The Nivelle Offensive ( 16 April – 9 May 1917 ) , was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front in the First World War .

The Franco-British attacks were tactically successful ; the French Third Army of `` Groupe d'armées du Nord '' ( GAN , Northern Army Group ) captured Conquering the German defences west of the Hindenburg Line near St. Quentin from 1 to 4 April , before further attacks were repulsed Defending .

By destroying Destroying the infrastructure and demolishing Destroying civilian buildings Building in the salient before a withdrawal Escaping , the Germans could dislocate Placing Franco-British offensive preparations by forcing Hostile_encounter them to advance Self_motion into a wasteland .

German troops passed Motion_directional through the village in late September 1914 during the First Battle Hostile_encounter of Albert , part of a series of reciprocal operations Military_operation by the German and Franco-British armies , to advance Self_motion round the northern flank of their opponent during the operations Military_operation known as the Race to the Sea .

The Race to the Sea ( ; , ) took place Process_start from about 1914 , after the Battle of the Frontiers ( ) and the German advance Motion into France , which had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the First Battle of the Aisne a Franco-British counter-offensive .

The term describes Communication reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop the northern flank of the opposing army through the provinces of Picardy , Artois and Flanders , rather than an attempt to advance northwards to the sea .

The battles Hostile_encounter at Ypres began Process_start at the end Process_end of the Race to the Sea , reciprocal attempts by the German and Franco-British armies to advance Cause_to_make_progress past the northern flank of their opponents .

From about half of the German bridgehead south of Abbeville was recaptured Conquering by Franco-British troops ; the Allies were reinforced Cause_change_of_strength by infantry divisions and the `` 4e '' Division `` cuirassée '' ( 4e DCr , Colonel Charles De Gaulle ) but lost Earnings_and_losses many of their tanks and the Germans much of their infantry , some units running Self_motion back over the river Somme .