defense system.

Refusal of obedience and breaking off the battle

The offensive had to be stopped early after French units mutinied openly at the front. The Chanson de Craonne played an important role here. The spread of the Russian Revolution gave rise to an increased anti-war movement. The II. Colonial Corps and the newly introduced III. Corps, there were collective refusals of obedience . Of 554 death sentences by military courts, 49 were carried out by firing squads. The two Russian brigades on the front line broke out in bloody confrontations, and the French army command had to ship a large part of the troops to Algeria. The mutinies were contained by these brutal punitive measures, but also by improvements in the living conditions of the Poilus by May 15, 1917 and finally ended.

The French casualties were already 147,000 after two weeks, or 187,000 after the end of the fighting at the end of May, including around 32,000 dead. The French Commander-in-Chief Nivelle, dubbed by the troops as a "bloodsucker", was replaced on May 15 by Henri Pétain . Ferdinand Foch became the new Chief of the General Staff. The course of the front in the middle of the Chemin des Dames was so unfavorable for both sides after the end of the fighting that the Germans were forced to retreat to the Ailette position at the end of 1917 .

Aftermath

The small gain in terrain of the Nivelle offensive up to May 5, 1917

Due to the high French losses, the offensive had to be broken off. For France, the Battle of Chemin des Dames was the last major offensive before the arrival and readiness of the Americans in the spring of 1918. In addition to Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivelle, General Charles Mangin was also replaced, and General Paul Maistre took over the 6th Army . General Pétain relied on a more defensive warfare than his predecessor, he succeeded in gradually restoring the morale of the French troops. Already on October 23rd, General Maistre was defeated in the battle of Malmaison after attacks by the XIV. Corps under Marjoulet, the XXI. under Degoutte and the XI. take the Laffaux corner under Maud'huy. The German 7th Army then withdrew to the north and held this position until the start of their spring offensive on May 27, 1918.

Most of the villages around the Chemin des Dames were completely destroyed by the end of the war. The village of Craonne was so badly destroyed that it was not rebuilt after the war, but was rebuilt nearby under the name Nouveau Craonne.

literature

Web links

Commons : Battle of the Aisne (1917)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George Bruce: Lexicon of Battles. Styria Verlag 1984, p. 13.
  2. ^ Spencer C. Tucker: A Global Chronology of Conflict. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, 2010, p. 1641.
  3. ^ Anton Wagner: The First World War, Verlag Carl Ueberreuter, Vienna 1981, p. 289
  4. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918, Volume XII. Card insert 18
  5. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume XII., ES Mittler, Berlin 1939, p. 357.
  6. ^ Reichsarchiv ES Mittler, Volume XII, Berlin 1939, p. 353.
  7. ^ Anton Wagner: The First World War, Verlag Carl Ueberreuter, Vienna 1981, p. 289
  8. ↑ Janusz Piekalkiewicz: The First World War, Econ Verlag , Munich 1988, p. 468
  9. ^ Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.): A Global Chronology of Conflict. From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East , ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, 2010, p. 1641, ISBN 978-1-85109-667-1 .
  10. ^ David R. Woodward: Field Marshal Sir William Robertson. Chief of the Imperial General Staff in the Great War , Praeger, Westport 1998, p. 107, ISBN 0-275-95422-6 .
  11. ↑ The "Battle of La Malmaison" is also known as the "October Battle of the Aisne".