The writer Paul Vaillant-Couturier, who was also a World War I veteran, preserved the song, and later had them published.
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The village of Craonne on the plateau of Californie was the site of bloody fighting on 16 April 1917 during Nivelle's failed Offensives.
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The song's chorus is sung in Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), and several versions can be seen or heard on Youtube.
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This song was sung by the French soldiers who mutinied (in sixty eight of the one hundred and ten divisions of the French Army) after the costly and militarily disastrous offensive of General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames, spring 1917.
Craonne | Les Compagnons de la chanson | Hubert Chanson | chanson de geste |