31 Facts About Robert Nivelle

Robert Georges Nivelle was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War.

Robert Nivelle was responsible for the Nivelle Offensive at the Chemin des Dames, which had aroused skepticism already in its planning stages.

Robert Nivelle was replaced as commander-in-chief by Philippe Petain in May 1917.

Robert Nivelle 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.

Robert Nivelle began his service in the French Army in 1878 upon graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique.

In 1916 the Battle of Verdun occurred, during which Robert Nivelle was a subordinate to Philippe Petain.

When Petain was promoted to the command of the French Central Army Group, Robert Nivelle was promoted to Petain's previous command of the French Second Army, which was fighting against the Germans at Verdun, and he took direct control of the army on 1 May 1916.

The then French Prime Minister Aristide Briand was extremely impressed by Robert Nivelle, telling the other leaders at the Rome Conference that during his Verdun attacks Robert Nivelle had sent telegrams from various places on the advance, achieving his objectives exactly according to the predicted timetable.

Robert Nivelle was placed under the orders of the War Minister Hubert Lyautey and, unlike Joffre, Nivelle's authority did not extend over the Salonika front.

Robert Nivelle's slogan was: "the artillery conquers; the infantry occupies".

Robert Nivelle believed that a saturation bombardment, followed by a creeping barrage and by aggressive infantry assaults, could break the enemy's front defences and help French troops reach the German gun-line during a single attack, which would be followed by a breakthrough within two days.

At the Calais Conference the railway experts were soon sent away, and although Robert Nivelle became embarrassed when Lloyd George asked him to criticise Haig, he agreed to draw up rules for the relations between the British and French armies, to be binding on their successors going forward.

Robert Nivelle proposed that the British forces be placed under his direct command, not just for operations but even logistics and food, with Haig sidelined and forbidden even to make direct contact with London.

Robert Nivelle visited the British generals next morning, and professed astonishment that they had had no prior knowledge of the plan.

Robert Nivelle now demanded that the BEF be split into two Army Groups or else that Haig be sacked and replaced by Gough.

Robert Nivelle believed that Lloyd George hoped to become Allied Commander-in-Chief, a suggestion so absurd that it caused President Poincare to laugh.

At another conference in London Lloyd George stressed that the BEF must not be "mixed up with the French Army", and Haig and Nivelle met with Robertson and Lyautey to settle their differences.

Robert Nivelle believed that that action would disrupt his operational plan, and refused d'Esperey's request as a result.

Robert Nivelle has since been deemed to have missed his only real opportunity to disrupt the German withdrawal.

Confidence in Robert Nivelle's planned offensive did not improve when Paul Painleve was appointed to become the French Minister of War, as Painleve had little faith in Robert Nivelle's concepts.

Philippe Petain, over whose head Robert Nivelle had been promoted to become commander-in-chief, wanted to launch a major attack against the Germans near Reims.

The other commanders of the French army groups had concerns, but Robert Nivelle did not make any major adjustments to his plan.

At this point, Robert Nivelle threatened to resign if his plan was not accepted but the politicians declared their complete confidence in him.

Edmonds claimed Robert Nivelle said "The German Army will run away; they only want to be off".

Robert Nivelle had promised the Government that the attack would either be a success or be stopped.

Micheler convinced Robert Nivelle to reduce the scope of the offensive, with the goal now only to secure all of the Chemin des Dames and push the Germans back from Reims.

Robert Nivelle became increasingly depressed over the course of the offensive as his orders were under a great degree of scrutiny by the French government.

Robert Nivelle returned to France on the war's conclusion in November 1918, retiring from the French Army in 1921.

Robert Nivelle was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Military Medal.

Robert Nivelle died on 22 March 1924, his body was buried at Les Invalides in Paris.

Tim Travers states that "the heavy French casualties of the Robert Nivelle offensive resulted in French army mutinies", and David Stevenson proposes that "the Robert Nivelle offensive-or more precisely the decision to persist with it-precipitated the French mutinies of May and June [1917]".