French Mutiny of 1917

[Patrick]

I've always been interested in the French mutiny of 1917 and how grave the situation might have become (I guess it depends on which side you were on) if order was not restored. In all, 100,000 French soldiers refused to "march" from over 50 divisions Of those court-martialed for mutiny, 3,427 were found guilty. More than 500 received the death sentence, but only 49 were executed.
Thanks to General Petain, reforms were implemented and the mutiny ceased. What might have been the result if the mutiny continued? Would the United States late entry into the war been too late?
Patrick

 

[Darcia]

The French Have a Long History of being stubborn then in the end coming up and Blowing you up. It may have caused a little disturbance However most likly the soilders would have come to thier sense's. However America mos likly helped speed it along.

 

[Young Winston]

Thats a complicated question to answer.

The mutiny was about not doing any more stupid suicide attacks. The French soldiers were still very much prepared to defend against any German attacks.

John Mosier discusses this in detail in his book "Myth of the Great War".

Remember that the British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans and others took a lot of pressure off the French during 1917 by shouldering much of the attacking fighting, particularly in the 2nd half of the year (Battle of 3rd Ypres).