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120-747: Ferdinand Foch ( / f ɒ ʃ / FOSH , French: [fɛʁdinɑ̃ fɔʃ] ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general, Marshal of France and a member of the Académie Française and Académie des Sciences . He distinguished himself as Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front during the First World War in 1918. A commander during the First Marne , Flanders and Artois campaigns of 1914–1916, Foch became Supreme Allied Commander in late March 1918 in

240-681: A baton – a blue cylinder with stars, formerly fleurs-de-lis during the monarchy and eagles during the First French Empire. The baton bears the Latin inscription of Terror belli, decus pacis , which means "terror in war, ornament in peace". Between the end of the 16th century and the middle of the 19th century, six Marshals of France were given the even more exalted rank of Marshal General of France : Biron , Lesdiguières , Turenne , Villars , Saxe , and Soult . The distinction of Admiral of France

360-580: A 14,000 man expeditionary force of troops to the Papal State under General Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot to restore him. In late April 1849, it was defeated and pushed back from Rome by Giuseppi Garibaldi 's volunteer corps, but then recovered and recaptured Rome. The French army was among the first in the world to be issued with Minié rifles , just in time for the Crimean War against Russia, allied with Britain. This invention gave line infantry

480-542: A 3000-mile circuit through the American Midwest and industrial cities such as Pittsburgh and then on to Washington, D.C., which included ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery for what was then called Armistice Day. During the tour, he received numerous honorary degrees from American Universities. In 1923, Foch retired from the French Army, having served a total of 55 years in uniform. His career began as

600-778: A Supreme War Council meeting in London (14–15 March), with a German offensive clearly imminent, Foch protested to no avail for the formation of the Allied Reserve. On the evening of 24 March, after the German spring offensive was threatening to split apart the British and French forces, Foch telegraphed Wilson (who by now had replaced Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff) "asking what [he] thought of situation & we are of one mind that someone must catch

720-702: A calculated gesture of disdain to the French delegates, left the carriage, as Foch had done in 1918. Foch's pre-war contributions as a military theorist and lecturer have also been recognised, and he has been credited as "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army " of the early 20th century. In January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference Foch presented a memorandum to the Allied plenipotentiaries in which he stated: Henceforward

840-432: A colonel he became regimental commander of the 35th Artillery Regiment (35 R.A) at Vannes. Foch was known for his physical strength and his sharp mind who always maintained a highly dignified bearing. Foch was a quiet man, known for saying little and when he did speak, it was a volley of words accompanied by much gesturing of his hands that required some knowledge of him to understand properly. One of Foch's favourite phrases

960-466: A corps of five small rapid-intervention divisions formed in 1983, was also disbanded, though several of its divisions were re-subordinated. Opération Sentinelle is a French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed since the aftermath of the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks , with the objective of protecting sensitive "points" of the territory from terrorism . It

1080-629: A counter-attack that prevented the Germans from crossing the River Meurthe . Foch was then selected to command the newly formed Ninth Army during the First Battle of the Marne with Maxime Weygand as his chief of staff. Only a week after taking command, with the whole French Army in full retreat, he was forced to fight a series of defensive actions to prevent a German breakthrough. During

1200-501: A hold or we shall be beaten". Wilson reached France the following lunchtime. Pétain had sent a dozen divisions to plug the gap and it is unclear that a committee would actually have acted any faster during the immediate crisis. At the Doullens Conference (26 March) and at Beauvais (3 April), Foch was given the job of coordinating the activities of the Allied armies, forming a common reserve and using these divisions to guard

1320-494: A liaison officer, as "the sort of man with whom I know I can get on" and later in February 1915 described him to Lord Selbourne as "the best general in the world". By contrast, Lieutenant General William Robertson , another British officer, thought that Foch was "rather a flat-catcher, a mere professor, and very talkative" (28 September 1915). On 2 December 1914, King George V appointed him an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of

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1440-643: A new intergovernmental agency was necessary to coordinate transportation and storage of military supplies in France. Pershing took the recommendation to French Premier Georges Clemenceau. The British were hesitant at first but finally the key players were in agreement and the Board was established in May 1918. It involved coordinating the entirely different supply systems for the American, British, and French armies, as well as

1560-550: A peace. In 1812, Napoleon invaded the Russian Empire with a new Grande Armee , seeking to remove their influence from eastern Europe and secure the frontiers of his empire and client states. The campaign initially went well, but the vast distances of the Russian Steppe and its cold winter forced his army into a shambling retreat preyed on by Russian raids and pursuit. This force could not be replaced and with

1680-513: A program, a tactic, a will. We find ourselves in the presence of an England that has all it wants for the present: the German colonies and the German fleet. We lack future security because [Britain] is not interested. In the presence of an America which seeks its own peace, we must have what we need... It is on the Rhine and nowhere else that we shall find it. He later wrote: In a word, the occupation

