2nd Battle of Artois: Savage, Futile

The Second Battle of Artois, which took place from May 9-June 18, 1915, marked a new extremity of savage and ultimately futile violence on the Western Front. Undaunted by a series of costly failures, including major French attacks rebuffed in Champagne and St. Mihiel and the British Pyrrhic gains at Neuve Chapelle, French chief of the general staff Joseph Joffre ordered the biggest Allied offensive yet, in yet another attempt to cut off enemy forces in the huge salient bulging into northern France. Despite huge commitments of manpower and ammunition, however, the multi-phased and multi-pronged attack failed under the weight of its own complexity – and once again ordinary soldiers on both sides paid a terrible price.