Military History of the First World War DOWNLOAD FREE

The Nivelle Offensive In France Joffre was replaced by Nivelle as commander-in-chief. Nivelle proposed a major French offensive at Chemin des Dames supported by a British attack at Arras. The Nivelle offensive began on the 9th April with the British and Canadian flanking attack in the area of Arras. The Canadians captured Vimy Ridge and the British also had a major success in the vacinity of the town Arras owing to the massive firepower now available to them. They were unable to exploit their breakthrough, however, for their cavalry once again proved ineffective as the means to achieve this. Nivelle launched the French attack on 16th April and attempted to seize Chemin des Dames. The Nivelle offensive at Chemin des Dames in April was a failure and casualties were massive. Nivelle was replaced by General Pétain as commander-in-chief. There was a near mutiny among French soldiers in acts of "collective disobedience". The French authorities were forced by the scale of the disturbance to take a conciliatory response, and, whilst up to 70 soldiers were executed, given the scale of the problem this was far less than it might have been. Thus, the French capacity for offensive was negated; only the British could attack during the remainder of 1916.

Contents of Military History of the First World War 1 The Central Powers and the Entente 2 The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914 3 Military Planning in Advance of the War 4 Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914 5 The Battle for the Marne 6 The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres 7 First Battle of Ypres 8 The Pacific 9 Africa 10 The Eastern Front during 1915 11 Italy enters the war 12 The Balkans 13 The Western Front 14 Gallipoli 15 The Western Front, 1916 16 Verdun 17 The Battle of the Somme 18 The Trentino Offensive 19 The Brusilov Offensive 20 Romania 21 The Russian Front in 1917 22 Mesopotamia 23 The Nivelle Offensive 24 The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele) 25 Cambrai 26 Caporetto 27 German offensive in Russia, 1918 28 Ludendorff's offensive in the West 29 Allied counter-offensive

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