Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne ( or ) was a French attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the German armies in France by an offensive of several French army groups . The attacks became known as the Nivelle Offensive and began on 9 April with a British attack at Arras . The French attacks began on 16 April 1917 against the German occupied Chemin des Dames ridge , some to the north - east of Paris and just south of the city of Laon . On 17 April the French Fourth Army further south began the Battle of the Hills . Robert Nivelle , Commander - in - Chief of the French army , laid the plan in December 1916 after he had replaced Joseph Joffre , who had lost the confidence of the French government and been removed from office . The objective of Nivelle ' s offensive was to secure the prominent , long , east – west ridge of the Chemin des Dames and then to move north to capture the city of Laon . The Chemin des Dames ridge had been quarried for stone for centuries , leaving a warren of caves and tunnels which were used as shelters by German troops , to escape the French bombardment . The offensive met massed German machine - gun fire , which inflicted many casualties and repulsed the French infantry at many points . The French achieved some substantial tactical successes and took in their attacks on the Aisne and in Champagne but failed to achieve their strategic objectives and inflict a decisive defeat on the Germans . The failure to break through the German defences had a traumatic effect on the morale of the French army and many divisions mutinied . Nivelle was superseded by Pétain who adopted a strategy of " healing and defence " ; on 19 May Pétain issued Directive No 1 for limited offensives , intended to resume the wearing - out of the German army , while conserving French infantry . The new strategy was not one of passive defence and in June and July the Fourth , Tenth and Sixth armies managed to conduct several limited attacks and the First Army was sent to Flanders to participate in the Third Battle of Ypres . The British prolonged the Arras offensive into mid - May , despite uncertainty about French intentions , high losses and diminishing success , before moving their forces northwards to Flanders . The British captured Messines Ridge on 7 June and spent the rest of the year on the offensive in the Third Battle of Ypres ( ) and the Battle of Cambrai ( ) . The French conducted limited attacks at Verdun in August , which recaptured much of the remaining ground lost in 1916 and at Malmaison in October , which captured at the west end of the Chemin des Dames and forced the Germans to withdraw from the ridge to the north bank of the Ailette . French army morale recovered from the strategic failure of the Nivelle Offensive , after Pétain introduced reforms increasing the welfare of French troops and were shot as scapegoats . Background . Strategic developments . Nivelle believed the Germans had been exhausted by the battles at Verdun and the Somme and could not resist a breakthrough offensive , which could be completed in The main attack on the Aisne would be preceded by a large diversionary attack by the British Third and First armies at Arras . The French War Minister , Hubert Lyautey and Chief of Staff General Henri - Philippe Pétain opposed the plan , believing it to be premature . The British Commander - in - Chief , Sir Douglas Haig , supported the concept of a decisive battle but insisted that if the first two phases of Nivelle ' s scheme were unsuccessful , the British effort would be moved north to Flanders . Nivelle threatened to resign if the offensive did not go ahead , Nivelle had not yet lost a battle and he had the enthusiastic support of the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George . The French Prime Minister Aristide Briand supported Nivelle but the war minister Lyautey resigned , during a dispute with the Chamber of Deputies and the Briand government fell ; a new government under Alexandre Ribot took office on 20 March . The Second Battle of the Aisne involved troops and on a front from Reims to Roye , with the main effort against the German positions along the Aisne river . The original plan of December 1916 was plagued by delays and information leaks . By the time the offensive began in April 1917 , the Germans had received intelligence of the Allied plan and strengthened their defences on the Aisne front . The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line ( Operation ) left a belt of devastated ground up to deep , in front of the French positions facing east from Soissons north to St . Quentin . Operation freed divisions , which were moved to the Aisne increasing the German garrsion to 38 divisions against 53 French divisions . The German withdrawal forestalled the attacks of the British and ( GAN ) but also freed French divisions and by late March GAN had been reduced by eleven infantry , two cavalry divisions and guns , which went into the French strategic reserve . When Hindenburg and Ludendorff