1800-601: A wave of revolutions swept Europe and brought an end to the French monarchy. The army was largely uninvolved in the street fighting in Paris which overthrew the King but later in the year troops were used in the suppression of the more radical elements of the new Republic which led to the election of Napoleon's nephew as president. The Pope had been forced out of Rome as part of the Revolutions of 1848, and Louis Napoleon sent

1920-503: A weapon with a much longer range and greater accuracy and lead to new flexible tactics. The French army was more experienced at mass manoeuvre and war fighting than the British and the reputation of the French army was greatly enhanced. A series of colonial expeditions followed and in 1856 France joined the Second Opium War on the British side against China; obtaining concessions. French troops were deployed into Italy against

2040-458: Is Philippe Pétain , who was awarded the distinction of Marshal of France for his generalship in World War I, and who was stripped of other positions and titles after his trial for high treason due to his involvement with collaborationist Vichy France : due to the principle of separation of powers , the court that judged him did not have the power to cancel the law that had made him a Marshal in

2160-679: Is a lever that we have in our hand and with which we can call the tune. However, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the American President Woodrow Wilson objected to the detachment of the Rhineland from Germany so that the balance of power would not be too much in favour of France, but agreed to Allied military occupation for fifteen years, which Foch thought insufficient to protect France. Foch considered

2280-698: Is the equivalent in the French Navy . The title derived from the office of marescallus Franciae created by King Philip II Augustus for Albéric Clément about 1190. The title was abolished by the National Convention in 1793. It was restored as Marshal of the Empire during the First French Empire by Napoleon . Under the Bourbon Restoration, the title reverted to Marshal of France, and Napoleon III kept that designation. After

2400-743: Is the first condition of victory." Collections of his lectures, which reintroduced the concept of the offensive to French military theory, were published in the volumes "Des Principes de la Guerre" ("On the Principles of War") in 1903, and "De la Conduite de la Guerre" ("On the Conduct of War") in 1904. Both "thought" and "will" were the key words of these teachings. While Foch advised "qualification and discernment" in military strategy and cautioned that "recklessness in attack could lead to prohibitive losses and ultimate failure", his concepts, distorted and misunderstood by contemporaries, became associated with

2520-614: The 2nd Armoured Division left Versailles and was installed at Châlons-en-Champagne in place of the disbanded 10th Armoured Division . On 5 March 1998, in view of the ongoing structural adoptions of the French Army, the Minister of Defence decided to disband III Corps , and the dissolution became effective 1 July 1998. The headquarters transitioned to become Headquarters Commandement de la force d'action terrestre (CFAT) (the Land Forces Action Command). During

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2640-976: The Foreign Legion , National Territory , Training. The Army is divided into arms ( armes ). They include the Infantry (which includes the Chasseurs Alpins , specialist mountain infantry, the Troupes de Marine , heirs of colonial troops and specialist amphibious troops), the Armoured Cavalry Arm ( Arme Blindée Cavalerie ), the Artillery, the Engineering Arm ( l'arme du génie ), Matériel , Logistics ( Train ) and Signals ( Transmissions ). Each brigade will have several armes within its units. The French Foreign Legion

2760-535: The French Army since the Republican government of France was anti-clerical . When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the 19-year-old Foch enlisted in the French 4th Infantry Regiment , which did not take part in combat. He remained in the army after the war. In 1871, he passed the entrance exams to the grandes écoles scientifiques and later entered the École Polytechnique . There, he

2880-1037: The French Empire : more than 220,000 in Africa (including 140,000 in French North Africa ), and forces in Mandate Syria and French Indochina . Free French Forces , under the command of Charles de Gaulle , continued the fight with the Allies until the final defeat of the Axis in 1945. After 1945, despite enormous efforts in the First Indochina War of 1945–54 and the Algerian War of 1954–62, both lands eventually left French control. French units stayed in Germany after 1945, forming

3000-611: The French Forces in Germany . 5th Armored Division stayed on in Germany after 1945, while 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions were established in Germany in 1951. However NATO -assigned formations were withdrawn to fight in Algeria; 5th Armoured Division arrived in Algeria in April 1956. From 1948 to 1966, many French Army units fell under the integrated NATO Military Command Structure . Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe

3120-796: The French National Guard joined the revolt, the loyal Swiss Guards were massacred and the King was deposed. From 1792, the Revolutionary Army fought against a combination of European powers in the French Revolutionary Wars , with the state directing most of its industry and population to war efforts, marking the start of modern conscription in the world, it also allowed more flexible military strategies, setting way for Napoleonic warfare . Moreover, many noble officers were retired, decreasing stratification and increasing military specialism . These, and

3240-762: The Government of France , alongside the French Navy , French Air and Space Force , and the National Gendarmerie . The Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT), who is subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA), who commands active service Army units and in turn is responsible to the President of France . CEMAT is also directly responsible to the Ministry of

3360-668: The Hundred Years' War , though the Army was not disbanded because it saw continued use by the Kings of France following the conflict. Upon the outbreak of a conflict, an ordonnance would be issued to govern the length of service, composition and payment of units. The Compagnies d'ordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme well into the 16th century, and were stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There

