History
This song was sung by the French soldiers who mutinied (in more than sixty of the one hundred divisions of the French Army) after the costly and militarily disastrous offensive of General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames, spring 1917.
The song was prohibited in France until 1974. Even though an award of 1 million francs and the immediate honorable release from the army were offered for revealing the maker, the original author of the song remained unknown.
The brought about severe reprimands, notably by General Philippe Pétain, who was named on 17 May as the replacement for General Nivelle. He was directly tasked with the mission of rebuilding the sagging morale of the war-weary French Army. He went about this with the punishment of the leaders of the mutiny, condemning 500 to death (though only 26 were actually executed).
Read more about this topic: La Chanson De Craonne
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