took over from Falkenhayn on 28 August 1916 , the pressure being placed on the German army in France was so great that new defensive arrangements based on the principles of depth , invisibility and immediate counter - action were adopted , as the only means by which the growing material strength of the French and British armies could be countered , when a large portion of the German army was operating in Russia . Instead of fighting the defensive battle in the front line or from shell - hole positions near it , the main fight was to take place behind the front line , out of view and out of range of enemy field artillery . " Conduct of the Defensive Battle " was published on 1 December 1916 . The new manual laid down the organisation for the mobile defence of an area , rather than the rigid defence of a trench line . Defensive positions necessary for the new method were defined in " Principles of Field Position Construction " . In the new defensive manual , unyielding defence of ground regardless of its tactical value , was replaced by the defence of positions suitable for artillery observation and communication with the rear , where an attacking force would " fight itself to a standstill and use up its resources while the defenders conserve [ d ] their strength " . Defending infantry would fight in areas , with the front divisions in an outpost zone up to deep behind listening posts , with the main line of resistance placed on a reverse slope , in front of artillery observation posts kept far enough back to retain observation over the outpost zone . Behind the main line of resistance was a ( battlezone ) , a second defensive area deep , sited as far as possible on ground hidden from enemy observation while in view of German artillery observers . A ( rear battle zone ) further back was to be occupied by the reserve battalion of each regiment . " Principles of Field Fortification " was published in January 1917 and by April an outpost zone to be held by sentries had been built along the Western Front . Sentries could retreat to larger positions held by of five men and an NCO who would join the sentries to recapture sentry - posts by immediate counter - attack . Defensive procedures in the battlezone were similar but with a greater number of troops . The front trench system was the sentry line for the battlezone garrison , which was allowed to move away from concentrations of enemy fire and then counter - attack to recover the battle and outpost zones ; such withdrawals were envisaged as occurring on small parts of the battlefield which had been made untenable by Allied artillery fire , as the prelude to ( immediate counter - attack within the position ) . Such a decentralised battle by large numbers of small infantry detachments would present the attacker with unforeseen obstructions . Resistance from troops equipped with automatic weapons , supported by observed artillery fire , would increase the further the advance progressed . A school was opened in January 1917 to teach infantry commanders the new methods . Given the Allies ' growing superiority in munitions and manpower , attackers might still penetrate to the second ( artillery protection ) line , leaving in their wake German garrisons isolated in , ( resistance nests , ) still inflicting losses and disorganisation on the attackers . As the attackers tried to capture the and dig in near the German second line , of the counter - attack divisions would advance from the into the battlezone , in a ( immediate counter - attack ) ; if this failed the counter - attack divisions would take their time to prepare a methodical attack but only if the lost ground was essential to the retention of the main position . Such methods required large numbers of reserve divisions ready to move to the battlefront . The reserve was obtained by creating by internal reorganisation of the army , bringing divisions from the eastern front and by shortening the western front , by withdrawing to the base of the Noyon salient in Operation Alberich . By the spring of 1917 the German army in the west had a strategic reserve of . " Experience of the German First Army in the Somme Battles " , was published on 30 January 1917 . During the Battle of the Somme in 1916 Colonel von Lossberg ( Chief of Staff of the First Army ) had been able to establish a line of " relief " divisions . In his analysis of the battle , Lossberg opposed the granting of discretion to front trench garrisons to retire , as he believed that manoeuvre did not allow the garrisons to evade Allied artillery - fire , which could blanket the forward area and invited enemy infantry to occupy vacated areas unopposed . Lossberg considered that spontaneous withdrawals would disrupt the counter - attack reserves as they deployed and further deprive battalion and division commanders of the ability to conduct an organised defence , which the dispersal of infantry over a wider area had already made difficult . Lossberg and others had severe doubts as to the ability of relief divisions to arrive on the