3480-547: The Italian front ; Joffre was himself sacked days later. Just a few months later, after the failure of General Robert Nivelle 's offensive , General Philippe Pétain , the hero of Verdun , was appointed Chief of the General Staff; Foch hoped to succeed Pétain in command of Army Group Centre , but this job was instead given to General Fayolle. The following month Pétain was appointed C-in-C in place of Nivelle, and Foch

3600-545: The Lebel Model 1886 rifle had just entered service, and ended after Foch had commanded hundreds of thousands of soldiers in World War I. On chemistry , he said, "There is no science that is so nearly bound up with the future of our industrial and military forces. France will not remain indifferent to this branch of science that she has neglected for so long." Marshal of France A Marshal of France displays seven stars on each shoulder strap. A marshal also receives

3720-664: The Malagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from a low of 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000. In February 1996, President Jacques Chirac began the transition of the Army to a professional force, and as part of the resulting changes, ten regiments were dissolved in 1997. On 1 July 1997, the specialized support brigades were transferred to various communes ; Lunéville for signals, Haguenau for artillery and Strasbourg for engineers. On 1 September 1997,

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3840-765: The Polish–Soviet War of 1920, as well as his pressure on Germany during the Greater Poland Uprising , he was awarded the title of Marshal of Poland in 1923. On 1 November 1921 Foch was in Kansas City, Missouri , to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Liberty Memorial that was being constructed there. Also present that day were Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy and General John J. Pershing of

3960-642: The Rhine ought to be the Western military frontier of the German countries. Henceforward Germany ought to be deprived of all entrance and assembling ground, that is, of all territorial sovereignty on the left bank of the river, that is, of all facilities for invading quickly, as in 1914, Belgium , Luxembourg , for reaching the coast of the North Sea and threatening the United Kingdom, for outflanking

4080-792: The Swiss Guards , French Guards and the Regiments of Musketeers being the most famous. The white/grey coated French Infantry of the line Les Blancs with their Charleville muskets were a feared foe on the battlefields of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fighting in the Nine Years' War , the Wars of Spanish and Austrian Succession , the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution . The French Revolution caused

4200-422: The Treaty of Versailles to be "a capitulation, a treason " because he believed that only permanent occupation of the Rhineland would grant France sufficient security against a revival of German aggression. In a remarkable moment of foresight, as the treaty was being signed Foch said: "This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years". Foch was made a British field marshal in 1919, and, for his advice during

4320-426: The cavalry school of Saumur to train as a mounted artillery officer. On 30 September 1878, he became a captain and arrived in Paris on 24 September 1879 as an assistant in the Central Personnel Service Depot of the artillery. In 1885 Foch undertook a course at the École Supérieure de Guerre where he was later an instructor from 1895 to 1901. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1898, and colonel in 1903. As

4440-420: The "Réserves 2000" plan, the brigades de zone were finally disbanded by mid-1993. 1st Army Corps was disbanded on 1 July 1990; 2nd Army Corps in August 1993. At the end of the Second World War , France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the decolonisation movement. The French army, which had employed indigenous North African spahis and tirailleurs in almost all of its campaigns since 1830,

4560-411: The "ulcer" of the ongoing war in the Spanish peninsular against Britain and Portugal, the French Army was badly short of trained troops and French manpower was almost exhausted. After Napoleon's abdication and return, halted by an Anglo-Dutch and Prussian alliance at Waterloo, the French army was placed back under the restored Bourbon Monarchy. The structure remained largely unchanged and many officers of

4680-426: The Armed Forces for administration, preparation, and equipment. The French Army, following the French Revolution , has generally been composed of a mixed force of conscripts and professional volunteers. It is now considered a professional force, since the French Parliament suspended the conscription of soldiers. According to British historian Niall Ferguson , out of all recorded conflicts which occurred since

4800-459: The Army and training. The two Services are the service of ground equipment, and the integrated structure of operational maintenance of terrestrial materials (SIMMT, former DCMAT). This joint oriented service is responsible for project management support for all land equipment of the French army. The holding-operational equipment the Army is headed by the Service de maintenance industrielle terrestre (SMITer). Historically there were other services of

4920-583: The Army comprises: The French Army was reorganized in 2016. The new organisation consists of two combined divisions (carrying the heritage of 1st Armored and 3rd Armored divisions) and given three combat brigades to supervise each. There is also the Franco-German Brigade . The 4th Airmobile Brigade was reformed to direct the three combat helicopter regiments. There are also several division-level ( niveau divisionnaire ) specialized commands including Intelligence, Information and communication systems, Maintenance, Logistics, Special Forces, Army Light Aviation ,

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5040-597: The Army engineered a military coup that toppled the civilian government and put General de Gaulle back in power in the May 1958 crisis . De Gaulle, however, recognized that Algeria was a dead weight and had to be cut free. Four retired generals then launched the Algiers putsch of 1961 against de Gaulle himself, but it failed. After 400,000 deaths, Algeria finally became independent. Hundreds of thousands of Harkis , Muslims loyal to Paris, went into exile in France, where they and their children and grandchildren remain in poorly assimilated " banlieue " suburbs. The Army repressed

