The French and British had planned to launch an offensive together in 1916 but the Germans launched theirs first at Verdun. Realising that the French would not allow Verdun to fall, the Germans planned to draw the French army in to its destruction. In the end both sides suffered catastrophic losses in a gruelling conflict. The ground was left so polluted by explosives, corpses of men and animals, and gas weapons that the French government prohibited the resettlement of the battle area. The former inhabitants were resettled in other areas of France.

While France held onto Verdun it had suffered terrible casualties and plans were drawn up for a new offensive in 1917 to be launched almost simultaneously with the British attack at Arras and Vimy. This would be the battle for the Chemin des Dames ridge. On paper the plans may have looked thorough but, as had happened before, they failed to account for the ground conditions and the very strong German positions at the top of the ridge. The resulting heavy French casualties virtually broke the spirit of the French army leading to open mutiny where the troops stated that they would defend but no longer attack. The mutiny was put down and some changes made to improve the lot of the average French soldier but the effect on morale was harder to suppress.

As at Verdun much of the land on parts of the Chemin des Dames battlefield has been left to nature, especially in the area of the village of Craonne. The village used to be at the top of the ridge but was abandoned and rebuilt a little way down the hill. The woods now occupying the site of the old village still hold the remains of trenches and underground shelters. It is a place to be traversed with care as some of old shelters are collapsing, leaving holes in the ground above, and there are still unexploded munitions and human remains hidden in the trees.