battlefield in time to conduct an immediate counter - attack from behind the battlezone and wanted the Somme practice of fighting in the front line to be retained and authority devolved no further than the battalion , so as to maintain organizational coherence , in anticipation of a methodical counter - attack after by the relief divisions . Ludendorff was sufficiently impressed by Lossberg ' s memorandum to add it to the new " Manual of Infantry Training for War " . Prelude . German defensive preprations . During the German withdrawal to the ( Hindenburg Line ) in March 1917 , a modest withdrawal took place in the neighbourhood of Soissons . On 17 March German defences at Crouy and were found to be empty and as French troops followed up the retirement , German troops counter - attacked at Vregny and Margival , which reduced the speed of the French pursuit to a step - by - step advance . By April the French advance had only progressed beyond Neuville - sur - Margival and Leuilly . On 1 April a French attack along the line of the Ailette – Laon road , reached the outskirts of Laffaux and Vauxaillon . Vauxeny and Vauxaillon were occupied a few days later . Battle . Third Army . on the northern flank of ( GAR ) had been reduced to the Third Army with three corps , which began French operations with preliminary attacks on German observation points at St . Quentin on On 3 April the Third Army attacked after a " terrific " bombardment , on a front of about north of a line from Castres to Essigny - le - Grand and Benay , between the Somme canal at Dallon , south - west of St . Quentin and the Oise . The villages of Dallon , Giffecourt , Cerizy and south of Urvillers , were captured and the German position at the apex of the triangle Ham , St . Quentin , La Fere was made vulnerable to a further attack . East of the Oise and north of the Aisne , the Third Army took the southern and north - western outskirts of Laffaux and Vauxeny . On 4 April German counter - attacks north of the Aisne were repulsed south of Vauveny and Laffaux . The French captured Moy on the west bank of the Oise , along with Urvillers and Grugies , a village opposite Dallon on the east bank of the Somme . North of the farm of La Folie , the Germans were pushed back and three howitzers and several lorries were captured . Beyond Dallon French patrols entered the south - western suburb of St . Quentin . Fifth and Sixth armies . The Fifth Army attacked on 16 April at which dawned misty and overcast . From the beginning German machine - gunners were able to engage the French infantry and inflict many casualties , although German artillery - fire was far less destructive . Courcy on the right flank was captured but the advance was stopped at the Aisne – Marne canal . The canal was crossed further north and Berméricourt was captured against a determined German defence . From Bermericourt to the Aisne the French attack was repulsed and south of the river French infantry were forced back to their start - line . On the north bank of the Aisne the French attack was more successful , the 42nd and 69th divisions reached the German second position between the Aisne and the Miette , the advance north of Berry penetrating . Tanks to accompany the French infantry to the third objective arrived late and the troops were too exhausted and reduced by casualties to follow the tanks . Half of the tanks were knocked - out in the German defences and then acted as pill - boxes in advance of the French infantry , which helped to defeat a big German counter - attack . German infantry launched hasty counter - attacks along the front , recaptured Bermericourt and conducted organised counter - attacks where the French infantry had advanced the furthest . At Sapigneul in the XXXII Corps area , the 37th Division attack failed , which released German artillery in the area to fire in enfilade into the flanks of the adjacent divisions , which had been able to advance and the guns were also able to engage the French tanks north of the Aisne . The defeat of the 37th Division restored the German defences between Loivre and Juvincourt . The left flank division of the XXXII Corps and the right division of the V Corps penetrated the German second position south of Juvincourt but French tanks attacking south of the Miette from advanced to disaster . German observers at Craonne , on the east end of the Chemin des Dames , were able to direct artillery - fire against the tanks and destroyed behind the French front line ; few of the tanks reached the German defences and by the evening only ten tanks were operational . On the left flank the V Corps was stopped at the and the hamlet of . On the Chemin des Dames , I Corps made very little progress and by evening had advanced no further than the German support line , ahead . The French infantry had suffered many casualties and few of the leading divisions were capable of resuming the attack . The advance had failed to reach objectives which were to have fallen by but prisoners had been taken . The attack on the right flank of the