It could have been that they were more afraid of their officers than the enemy. At least the French troops had the courage to mutiny in 1917 (units of 49 divisions participated) forcing a change in tactics.
Wow. Not exactly a historian OR a combat veteran, are you? Not huge on logic, either: the officers were "armed" with riding crop or swagger sticks and a whistle, while their enemies covered No-Man's-Land with sheets of continuous machine gun fire and artillery. No contest.