1917 in France
This is a list of events from 1917 in France.
Incumbents
- President: Raymond Poincaré
- President of the Council of Ministers:
- * until 20 March: Aristide Briand
- * 20 March-12 September: Alexandre Ribot
- * 12 September-16 November: Paul Painlevé
- * starting 16 November: Georges Clemenceau
Events
- 13 February – Dutch dancer Mata Hari is arrested in Paris for spying for Germany.
- 9 April – Battle of Arras, a British Empire offensive, begins.
- 16 April – Second Battle of the Aisne begins, the main action of the French Nivelle Offensive.
- 26 April – The Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, between France, Italy and the United Kingdom, to settle interests in the Middle East, is signed.
- 29 April – Architect of the Second Battle of the Aisne and French Commander-in-Chief, General Robert Nivelle, is dismissed and replaced on 15 May by Philippe Pétain.
- 3 May – 1917 French Army mutinies begin when the French 2nd Division refuses to follow orders to attack.
- 9 May – Second Battle of the Aisne ends in failure, leading to desertions.
- 27 May – 1917 French Army mutinies: French Army desertions turn to mutiny as up to 30,000 soldiers leave the front line and reserve trenches and return to the rear at Missy-aux-Bois.
- 16 May – Battle of Arras ends.
- 1 June – 1917 French Army mutinies: A French infantry regiment seizes Missy-aux-Bois, and declares an anti-war military government. Other French army troops soon apprehend them.
- 8 June – 1917 French Army mutinies: French military authorities take action with mass arrests, followed by mass trials.
- 15 August – Battle of Hill 70, an Anglo-Canadian offensive, starts on the outskirts of Lens in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region.
- 25 August – Battle of Hill 70 ends.
- 15 October – Mata Hari is executed by firing squad at Vincennes for spying.
- 15 November – Georges Clemenceau becomes prime minister of France.
- 20 November – Battle of Cambrai, a British campaign, begins. First successful use of tanks in a combined arms operation.
- 6 December – Battle of Cambrai ends.
- 12 December – Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment results in at least 675 deaths.
Births
January to June
- 3 January – Pierre Dervaux, operatic conductor and composer
- 24 January – Marcel Hansenne, middle-distance runner
- 11 February – Bernard Destremau, tennis player
- 16 April – Lucienne Delyle, singer
- 22 April – Yvette Chauviré, prima ballerina assoluta
- 25 April – Jean Lucas, motor racing driver
- 29 May – Élie de Rothschild, banker
- 31 May – Jean Rouch, filmmaker and anthropologist
July to December
- 14 June – Gilbert Prouteau, poet
- 18 July – Henri Salvador, singer
- 25 July – Philippe De Lacy, actor
- 27 July – Bourvil, actor and singer
- 15 August – Philippe Viannay, journalist
- 17 August – Paul Tessier, surgeon
- 24 September – Jean Hermil, Roman Catholic bishop of Viviers
- 20 October – Jean-Pierre Melville, filmmaker
- 22 October – Annette Laming-Emperaire, archeologist
- 30 October – Maurice Trintignant, motor racing driver
- 5 November – Jacqueline Auriol, aviator, holder of several world speed records
- 11 November – Madeleine Damerment, World War II heroine
- 19 November – Philippe Ragueneau, journalist and writer
- 22 November – Jean-Étienne Marie, composer
- 24 November – Maurice Lauré, creator of ''taxe sur la valeur ajoutée''
Full date unknown
Deaths
January to June
- 4 January – Auguste Chauveau, professor and veterinarian
- 20 January – Amédée Bollée, bell-founder
- 5 February – Édouard Drumont, journalist and writer
- 16 February – Octave Mirbeau, journalist, art critic, pamphleteer, novelist and playwright
- 17 February – Carolus-Duran, painter
- 23 February – Jean Gaston Darboux, mathematician
- 26 February – Joseph Jules Dejerine, neurologist
- 16 March — Friedrich Manschott, German World War I flying ace
- 6 April — Friedrich Karl of Prussia, Prince of Prussia
- 10 April – Louis Édouard Fournier, painter
- 7 May – Albert Ball, English fighter pilot
- 10 May – Louis Théophile Joseph Landouzy, neurologist
- 25 May – René Dorme, World War I fighter ace
- 30 June – Antonio de La Gandara, painter and draughtsman
July to December
- 3 August – Stéphane Javelle, astronomer
- 8 September – Charles-Edouard Lefebvre, composer
- 20 September – Émile Boirac, philosopher
- 27 September – Edgar Degas, artist
- 3 November – Léon Bloy, novelist, essayist, pamphleteer and poet
- 5 November – Henri Amédée de Broglie, nobleman
- 15 November – Émile Durkheim, sociologist
- 17 November – Auguste Rodin, sculptor
- 20 December – Lucien Petit-Breton, cyclist, winner of 1907 and 1908 Tour de France
Full date unknown
- François-Victor Équilbecq, author
- Adolphe Chenevière, novelist