Sixth Army , which faced north between Oulches and Missy , took place from Oulches to Soupir and had less success than the Fifth Army ; the II Colonial Corps advanced for in the first thirty minutes and was then stopped . The XX Corps attack from Vendresse to the Oise – Aisne Canal had more success , the 153rd Division on the right flank reached the Chemin des Dames south of Courtecon after a second attack , managing an advance of . The VI Corps advanced on its right flank west of the Oise – Aisne Canal but was held up on the left . On the east - facing northern flank near Laffaux , I Colonial Corps was able to penetrate only a few hundred yard into the defences of the ( Condé Switch ) and failed to take Moisy Farm plateau . Laffaux was captured and then lost to a counter - attack before changing hands several times , until finally captured on 19 April . To the east of Vauxaillon at the north end of the Sixth Army , was captured with the help of British heavy artillery but then lost to a German counter - attack . The Sixth Army operations took but no break - through had been achieved and at only one - point had the German second position been reached . On the second day Nivelle ordered the Fifth Army to attack north - eastwards to reinforce success , believing that the Germans intended to hold the ground in front of the Sixth Army . The Fifth Army was not able substantially to advance on 17 April but the Sixth Army , which had continued to attack overnight , forced a German withdrawal from the area of Braye , Condé and Laffaux to the , which ran from Laffaux mill to the Chemin des Dames and joined the original defences at Courtecon . The German retirement was carried out urgently and many guns were left behind , along with " vast " stocks of munitions . The French infantry reached the new German positions with an advance of . Fourth Army . On 17 April the Fourth Army on the left of ( GAC ) began the subsidiary attack in Champagne from Aubérive to the east of Reims which became known as , with the VIII , XVII and XII Corps on an front . The attack began at in cold rain alternating with snow showers . The right flank guard to the east of Suippes was established by the 24th Division and Aubérive on the east bank of the river and the 34th Division took and . The " Monts " were held against a German counter - attack on 19 April by the 5th , 6th ( divisions ) and the 23rd division and one regiment between Nauroy and Moronvilliers . On the west bank the Moroccan Division was repulsed on the right and captured on the left . To the north - east of the hill the advance reached a depth of and next day the advance was pressed beyond . The Fourth Army attacks took and German attacks on 27 May had temporary success before French counter - attacks recaptured the ground around ; lack of troops had forced the Germans into piecemeal attacks instead of a simultaneous attack along all of the front . Tenth Army . Nivelle ordered the Tenth Army forward between the Fifth and Sixth armies on 21 April . The IX Corps and XVIII Corps took over between Craonne and Hurtebise and local operations were continued on the fronts of the Fourth and Fifth armies with little success . An attack on Brimont on the capture of which would have been of great tactical value , was postponed on the orders of the French government and never took place . The Tenth Army captured the Californie plateau on the Chemin des Dames , the Sixth Army captured the for along the Chemin des Dames and then advanced at the salient opposite Laffaux . An attack on 5 May south - east of Vauxaillon took Moisy Farm and Laffaux Mill and repulsed German counter - attacks . Next day another advance was conducted north of the mill . German counter - attacks continued in constant attack and counter - attack in the Soissons sector . By the end of 5 May the Sixth Army had reached the outskirts of Allemant and taken The offensive continued on the Fourth Army front where was captured and by 10 May and had been taken by the French armies . German Seventh Army counter - attacks . Between Vauxaillon and Reims and on the Moronvilliers heights the French had captured much of the German defensive zone , despite the failure to break through and Army Group German Crown Prince counter - attacked before the French could consolidate , mostly by night towards the summits of the Chemin des Dames and the Moronvilliers massif . During the nights of the 6 / 7 and 7 / 8 May the Germans attacked from Vauxaillon to Craonne and on the night of 8 / 9 May German attacks were repulsed at Cerny , La Bovelle , Hautebise Farm and the California Plateau . Next day German counter - attacks on Chevreux , north - east of Craonne at the foot of the east end of the Chemin des Dames were defeated . More attacks on the night of 9 / 10 May were defeated by the French artillery and machine - gun fire ; and the French managed to advance on the northern slopes of the Vauclerc Plateau . On 10 May another German attack at Chevreux was defeated and the French advanced north of Sancy . On the night of 