Denis Auguste Duchene (23 September 1862 – 9 June 1950) was a French

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

general. He was born on 23 September 1862 at Juzennecourt,

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Bihorel Bihorel () is a commune of the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. It is a northeastern suburb of Rouen. Geography Situation Bihorel is a suburban and light industrial town forming part of the agglomeration o ...

Seine-Inférieure Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

. He was promoted General de Brigade (brigadier-general) on 27 October 1914, then acting General de Division (equivalent to the Anglophone rank of major-general) on 12 March 1915 with the rank confirmed on 28 September 1916.
He commanded the French Tenth Army between December 1916 and December 1917. Duchêne is best known for his command of the French Sixth Army from December 1917 to June 1918. During the

Third Battle of the Aisne The Third Battle of the Aisne () was part of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in French Third Republic, France. It w ...

(the Blücher-Yorck phase of the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

), Duchêne's group held the high ground of the

Chemin des Dames In France, the Chemin des Dames (; literally, the "ladies' path") is part of the route départementale (local road) D18 and runs east and west in the Aisne department, between in the west, the Route Nationale 2 (Laon to Soissons), and in the eas ...

. However, he was openly contemptuous of General Philippe Petain's order to maintain a

defence in depth Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating a ...

, preferring instead to consolidate his troops in the front line. When the Germans attacked in late May 1918, his line broke and crossed the river

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

. The German armies poured through, taking 19 kilometres in three days, and putting Paris within their reach.''First World War'' Duchêne was relieved of his command by French prime minister

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

on 9 June 1918. He remained in the army however and was made a Grand Officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

on 16 June 1920. He retired in 1924 as head of the

III Corps III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

Notes and references

''First World War''
Retrieved: 8 November 1918. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duchene, Denis 1862 births 1950 deaths French generals French Army generals of World War I Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) 19th-century French military personnel

See also

Notes and references