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Map of the department of the Marne in Champagne was some of the most contested land during the war, site of the initial German invasion, the Battle of the Marne, the First and Second Battles of Champagne, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, Rheims Cathedral, Épernay, Châlons, Vitry-le-Francois, Ste-Menehould, and Perthes-les-Hurlus (First Champagne). Text, reverse: No. 51. Marne - Formé en 1790 d'une partie de la Champagne. Ce territoire à été le theâtre de nombreux évenements historiques: défaite d'Attila, baptisme de Clovis, sacre des rois de France, prédication de la seconde croisade, invasion de Charles Quint, Guerres de la Révolution et de l'empire, Guerre de 1870 et de 1914. Victoire de la Marne. Reims est décorée de la Légion d'Honneur. CÉLÉBRITÉS: Urbain II pape; Colbert; St. Jean-Batiste de la Salle. CURIOSITÉS: Cathédrale de Reims, église N.D. de l'Épines à Chalons, chateau de Montmort, vignobles et caves. PRODUITS: Céreales, cerises, betteraves, élevage, moutons, tonnellerie, bouchons, lainage, blanc d'Espagne, vin de champagne, biscuits. Station thermale: Sermaize. No. 51 Marne - Formed in 1790 from part of Champagne. This area was the scene of many historic events: defeat of Attila, baptism of Clovis, the coronation of the kings of France, preaching the Second Crusade, invasion of Charles V, Wars of the Revolution and the Empire, War of 1870 and 1914. Victory of the Marne. Reims is decorated with the Legion d'Honneur. CELEBRITIES: Pope Urban II; Colbert; St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. SITES: Reims Cathedral, Church of Our Lady of the Thorns in Chalons, Montmort Castle, vineyards and wineries. PRODUCTS: Cereals, cherries, beets, livestock, sheep, cooperage, caps, wool, Spanish white wine, champagne, cookies. Spa: Sermaize.

The department of the Marne in Champagne was some of the most contested land during the war, site of the initial German invasion, the Battle of the Marne, the First and Second Battles of Champagne, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, Rheims Cathedral, Épernay, Châlons, Vitry-le-Francois, Ste-Menehould, and Perthes-les-Hurlus (First Champagne).

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Reverse:

No. 51. Marne - Formé en 1790 d'une partie de la Champagne. Ce territoire à été le theâtre de nombreux évenements historiques: défaite d'Attila, baptisme de Clovis, sacre des rois de France, prédication de la seconde croisade, invasion de Charles Quint, Guerres de la Révolution et de l'empire, Guerre de 1870 et de 1914. Victoire de la Marne. Reims est décorée de la Légion d'Honneur. CÉLÉBRITÉS: Urbain II pape; Colbert; St. Jean-Batiste de la Salle. CURIOSITÉS: Cathédrale de Reims, église N.D. de l'Épines à Chalons, chateau de Montmort, vignobles et caves. PRODUITS: Céreales, cerises, betteraves, élevage, moutons, tonnellerie, bouchons, lainage, blanc d'Espagne, vin de champagne, biscuits. Station thermale: Sermaize.



No. 51 Marne - Formed in 1790 from part of Champagne. This area was the scene of many historic events: defeat of Attila, baptism of Clovis, the coronation of the kings of France, preaching the Second Crusade, invasion of Charles V, Wars of the Revolution and the Empire, War of 1870 and 1914. Victory of the Marne. Reims is decorated with the Legion d'Honneur. CELEBRITIES: Pope Urban II; Colbert; St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. SITES: Reims Cathedral, Church of Our Lady of the Thorns in Chalons, Montmort Castle, vineyards and wineries. PRODUCTS: Cereals, cherries, beets, livestock, sheep, cooperage, caps, wool, Spanish white wine, champagne, cookies. Spa: Sermaize.

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Monday, April 30, 1917

"Days later, the [Second Battle of the Aisne] resumed in earnest. On 30 April the Nineteenth Infantry Division launched a concentrated assault on Mont Blond and Mont Cornillet. To clear the way the artillery unleashed a 'cannonade more terrible than anything [Paul had] ever seen even at Verdun.' Indeed the barrage was so formidable that he wondered how the Germans could survive it; they certainly weren't returning fire. I think that everything that we are sending over to them they hardly have the time' to retaliate. Yet the infantry made little progress, gaining only five hundred meters of ground and suffering heavy losses."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from Martha Hanna's Your Death Would Be Mine, based on the letters of Paul and Marie Piread during World War I. On April 30, 1917, Paul Pireaud was serving with the 112th Heavy Artillery Regiment, his battery then attached to the Fourth Army, which was engaged in the Battle of the Hills, or the Third Battle of Champagne, attacking east of Reims in an action part of the Second Battle of the Aisne, itself part of Robert Nivelle's great spring offensive of 1917. Paul had fought in the Battle of Verdun in 1916.

Source

Your Death Would Be Mine; Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War by Martha Hanna, page 205, copyright © 2006 by Martha Hanna, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2006

Tags

1917-04-30, 1917, April, Second Battle of the Aisne, Second Aisne, Nivelle Offensive, Champagne, Number 51 Marne