10 / 11 May and the following day , German attacks were repulsed on the California Plateau and at Cerny . On 16 May a German counter - offensive on a front of , from the north - west of Laffaux Mill to the Soissons – Laon railway was defeated and after dark more attacks north of Laffaux Mill and north - west of Braye - en - Laonnois also failed . French attacks on 17 May took ground east of Craonne and on 18 May German attacks on the California Plateau and on the Chemin des Dames just west of the Oise – Aisne Canal were repulsed . On 20 May a counter - offensive , to retake the French positions from Craonne to the east of Fort de Malmaison , was mostly defeated by artillery - fire and where German infantry were able to advance through the French defensive barrages , French infantry easily forced them back ; prisoners were taken . On 21 May German surprise attacks on the Vauclerc Plateau failed and on the following evening the French captured several of the last few observation posts dominating the Ailette Valley and took three German trench lines east of Chevreux . A German counter - attack on the California Plateau was smashed by artillery and infantry small - arms fire and taken . At on 23 May , a German assault on the Vauclerc Plateau was defeated and on 24 May a renewed attack was driven back in confusion . During the night the French took the wood south - east of Chevreux and almost annihilated two German battalions . On 25 May three German columns attacked a salient north - west of Bray - en - Laonnois and gained a footing in the French first trench before being forced out by a counter - attack . On 26 May German attacks on salients east and west of Cerny were repulsed and from German attacks between Vauxaillon and Laffaux Mill broke down . Two attacks on 28 May at Hurtebise were defeated by French artillery - fire and on the night of attacks by the Germans west of Cerny also failed . On the morning of 1 June after a heavy bombardment , German troops took some trenches north of Laffaux Mill and were then pushed out in the afternoon . On 2 June a bigger German attack began , after an intensive bombardment of the French front , from the north of Laffaux to the east of Berry - au - Bac . On the night of 2 / 3 June , two German divisions made five attacks on the east , west and central parts of the California Plateau and the west end of the Vauclerc Plateau . The Germans attacked in waves , at certain points advancing shoulder - to - shoulder , supported by flame - thrower detachments and gained some ground on the Vauclerc Plateau , until French counter - attacks recovered the ground . Despite the French holding improvised defences and the huge volumes of German artillery - fire used to prepare attacks , the German organised counter - attacks ( ) met with little success and at Chevreux north - east of Craonne , the French had even pushed farther into the Laon Plain . Aftermath . Analysis . The offensive advanced the front line by on the front of the Sixth Army , which took and a large amount of equipment . The operation had been planned as a decisive blow to the Germans ; by 20 April it was clear that the strategic intent of the offensive had not been achieved and by 25 April most of the fighting had ended . Casualties had reached the French armies by 10 May and some divisions suffered more than . On 3 May the French 2nd Division refused orders and similar refusals and mutiny spread through the armies ; the Nivelle Offensive was abandoned in confusion on 9 May . The politicians and public were stunned by the chain of events and on 16 May Nivelle was sacked and moved to North Africa . He was replaced by the considerably more cautious Pétain with Foch as chief of the General Staff , who adopted a stratey of " healing and defence " to avoid casualties and to restore morale . Pétain had shot as examples and introduced reforms to improve the welfare of French troops which had a significant effect in restoring morale . The operations in Champagne on 20 May ended the Nivelle Offensive ; on the Aisne and in Champagne , most of the Chemin - des - Dames plateau , particularly the east end which dominated the plain north of the Aisne had been captured . Bois - des - Buttes , Ville - aux - Bois , Bois - des - Boches and the German first and second positions from there to the Aisne had also been captured . South of the river the Fifth and Tenth armies in the plain near Loivre , had managed to advance west of the Brimont Heights . East of Reims the Fourth Army had captured most of the Moronvilliers massif , Auberive and had advanced along the Suippe , which provided good jumping - off positions for a new offensive . The cost of the Nivelle Offensive in casualties and loss of morale were great but German losses were also high and the tactical success of the offensive , in capturing elaborately fortified positions and defeating counter - attacks reduced German morale . The German had been forced from three of the strongest positions on the Western Front and had failed to recapture them . Vimy Ridge , the Scarpe Heights , the caverns , spurs and plateau of the Chemin des Dames and the Moronvilliers massif had not been occupied for more than two years , carefully surveyed by German engineers and fortified to make them impregnable . In six weeks all were lost and the Germans were left clinging to the eastern or northern edges of the ridges of the summits having lost the western or southern sides . The French tactic of assault suited the German defensive dispositions , since much of the new construction had taken place on reverse slopes . The speed of attack and the depth of the French objectives meant that there was no time to establish artillery observation posts overlooking the Ailette valley , in the areas where French infantry had reached the ridge . The tunnels and caves under the ridge nullified the destructive effect of the French artillery , which was also inhibited by poor weather which reduced observation and by German air superiority which made French artillery - observation aircraft even less effective . The rear edge of the German battlezone along the ridge had been reinforced with machine - gun posts and the German divisional commanders decided to hold the front line , rather than giving ground elastically and few of the Eingreif division s were needed to intervene in the battle . On 20 May General Max von Boehn , commander of the 7th Army was awarded " Oakleaves " ( similar to a " bar " ) to his Pour le Mérite for " outstanding leadership during the 1917 French Aisne offensive and distinction during the battle of Chemin des Dames " . casualties . In 1939 Wynne wrote that the French lost including in the first few days but that the effect on military and civilian morale was worse than the casualties . In 1939 the Der Weltkrieg the German Official History recorded German losses to the end of June as including and claimed French casualties of including prisoner . In 1962 G . W . L . Nicholson the Canadian Official Historian , recorded German losses of French casualties of A 2003 web publication gave casualties , the Fifth Army , in the Sixth Army , the Tenth Army , the Fourth Army and the Third Army . In 2005 Doughty quoted figures of casualties on the Aisne from of whom were killed , wounded and taken prisoner ; the rate of casualties was the worst since November 1914 . From the Fourth , Fifth , Sixth and Tenth armies took and The advance of the Sixth Army was one of the largest made by a French army since trench warfare began . Subsequent operations . The final action of the campaign was the Battle of La Malmaison ( ) from 1917 , which led to the capture of the village of La Malmaison and control of the Chemin des Dames ridge . The German 7th Army had discovered French preparations for the attack and also identified the date and time . Von Boehn chose to defend the front positions , rather than treat them as an advanced zone and conduct the main defence north of the Oise – Aisne canal . The German artillery was outnumbered and on the front of the 14th Division batteries were confronted by artillery batteries conducting counter - battery fire , which silenced most of the German artillery before the French attack . Gas bombardments on low - lying land near the canal dispersed very slowly and became so dense that the carriage of ammunition and supplies to the front was made impossible . divisions were distributed in battalions along the front line and caught in the French bombardments , where the infantry shelters had been identified by French air reconnaissance and systematically destroyed . After the four - day bombardment was extended by two more days due to bad weather , which had slowed the destruction of targets behind the German front , the XI , XXI and XIV corps attacked on a front with six divisions . Zero hour had been set for but a German message ordering the front garrisons to be ready at had been intercepted and zero hour was moved forward to The French infantry adivance was supported by systematic destructive and counter - battery artillery - fire and a creeping barrage but the earlier zero hour , meant that the advance began before dawn . Rain began to fall at and a force Schneider CA1 and Saint - Chamond tanks , were impeded by mud and down before crossing the French front line . Fifteen tanks then bogged in no man ' s land or the German front line ; the French infantry and the which remained serviceable , reached the German second position according to plan , the 38th Division captured and XXI Corps took Allemant and Vaudesson . From the XXI and XIV corps advanced rapidly and the I Cavalry Corps was brought forward into the XIV Corps area , to be ready for an exploitation . On 25 October the village and forest of Pinon were captured and the line of the Oise – Aisne canal was reached . In four days the attack had advanced and forced the Germans from the plateau of the Chemin des Dames , back to the north bank of the Ailette Valley . The French took and mortars . French losses were killed , and from the casualties of the attacks during the Nivelle Offensive .