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Battles of the First World War Podcast

The French Army in the First World War, a Discussion: Pt 7, Pt 1

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 838 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Part 7 of the ongoing discussion continues to look at the French Army in 1917. We look at the state of the French Army going into 1917, where the army itself was in good shape but its leadership was an entirely different story. The rising star of GEN Robert Nivelle and the politics around his ascension is discussed, as well as the offensive that bears his name and destroyed his career. 

 

The indiscipline of the French Army is visited through the question of "Were there mutinies in 1917, or were they more like military labor strikes?" The replacement of Nivelle with GEN Philippe Petain is reviewed as well, but we will get into his leadership of the army and approach to warfighting in the Pt 2 episode. Join us for a fascinating discussion. 

 

Joining us for this discussion are:

 

  • Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

  • Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields

 

Suggested reading to expand on this episode - 

 

"Flesh and Steel During the Great War" by Michel Goya: https://www.casematepublishers.com/9781473886964/flesh-and-steel-during-the-great-war/



Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

 

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast. 

 

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

 

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

 

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The The

0:23.6

The Hey folks, we are back with another look at the French Army during the First World War.

0:55.6

It has been a year, a year since the last episode.

0:59.4

So let's recap the series in the last couple of episodes that we did.

1:04.2

Overall, this series was created as a way to get more coverage of the French Army during World War I

1:09.7

and to talk about how it developed throughout the conflict.

1:13.3

We have covered the years, 1914, 1950,

1:17.1

and the last two episodes covered the year 1916.

1:20.9

With the crucibles of Verdin and LaSomme in 1960,

1:24.6

we definitely needed two episodes for that.

1:27.3

This year, excuse me, this episode rather, will cover the year 1917, another watershed year

1:33.5

for the French Army as it entered its third year of devastating conflict.

1:38.1

This is the year of the Novell offensive on the Shemande Dam, a failure which saw

1:43.7

army units refused to attack,

1:47.2

the ousting of General Nevel and the ascension of General Philippe Peton to command of the French army,

1:53.4

and Peyton's new operational approach to prosecuting the war.

1:57.9

So, as usual, this will no doubt be a great episode, so settle in with a cup of coffee,

2:03.4

or if you're about to go on a walk, go ahead and make it a long one.

2:06.9

I do hope you enjoy this.

2:09.1

And with me this evening are Steve Marsden, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

2:18.1

and he's also very knowledgeable about French politics during the war. And then we have Jim Smithson, author of

2:24.2

A Taste of Success, The First Battle of the Scarpe, the opening phase of the Battle of Arras 9th, 14, April

...

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