1918 in France

Events from the year 1918 in France.

Events

 * 21 March - Operation Michael begins in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, launching Germany's Spring Offensive.
 * 23 March - The giant German cannon, the so-called Paris Gun, begins to shell Paris from 114 km away.
 * 27 May - The Third Battle of the Aisne begins, an attempt by the Germans to capture the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the arrival of the American Expeditionary Force to support France.
 * 1 June - The Battle of Belleau Wood begins, near the Marne River.
 * 6 June - Third Battle of the Aisne ends with the German advance halted after initial gains.
 * 26 June - Battle of Belleau Wood ends in Allied victory.
 * 15 July - The Second Battle of the Marne begins, the last major German offensive on the Western Front.
 * 18 July-22 July - The Battle of Soissons is fought between the French (with American assistance) and German armies.
 * 5 August - Second Battle of the Marne ends with Allied victory.
 * 8 August - Battle of Amiens begins.
 * 12 September - British victory in Battle of Havrincourt.
 * 12 September-15 September - Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Allied victory.
 * 18 September - British victory in the Battle of Épehy.
 * 8 October-10 October - The Battle of Cambrai ends in a decisive Allied victory.
 * 7 November - The Anglo-French Declaration is signed between France and the United Kingdom, agreeing to implement a "complete and final liberation" of countries that had been part of the Ottoman Empire.
 * 11 November - Battle of Amiens ends, when the armistice is signed.

Births

 * 6 February - Marcel Mouly, artist (died 2008)
 * 25 April - Alain Savary, politician and Minister (died 1988)
 * 25 April - Gérard de Vaucouleurs, astronomer (died 1995)
 * 26 June - Roger Voisin, trumpeter (died 2008)
 * 26 August - Marcel Bleibtreu, Trotskyist activist and theorist (died 2001)
 * 14 September - Paul Bonneau, composer (died 1995)
 * 30 September - René Rémond, historian and political economist (died 2007)
 * 6 October - André Pilette, motor racing driver (died 1993)
 * 16 October - Louis Althusser, Marxist philosopher (died 1990)
 * 7 November - Paul Aussaresses, general
 * 8 December - Gérard Souzay, baritone (died 2004)
 * 16 December - Pierre Delanoë, songwriter/lyricist (died 2006)
 * 30 December - Lucien Leduc, soccer player and manager (died 2004)

Full date unknown

 * Madeleine Giteau, historian (died 2005)
 * Gilbert Martineau, author and curator of the French properties on St Helena (died 1995)
 * Roger Trézel, bridge player (died 1986)

Deaths

 * 9 January - Charles-Émile Reynaud, science teacher, responsible for the first animated films (born 1844)
 * 25 March - Claude Debussy, composer (born 1862)
 * 25 August - Henri Chantavoine, writer (born 1850)
 * 5 October - Roland Garros, aviator and World War I fighter pilot (born 1888)
 * 12 October - Émile Étienne Guimet, industrialist, traveller and connoisseur (born 1836)
 * 13 October - Marcel Deprez, electrical engineer (born 1843)
 * 9 November - Guillaume Apollinaire, poet, writer and art critic (born 1880)
 * 3 December - Étienne Destot, radiologist and anatomist (born 1864)
 * 22 December - Philippe Alexandre Jules Künckel d'Herculais, entomologist (born 1843)

Full date unknown

 * Thérèse Humbert, fraudster (born 1856)