Russian troops arriving in Marseilles, on France's Mediterranean coast, in April 1916. With the Dardanelles closed to them, they would have had a journey along the Atlantic coast of France, Spain, and Portugal before entering the Mediterranean at Gibraltar. Russian troops fought with the Allied forces on the Salonica and Western Fronts.

Les Troupes Russes a Marseille

20 Avril 1916 — Défilé des Russes se rendant au Camp de Mirabeau

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Russians troops in Marseille

April 20, 1916 — Column of Russians on their way to Camp Mirabeau

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Marseilles was France's primary port on the Mediterranean Sea, a prime hunting ground for Germany's and Austria-Hungary's submarine war. The city was a major transit point for troops moving between the Western Front and those further east including the Salonika Front, the Syria/Palestine Front, and the Dardanelles and Galipoli Peninsula. The Suez Canal was part of the route to and from Mesopotamia, India, British East Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Travel across France to Marseilles and points beyond was safer than a sea voyage along the Atlantic coast, a voyage four brigades of Russian troops made to support Russia's allies. On April 20, 1916 Russian passed through Marseilles on their way to Camp Mirabeau. That August, two brigades of Russian troops bound for Salonika mutinied, killing a colonel. French troops intervened and about 20 men were shot.

After the Russian Revolution, the disastrous Nivelle Offensive, and the French army mutinies that followed, the two brigades that remained in France were a breeding ground for mutiny and revolution. The roughly 17,000 Russian troops were sent to a hastily evacuated camp for German prisoners of war in La Courtine, 450 km south of Paris, on June 26, 1917, and it was there they made their stand. On September 15 the camp was surrounded by French troops and attacked the next day.

Marseilles, France is a city in France.

Statistics for Marseilles (1)

Type	Statistic
Population	550,619