5160-400: The Army to lose most of its officers to aristocratic flight or the guillotine , and thus it became demoralised and ineffective. The revolutionary militias of Sans-culottes , and the bourgeoise National Guard formed the nucleus of the French Revolutionary Army alongside the remnants of the dissolved Royal French Army ; it was created following the storming of the Tuileries palace , where

5280-420: The Army who were all grouped together with their counterparts in other components to form joint agencies serving the entire French Armed Forces. After the health service and the fuel service were both replaced respectively by the French Defence Health service and Military Fuel Service , other services have disappeared in recent years: The Army Commissariat was dissolved on 31 December 2009 and intégrated into

5400-399: The Austrians, the first use of railways for mass movement. The French army was now considered to be an example to others and military missions to Japan and the emulation of French Zouaves in other militaries added to this prestige. However, an expedition to Mexico failed to create a stable puppet régime. France was humiliated following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War , and while

5520-441: The Empire retained their positions. The Bourbon restoration was a time of political instability with the country constantly on the verge of political violence. The army was committed to the restoration of Spanish monarchial absolutism in 1824. It achieved its aims in six months, but did not fully withdraw until 1828. By comparison with the earlier Napoleonic invasion, this expedition was rapid and successful. Taking advantage of

5640-403: The Empire: The names of nineteen of these have been given to successive stretches of boulevards encircling Paris , which has thus been nicknamed the Boulevards des Maréchaux ( Boulevards of the Marshals ). Another three Marshals have been honored with a street elsewhere in the city. The four Marshals banned from memory are: Bernadotte and Marmont, considered as traitors; Pérignon, stricken off

5760-400: The First World War. The news of the fall of Algiers had barely reached Paris in 1830 when the Bourbon Monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the constitutional Orleans Monarchy . During the July 1830 revolution , the Paris mobs proved too much for the troops of the Maison du Roi and the main body of the French Army, sympathetic to the crowds, did not become heavily involved. In 1848

5880-407: The French Army and standardised their equipment and tactics. The army of the Sun King tended to wear grey-white coats with coloured linings . There were exceptions and the foreign troops, recruited from outside France, wore red (Swiss, Irish etc.) or blue (Germans, Scots etc.) while the French Guards wore blue. In addition to the regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units,

6000-451: The French Army deployed 2,240,000 combatants grouped into 94 divisions (of which 20 were active and 74 were reservists ) from the Swiss border to the North Sea .These numbers did not include the Army of the Alps facing Italy or the 600,000 men dispersed through the French colonial empire . After defeat in 1940 , the Vichy French regime was allowed to retain 100–120,000 Armistice Army personnel in unoccupied France, and larger forces in

6120-404: The French Army reserve consisted of 22 military divisions, administering all reserve units in a certain area, seven brigades de zone de défense , 22 régiments interarmées divisionnaires , and the 152nd Infantry Division, defending the ICBM launch sites. The plan was put into action from 1985, and brigades de zone , such as the 107th Brigade de Zone, were created. But with the putting-in-place of

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6240-459: The French theorist on offensive strategies. He also employed mathematical terms in his lectures. During his time as an instructor, Foch created renewed interest in French military history , inspired confidence in a new class of French officers, and brought about "the intellectual and moral regeneration of the French Army". His thinking on military doctrine was shaped by the Clausewitzian philosophy, then uncommon in France, that "the will to conquer

6360-449: The German negotiators' immediate request to declare a ceasefire or truce so that there would be no more useless waste of lives among the common soldiers. By not declaring a truce even between the signing of the documents for the Armistice at 5:45 a.m. and its entry into force, "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month", about 11,000 additional men were needlessly wounded or killed – far more than usual, according to

6480-418: The German request for an armistice. Foch advocated peace terms that would make Germany unable to pose a threat to France ever again. He considered the Treaty of Versailles too lenient on Germany. Winston Churchill attributed this famous quote about the Peace Treaty of Versailles to Foch: "This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years." Indeed, the next war sprung out 20 years later. Ferdinand Foch

6600-446: The Germans attacked on 13 October, they narrowly failed to break through the British and French lines. They tried again at the end of the month during the First Battle of Ypres , this time suffering terrible casualties. Foch had again succeeded in coordinating a defense and winning against the odds. Field Marshal Sir John French , C-in-C of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had described Foch in August 1914 to J. E. B. Seely ,

6720-494: The Généralissime's resolve to keep the Allied armies intact, even at the risk of losing the capital. The British general Sir Henry Rawlinson , commanding the British Fourth Army , commented after meeting Foch: "I am overjoyed at his methods and far-sighted strategy. I was in close touch with him in 1916. He is a better man now than he was then, for his fiery enthusiasm has been tempered by adversity." Rawlinson also noted Foch's intense Frenchness: "He knew nothing of Britain. The Rhine

