{"id":836,"date":"2017-04-04T17:36:48","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T17:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=836"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:20:51","slug":"france-in-world-war-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/france-in-world-war-i\/","title":{"rendered":"France in World War I: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

France was one of the main participants in the outbreak and fighting of\u00a0World War I<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, France was one of the main\u00a0Allied Powers<\/a>, alongside\u00a0Britain<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Russia<\/a>.\u00a0 As well, much of the fighting along the trenches<\/a> of the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>\u00a0occurred in northern France.\u00a0 As such, World War I was important as not only a military conflict but it also affected French society. While the war occurred mostly in Europe, it ultimately became a global war due to the involvement of countries from around the world.\u00a0 For example, at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, France had one of the largest empires in the world, with colonies from around the world.\u00a0 Many of these colonies sent soldiers to the battles of World War I, which made the First World War a truly global war.\u00a0 For its part, French soldiers were present in many of the major battles of the Western Front of World War I.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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France in World War I – Infographic (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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FRANCE ENTERS WORLD WAR I<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

World War I<\/a> erupted during the summer of 1914 in an event that historians refer to as the\u00a0July Crisis<\/a>.\u00a0 In short, this crisis was caused by the\u00a0assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand<\/a>, which led to the major European powers engaging in a conflict.\u00a0 For example, France was pulled into the crisis due to its alliance with Britain and Russia<\/a>, which was called the\u00a0Triple Entente<\/a>.\u00a0 During the war, France along with its allies faced off against the\u00a0Central Powers<\/a>, which including:\u00a0Germany<\/a>,\u00a0Austria-Hungary<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Bulgaria<\/a>.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The assassination of Franz Ferdinand artwork by Achille Beltrame from an Italian newspaper. It shows Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Officially, World War I started on July 28th, 1914 when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.\u00a0 In response, Russia mobilized its forces further on July 30th and began to prepare for war with Austria-Hungary.\u00a0 Having heard of the Russian mobilization against Austria-Hungary, Wilhelm II<\/a> of Germany ordered German mobilization on August 1st.\u00a0 German troops were readied to invade France, through Belgium with the plan of attack known as the Schlieffen Plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Germany formally declared war on August 1st against France, Belgium, and Russia.  In response, France mobilized its forces and readied for war with Germany.  Britain entered the fray on August 4th when it declared war against Germany.  At the time, Britain wanted to keep its commitments to France as outlined in the Entente Cordiale, which was an agreement between France and the Britain.  The Entente Cordiale was part of the Triple Entente and linked the two countries together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6th in retaliation for its support of Serbia.  France formally entered World War I on August 11th when it declared war against Austria-Hungary.  With that, World War I had begun and Europe was divided.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the driving factors behind France\u2019s entry into the fighting of World War I is its history with Germany. Both nations had a history of war against each other and their rivalry caused them to expand their military forces.\u00a0 For example, the Franco-Prussian War<\/a> had occurred just decades earlier from 1870 until 1871.\u00a0 More specifically, Prussia (the largest Germanic Kingdom before the unification of Germany) defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War.\u00a0 As part of its defeat, France gave up a section of its land called Alsace-Lorraine, which bordered with Germany.\u00a0 Germany\u2019s control over Alsace-Lorraine was a major source of frustration for France and led to heightened tensions between Germany and France.\u00a0 In fact, France had a deep mistrust of Germany in the years before World War I.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Raymond Poincare diary entry on the outbreak of World War I in 1914. (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In the decades before World War I, many European countries began to practice\u00a0militarism<\/a>\u00a0and worked to expand and strengthen their military forces.\u00a0 For example, there was an intense arms race and naval race<\/a> between several European nations in the buildup to World War I.\u00a0 Specifically, France and Germany were heavily involved in an arms race in which each country doubled their armies between 1870 and 1914.\u00a0 At the outbreak of fighting in 1914, France had approximately 4 million soldiers while Germany had over 4.5 million.\u00a0 This was significant because most other European countries did not have nearly as many soldiers at the ready to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FRANCE IN WORLD WAR I – ARMY AND RECRUITMENT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As stated above, France\u2019s army expanded in size and military capacity in the years before the start of World War I.  This was due to several factors, including the rise of militarism and the arms race with Germany.  Another important factor was the use of conscription in France.  Conscription is mandatory military service, which was a relatively common practice in Europe at the time.  For instance, France had a system of universal conscription that they used for men of different ages.  In general, men between the ages of 20 and 23 served in the Active Army, while men between the ages of 24 and 48 served in different types of reserve armies.  As a result, when war broke out in 1914, France was able to quickly mobilize their forces for action.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in 1914 was General Joseph Joffre.\u00a0 Under his command, the French forces were organized between five armies that were tasked with defending France from the German attack or capturing territories along the shard border between France and Germany.\u00a0 As the war progressed, the French government carried out conscription to a higher degree in order to bolster the French Army and the reserves.\u00a0 \u00a0Most of these soldiers ended up fighting in the trenches along the Western Front<\/a>, which were known for their brutal conditions.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joseph Joffre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Joffre was replaced as the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in 1916 following the terrible French losses at the Battle of Verdun.\u00a0 He was replaced by Robert Nivelle, who only served in the position until 1917.\u00a0 Philippe P\u00e9tain<\/a> became the new Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in May of 1917 and restored French strength throughout the spring of 1917.\u00a0 However, his time in command was short-lived.\u00a0 In fact, Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch eventually took over direct command of the French forces.\u00a0 More specifically, Foch organized the French offensives at the end of World War I, which were a contributing factor to Germany\u2019s surrender.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"France
Philippe P\u00e9tain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Besides the main French armies, France also deployed forces from across their vast colonial empire.  For example, African soldiers from France\u2019s African colonies participated in the fighting in Europe.  In fact, historians estimate that as many as 135,000 African soldiers fought in Europe for France, and as mas as 30,000 died in World War I.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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French soldiers during the early period of World War I. (Colorized by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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FRANCE IN WORLD WAR I – MAJOR BATTLES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

French forces participated in many of the main battles of World War I, but were primarily active on the\u00a0Western Front<\/a>.\u00a0 In general, the landscape of Europe in World War I was divided into a few different \u2018fronts\u2019.\u00a0 For instance, the Western Front was located on the western-half of Europe and included a line of trenches that stretched throughout much of northern France and Belgium.\u00a0 Besides the Western Front, French forces also fought in other regions such as the\u00a0Italian Campaign and the Romanian Campaign.
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As stated above, French forces participated in many battles of World War I.\u00a0 Some of the most significant battles of World War I that France participated in included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n