Nicknamed "the Butcher" for his espousal of la guerre à outrance (all-out war) and his faith in the suitability of North African Tirailleur for the attack, there was no doubt in the French Army that Mangin was fearless.

Unlike many French generals who did not visit the front, Mangin was shot in the chest while exhorting his men for further attacks during the Second Battle of Champagne, though he returned to duty ten days later.

He also became known for the observation: "Quoi qu'on fasse, on perd beaucoup de monde" ("Whatever you do, you lose a lot of men").

In the closing months of the war, he served as part of General Castelnau's Army Group East, advancing towards Metz.

His conception of a "plus grande France", based on political autonomy and military obligation for all parts of the French Empire, is put forward in the concluding chapters of his book Comment finit la Guerre.

[5] Mangin became a member of the Supreme War Council and inspector general of French colonial troops.

[6] His remains were interred in Les Invalides in 1932, and a bronze statue by Maxime Real del Sarte erected in his honour in 1928 in the Place Denys-Cochin, Paris.

[7] Mangin's monument was destroyed on 16 June[citation needed] 1940, two days after German troops occupied Paris during World War Two.

[5] During his tour of Paris, Adolf Hitler visited Napoleon's tomb, and the statue, being a reminder of Mangin's machinations in the Rhineland, was one of two he ordered destroyed.

In January 1905, Mangin requested an introduction to discuss Tonkin with the nationalist activist and former minister, Godefroy Cavaignac.