6840-400: The Italian and Belgian armies. It started operation from its base in Paris at the end of June. The president of the board was French general Jean-Marie Charles Payot (1868–1931), assisted by an international staff. Board decisions had to be unanimous, and once made were binding on all of the armies. However each army continued to be responsible for its own logistical system and procedures. Foch

6960-505: The Marne at Châlons and liberated the city. The people of Châlons greeted as a hero the man widely believed to have been instrumental in stopping the retreat and stabilising the Allied position. Receiving thanks from the Bishop of Châlons (Joseph-Marie Tissier), Foch piously replied, " non nobis , Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam " ("Not unto us, o Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory", Psalm 115:1). As assistant Commander-in-Chief with responsibility for co-ordinating

7080-418: The Military College Commandants (Maillard, Langlois, Bonnal) still serving. Their doctrines had been challenged, not only by the German school, but also since about 1911 by a new French school inspired by General Loiseau de Grandmaison, which criticised them as lacking in vigour and offensive spirit and contributing to needless dispersion of force. The French Army fought under the new doctrines, but they failed in

7200-415: The Northern Zone under Joseph Joffre. Foch's counterattack was an implementation of the theories he had developed during his staff college days and succeeded in stopping the German advance. Foch received further reinforcements from the Fifth Army and, following another attack on his forces, counter-attacked again on the Marne. The Germans dug in before eventually retreating. On 12 September, Foch regained

7320-436: The Northern Zone, a role which evolved into command of Army Group North , and in which role he was required to cooperate with the British forces at Ypres and the Somme . At the end of 1916, partly owing to the disappointing results of the latter offensive and partly owing to wartime political rivalries, Foch was transferred to Italy. Foch was appointed " Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies" on 26 March 1918 following being

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7440-438: The Order of the Bath . In 1915, his responsibilities by now crystallised in command of the Northern Army Group , he conducted the Artois Offensive and, in 1916, the French effort at the Battle of the Somme . He was strongly criticised for his tactics and the heavy casualties that were suffered by the Allied armies during these battles, and in December 1916 was removed from command by Joffre and sent to command Allied units on

7560-418: The United States. One of the main speakers was Vice President Calvin Coolidge of the United States. The local veteran chosen to present flags to the commanders was a Kansas City haberdasher, Harry S. Truman , who would later serve as 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953. In 1935, bas-reliefs of Foch, Jacques, Diaz and Pershing by sculptor Walker Hancock were added to the memorial. Foch made

7680-422: The activities of the northern French armies and liaising with the British forces; this was a key appointment as the Race to the Sea was then in progress. General Joseph Joffre , Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the French Army, had also wanted to nominate Foch as his successor "in case of accident", to make sure the job would not be given to Joseph Gallieni , but the French Government would not agree to this. When

7800-418: The advance at the marshes at St.-Gond he is said to have declared: "My centre is yielding. My right is retreating. Situation excellent. I am attacking." These words were seen as a symbol both of Foch's leadership and of French determination to resist the invader at any cost, although there is little evidence that the signal was sent. Accordingly, on 4 October 1914, Foch was made the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of

7920-408: The allied armies repeatedly until 1812. Napoleon introduced the concept of all arms Corps , each one a traditional army 'in miniature', permitting the field force to be split across several lines of march and rejoin or to operate independently. The Grande Armée operated by seeking a decisive battle with each enemy army and then destroying them in detail before rapidly occupying territory and forcing

8040-403: The army had far superior infantry weapons in the form of the Chassepot and Mitrailleuse , its tactics and artillery were inferior, and by allowing the Prussian Army to take the initiative, the French Army was rapidly bottled up into its fortress towns and defeated. The loss of prestige within the army lead to a great emphasis on aggression and close quarter tactics. In August 1914, following

8160-484: The battle of Ypres the same year. Clemenceau was eventually persuaded to appoint Foch's protégé Weygand instead, although many already suspected that Foch would eventually become the Allied Generalissimo. Late in 1917 Foch would have liked to have seen Haig replaced as C-in-C of the BEF by General Herbert Plumer ; however, Haig would remain in command of the BEF for the remainder of the war. In January 1918, in accordance with Lloyd George's wishes, an executive board

8280-401: The brief invasion of Germany before retreating in the face of a German counter-attack and successfully blocking the Germans short of Nancy . Ordered west to defend Paris, Foch's prestige soared as a result of the victory at the Marne , for which he was widely credited as a chief protagonist while commanding the French Ninth Army . He was then promoted again to assistant commander-in-chief for

8400-415: The command of General Jacques Massu and the 25th Parachute Division under the command of General Sauvagnac. After the Algiers putsch , the two divisions, with the 11th Infantry Division, were merged into a new light intervention division, the 11th Light Intervention Division, on 1 May 1961. During the Cold War , the French Army, though leaving the NATO Military Command Structure in 1966, planned for

8520-426: The commander-in-chief of Western Front with the title Généralissime in 1918. He played a decisive role in halting a renewed German advance on Paris in the Second Battle of the Marne , after which he was promoted to Marshal of France . Author Larry H. Addington says, "to a large extent the final Allied strategy which won the war on land in Western Europe in 1918 was Foch's alone." On 11 November 1918, Foch accepted

