Robert Nivelle
Robert Georges Nivelle[a] (15 October 1856[1] – 22 March 1924[2]) was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in the Battle of Verdun, leading counter-offensives that rolled back the German forces in late 1916.[3] During these actions he and General Charles Mangin were accused of wasting French lives.[4] He gives his name to the Nivelle Offensive.
Robert Nivelle
15 October 1856
Tulle, French Empire
22 March 1924 (aged 67)
Paris, French Republic
French
1878 – 1921
-
- 5th Artillery Regiment
- 27th Infantry Brigade
- 61st Reserve Infantry Division
- III Corps
- Second Army
Following the successes at Verdun, Nivelle was promoted to commander-in-chief of the French armies on the Western Front in December 1916, largely because of his persuasiveness with French and British political leaders, aided by his fluency in English. He was responsible for the Nivelle Offensive at the Chemin des Dames, which had aroused skepticism already in its planning stages. When the costly offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front, a major mutiny occurred, affecting roughly half the French Army, which conducted no further major offensive action for several months. Nivelle was replaced as commander-in-chief by Philippe Pétain in May 15, 1917.
Early life and career[edit]
Robert Georges Nivelle, born on 15 October 1856 in the French provincial town of Tulle in Corrèze, had a French father and an English Protestant mother.[5][6] Nivelle also was a Protestant and this was a help to him as in the context of the politics of the French military Catholic piety was a handicap.[7] He began his service in the French Army in 1878 upon graduating from the École Polytechnique. Starting as a sub-lieutenant with the French artillery, Nivelle became a colonel-of-artillery in December 1913.[6] During that period, Nivelle served with distinction in Algeria, Tunisia and in China[6] during the Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901).
First World War[edit]
1914–15[edit]
Described as "an articulate and immensely self-confident gunner",[8] Nivelle played a key role in defeating German attacks during the Alsace Offensive, the First Battle of the Marne and the First Battle of the Aisne, as a result of the intense artillery fire he organised against them.[6] Consequently, he was promoted to the rank of general in October 1914.[6]
Dismissal[edit]
By the time the Nivelle offensive had ended on 9 May 1917 the French had sustained 187,000 casualties.[39] Although this was far fewer than the casualties in the Battle of Verdun, Nivelle had predicted a great success, and the country expressed bitter disappointment.[39][40] Pétain became Commander-in-Chief in Nivelle's place on 15 May.[39] In December 1917 Nivelle was transferred by the French Government to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in North Africa, an appointment which effectively removed him from direct involvement in the war. He returned to France on the war's conclusion in November 1918, retiring from the French Army in 1921.[6] He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Military Medal. Nivelle died on 22 March 1924, his body was buried at Les Invalides in Paris.
Legacy[edit]
The British Official Historian wrote that the attempt at breakthrough had failed but that the French had gained 'considerable advantages'. "By the 20th of April they had in their hands over 20,000 prisoners and 147 guns; the railway from Soissons to Reims was freed, the enemy had been driven out of the Aisne valley west of the Oise—Aisne Canal; the German second position had been captured south of Juvincourt; and in Champagne some of the most important 'monts' had been taken. The German counter-attacks, successful at the beginning, were becoming less and less so as time went on. In particular, a great effort made on the 19th against the Fourth Army, when three divisions were thrown in between Nauroy and Moronvilliers, failed completely."[36]
Other historians have been less generous about Nivelle's actions during the First World War. Julian Thompson contends that Nivelle was "careless of casualties,"[41] that he was a "disastrous choice to succeed Joffre as commander-in-chief,"[41]
and that the planning for the Nivelle Offensive was "slapdash".[42]
In the book World War 1: 1914–1918, the execution of the Nivelle Offensive is considered to have been "murderous."[43]
David Stevenson says that the attack on the Chemin des Dames was a "disaster".[44]
Nivelle is also considered positively in some ways. In The Macmillan Dictionary of the First World War, he is described as "a competent tactician as a regimental colonel in 1914",[45]
that his creeping barrage tactics were "innovative",[46] and that he was able to galvanize "increasingly pessimistic public opinion in France" in December 1916".[46]
J Rickard believes Nivelle's push for a greater development of the tank contributed to its improvement by 1918, and he also says that Nivelle was a "gifted artilleryman".[6]
Some historians blame the Nivelle Offensive for starting the French army mutinies of 1917. Tim Travers states that "the heavy French casualties of the Nivelle offensive resulted in French army mutinies",[47]
and David Stevenson proposes that "the Nivelle offensive-or more precisely the decision to persist with it-precipitated the French mutinies of May and June [1917]".[48]
Mount Nivelle on the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies was named for him in 1918;[49] summits with the names of other French generals are nearby: Cordonnier, Foch, Joffre, and Mangin.