Watch Second Battle Of The Aisne Video

The Second Battle of the Aisne, consisted of a massive assault of several French army corps that begun on April 16, 1917 against the German occupied Chemin des Dames ridge, some 70 miles to the northeast of Paris and just south of the city of Laon. Robert Nivelle, Commander-in-Chief of the French army, initiated the plan in December 1916 after he had replaced Joseph Joffre, who had been...  MORE

The Second Battle of the Aisne, consisted of a massive assault of several French army corps that begun on April 16, 1917 against the German occupied Chemin des Dames ridge, some 70 miles to the northeast of Paris and just south of the city of Laon. Robert Nivelle, Commander-in-Chief of the French army, initiated the plan in December 1916 after he had replaced Joseph Joffre, who had been disgraced by the strategic defeat resulting from the Battle of the Somme. The objective of Nivelle's offensive was to secure the prominent, 80 km long, east-west ridge of the Chemin des Dames and then to move north to capture the city of Laon. However the top of the Chemin des dames ridge was often underlain by underground quarries that served as shelters for German troops against the French artillery preparations. As a result, when the French frontal assault along the Chemin des Dames began on April 16, 1917, it was countered everywhere by intense German machine gun fire that stalled any attempt at a further advance. By the second day, repeated attempts at moving forward on the plateau resulted in massive French casualty counts. The battle ended in disaster in a matter of a few weeks, destroying Nivelle's career and sparking widespread mutiny throughout the French army. LESS