8640-565: The defence of Western Europe. In 1977 the French Army switched from multi-brigade divisions to smaller divisions of about four to five battalions/regiments each. From the early 1970s, 2nd Army Corps was stationed in South Germany, and effectively formed a reserve for NATO's Central Army Group . In the 1980s, 3rd Army Corps headquarters was moved to Lille and planning started for its use in support of NATO's Northern Army Group . The Rapid Action Force of five light divisions, including

8760-570: The dominant allied army; after 1917 this was no longer the case, due to the vast number of casualties France's armies had suffered in the now three and a half-year-old struggle with Germany. The Supreme War Council was formally established on 7 November 1917, containing the Prime Minister and a Minister from each of the Western Front powers (i.e., excluding Russia), to meet at least once a month. Foch (along with Wilson and Italian general Cadorna) were appointed military representatives, to whom

8880-624: The extreme investments into war efforts allowed France to begin a steady advance into Europe . Under Napoleon I , the French Imperial Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars . Professionalising again from the Revolutionary forces and using columns of attack with heavy artillery support and swarms of pursuit cavalry the French army under Napoleon and his marshals was able to outmanoeuvre and destroy

9000-511: The extreme offensive doctrines ( l' offensive à outrance ) of his successors. The cult of the offensive came to dominate military circles, and Foch's reputation was damaged when his books were cited in the development of the disastrous offensive that brought France close to ruin in August 1914. Foch was seen as a master of the Napoleonic school of military thought, but he was the only one of

9120-497: The face of the all-out German spring offensive . He successfully coordinated the French, British and American efforts, deftly handling his strategic reserves. He stopped the German offensive and launched a war-winning counterattack . In November 1918, Marshal Foch accepted the German cessation of hostilities and was present at the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Foch's XX Corps participated in

9240-621: The fall of Napoleon III and the Second French Empire , the Third Republic did not use the title until the First World War , when it was recreated as a military distinction and not a rank. Contrarily to ranks, which are awarded by the army, the distinction of Marshal of France is awarded by a special law voted by the French Parliament . For this reason, it is impossible to demote a Marshal. The most famous case

9360-524: The field of battle and the scene of the consequent devastation. This makes it impossible for the yet unstable German Government to reject any demand on our part if it is clearly formulated. The Entente , in its present favourable military situation, can obtain acceptance of any peace conditions it may put forward provided that they are presented without much delay. All it has to do is to decide what they shall be. Upon returning home. Foch wrote in his diary: Watch out: suspect peace, English peace... We must have

9480-699: The fifth session of the Supreme War Council, Foch was given authority over the Italian Front. Foch controlled the Military Board of Allied Supply (MBAS), an Allied agency for the coordination of logistical support of the Allied forces. In March 1918 Colonel Charles G. Dawes , the general purchasing agent for the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) recommended to his commanding general John J. Pershing that

9600-413: The first battles of August 1914, and it remained to be seen whether the Napoleonic doctrine would hold its own, would give way to doctrines evolved during the war, or would incorporate the new moral and technical elements into a new outward form within which the spirit of Napoleon remained unaltered. The war gave an ambiguous answer to these questions, which remains a source of controversy among experts. On

9720-400: The first place. The last living Marshal of France was Alphonse Juin , promoted in 1952, who died in 1967. The latest Marshal of France was Marie-Pierre Kœnig , who was made a Marshal posthumously in 1984. Today, the title of Marshal of France can only be granted to a general officer who fought victoriously in war-time. Throughout his reign, Napoleon created a total of twenty-six Marshals of

9840-570: The general staffs of each country were to submit their plans. The French tried to have Foch as representative to increase their control over the Western Front (by contrast, Cadorna was disgraced after the recent Battle of Caporetto ) and Wilson, a personal friend of Foch, was deliberately appointed as a rival to General Robertson, the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff , an ally of Haig's, who had lost 250,000 men at

9960-616: The growing American forces ) counterattacked at the Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918. On 6 August 1918, Foch was made a Marshal of France . Along with the British commander, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Foch planned the Grand Offensive , opening on 26 September 1918, which led to the defeat of Germany. After the war, he claimed to have defeated Germany by smoking his pipe. An unintended consequence of Foch's appointment

10080-428: The idea took root that his military doctrines had set the stage for the futile and costly offensives of 1914 in which French armies suffered devastating losses. Supporters and critics continue to debate Foch's strategy and instincts as a commander, as well as his exact contributions to the Marne "miracle": Foch's counter-attacks at the Marne generally failed, but his sector resisted determined German attacks while holding

10200-627: The infantry and the engineering arm. The Troupes de marine are the former Colonial Troops. They are the first choice units for overseas deployment and recruit on this basis. They are composed of Marine Infantry ( Infanterie de Marine ) (which includes parachute regiments such as 1er RPIMa and a tank unit, the Régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine ) and the Marine Artillery ( Artillerie de Marine ). The Aviation légère de l'armée de Terre (ALAT, which translates as Army Light Aviation ),

10320-567: The junction of the French and British armies and to plug the potentially fatal gap that would have followed a German breakthrough in the British Fifth Army sector. Two days later, while Foch was writing in his notebook, he allowed an interview to a group of war correspondents. At a later conference he was given the title Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies with the title of Généralissime ("Supreme General"). In May 1918, in

10440-527: The late 15th century, Swiss instructors were recruited, and some of the 'Bandes' (Militia) were combined to form temporary 'Legions' of up to 9000 men. The men would be paid, contracted to fight and receive military training. Henry II further regularised the French Army by forming standing infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure. The first of them (Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne) were called Les Vieux Corps (The Old Corps). It

10560-535: The list by Napoleon in 1815; and Grouchy, regarded as responsible for the defeat at Waterloo. This distinction was refused by: French Army The French Army , officially known as the Land Army ( French : Armée de terre , lit.   ' Army of Land ' ), is the principal land warfare force of France , and the largest component of the French Armed Forces ; it is responsible to

10680-501: The military statistics. On the day of the armistice, 11 November 1918, he was elected to the Académie des Sciences . Ten days later, he was unanimously elected to the Académie française . He received many honours and decorations from Allied governments. In the euphoria of victory Foch was regularly compared to Napoleon and Julius Caesar . However, historians took a less favourable view of Foch's talents as commander, particularly as

10800-542: The natural defences of France, the Rhine, Meuse , conquering the Northern Provinces and entering the Parisian area. In a subsequent memorandum, Foch argued that the Allies should take full advantage of their victory by permanently weakening German power in order to prevent her from threatening France again: What the people of Germany fear the most is a renewal of hostilities since, this time, Germany would be

10920-510: The new 4th Airmobile and 6th Light Armoured Divisions , was also intended as a NATO reinforcement force. In addition, the 152nd Infantry Division was maintained to guard the S3 intercontinental ballistic missile base on the Plateau d'Albion. In the 1970s–1980s, two light armoured divisions were planned to be formed from school staffs (the 12th and 14th). The 12th Light Armoured Division (12 DLB)

11040-810: The outbreak of World War I , Foch was in command of XX Corps, part of the Second Army of General de Castelnau . On 14 August the Corps advanced towards the Sarrebourg – Morhange line, taking heavy casualties in the Battle of the Frontiers . The defeat of the XV Corps to its right forced Foch into retreat. Foch acquitted himself well, covering the withdrawal to Nancy and the Charmes Gap before launching

11160-571: The outbreak of the Great War , the French Armed Forces numbered some 1,300,000 soldiers, and by the end of the war the French Army had called up 8,817,000 men, including 900,000 colonial troops; of these around 1,397,000 French soldiers were killed in action, mostly on the Western Front . French soldiers, at the beginning of the war, still wore the colourful uniforms of the Franco-Prussian War , with this conspicuous dress proving unsuited to

11280-522: The pivot on which the neighbouring French and British forces depended in rolling back the German line. After the reading of the preamble of the November 1918 armistice , Foch left the carriage , in a move that was perceived as humiliating by the defeated Germans. In 1940, after the defeat of France by Germany early in World War II , when France signed an armistice with Germany , Adolf Hitler , in

11400-459: The professionalisation process, numbers decreased from the 236,000 (132,000 conscripts) in 1996 to around 140,000. By June 1999, the Army's strength was 186,000, including around 70,000 conscripts. 38 of 129 regiments were planned to be stood down from 1997 to 1999. The previous structure's nine 'small' divisions and sundry separate combat and combat support brigades were replaced by nine combat and four combat support brigades. The Rapid Action Force,

11520-552: The protests of Haig who argued that it would reduce his power to safeguard the interests of the British Army. The British were disappointed that Foch operated through his own staff rather than through the Permanent Military Representatives at Versailles , and on 11 July 1918 British ministers resolved to remind Foch that he was an Allied, and not a French, C-in-C. The Allies (mainly French and

11640-629: The regiments in existence, leaving only the Vieux and a handful of others, which became known as the Petite Vieux and also gained the privilege of not being disbanded after a war. In 1684, there was a major reorganisation of the French infantry and another in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIV 's plans and the War of the Spanish Succession . The reshuffle created many of the modern regiments of

11760-454: The trenches and, accordingly, by 1915 the mostly blue and red peacetime uniforms had been replaced by bleu-horizon (light blue-grey), with the Adrian helmet in place of the kepi . The traditional capote of the French infantry continued to be worn in the trenches but in bleu-horizon . Colonial and North African soldiers adopted khaki uniforms. At the beginning of the Battle of France

11880-583: The weakness of the local bey , the French invasion of Algiers in 1830 again rapidly overcame initial resistance. The French government formally annexed Algeria but it took nearly 45 years to fully pacify the country. This period of French history saw the creation of the Armée d’Afrique , which included the Légion étrangère . The Army was now uniformed in dark blue coats and red trousers, which it would retain until

12000-490: The year 387 BC, France has fought in 168 of them, won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10; this makes France the most successful military power in European history in terms of number of fought and won. The first permanent army of France , which was paid with regular wages instead of being supplied by feudal levies , was established in the early 15th century under Charles VII . It was formed due to the need for reliable troops during

12120-485: Was " Pas de protocole! " as he preferred to be approachable by all officers. Foch's only rigidity was always taking his meals at noon and at 7:30; otherwise, he would work all sorts of irregular hours from dawn until well into the night. In 1907 Foch was promoted to Général de Brigade , and in the same year, he assumed command of the French War College. He held this position until 1911, the year in which he

12240-583: Was a French Army officer, and many key NATO staff positions were filled by Frenchmen. While an upper limit of 14 French divisions committed to NATO had been set by the Treaty of Paris, the total did not exceed six divisions during the Indochina War, and during the Algerian War the total fell as low as two divisions. The Army created two parachute divisions in 1956, the 10th Parachute Division under

12360-490: Was a disciple of Napoleon, and made use of the lessons taught by Moltke . He became known for his critical analyses of the Franco-Prussian and Napoleonic campaigns and of their relevance to military operations in the new twentieth century. His re-examination of France's defeat in 1870 was among the first of its kind. At the college, Foch was a professor of military history, strategy, and general tactics while becoming

12480-418: Was also provisions made for francs-archers , which was a militia of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes, but the units were disbanded once war ended. Meanwhile, the bulk of infantry was still provided by urban or provincial militias, which were raised from an area or city to fight locally and that were named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually, the units became more permanent, and in

12600-854: Was an avid reader of military literature. He attended school in Tarbes, Rodez , Gourdan-Polignan and at the Jesuit Collège Saint-Michel in Saint-Étienne before attending the Jesuit Collège Saint-Clément in Metz . A professor there once said of Foch, "A geometric mind, he is made for the Polytechnique." His brother, Germain Foch, became a Jesuit priest, which may have hindered Foch's rise in

12720-435: Was an excellent, hard-working, and studious student, and pursued studies in mathematics , engineering , science , history, and literature. He eventually chose the school of artillery . In 1873, he received his commission as an artillery officer and served as a lieutenant in the 24th Artillery Regiment in Tarbes, despite not having completed his course, because there was a shortage of junior officers. In 1876, he attended

12840-467: Was appointed Général de Division . Foch influenced General Joseph Joffre (Chief of General Staff, 28 July 1911 – 12 December 1916) when he drafted the French plan of campaign ( Plan XVII ) in 1913. In 1913 he took command of XX Corps  [ fr ] at Nancy , and he had held this appointment for exactly one year when he led XX Corps into battle in August 1914. Foch was later acclaimed as "the most original military thinker of his generation". He

12960-543: Was born in Tarbes , a municipality in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées , in southwestern France, into a modest, devout, middle-class Catholic family. His last name reflects the ancestry of his father, a civil servant from Valentine , a village in Haute-Garonne , whose lineage may trace back to 16th-century Alsace . From a young age, he loved to study and work, showed great interest in military history and strategy, and

13080-649: Was established in 1831 for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is commanded by French officers. It is an elite military unit numbering around 9,000 troops. The Legion has gained worldwide recognition for its service, most recently in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2001. It is not strictly an Arme but a commandement particulier , whose regiments belong to several arms, notably

13200-548: Was established on 22 November 1954 for observation, reconnaissance, assault and supply duties. It operates numerous helicopters in support of the French Army, its primary attack helicopter is the Eurocopter Tiger , of which 80 were ordered. It is an Arme with a commandement particulier . On the administrative side, there are now no more than one Direction and two services. The Army Human Resources Directorate (DRHAT) manages human resources (military and civilian) of

13320-521: Was for him a river of life and death." At the sixth session of the Supreme War Council on 1 June Foch complained that the BEF was still shrinking in size and infuriated Lloyd George by implying that the British government was withholding manpower. At a major Allied conference at Beauvais (7 June) Lord Milner agreed with Clemenceau that Foch should have the power to order all Allied troops as he saw fit, over

13440-531: Was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost-saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the French Royal Guard being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so be called after the region in which they were raised or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. When Louis XIII came to the throne, he disbanded most of

13560-421: Was open to the suggestion of sending heavy guns. The Anglo-French leadership agreed in early September to send 100 heavy guns to Italy, 50 of them from the French army on the left of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig , C-in-C of the BEF, rather than the 300 which Lloyd George wanted. As the guns reached Italy, Cadorna called off his offensive (21 September). Until the end of 1916, the French under Joffre had been

13680-605: Was recalled and promoted to chief of the general staff. Like Pétain, Foch favoured only limited attacks (he had told Lieutenant General Sir Henry Wilson , another British Army officer, that the planned Flanders offensive was "futile, fantastic & dangerous") until the Americans, who had joined the war in April 1917 , were able to send large numbers of troops to France. Outside of the Western Front , Foch opposed British Prime Minister David Lloyd George 's plans to send British and French troops to help Italy take Trieste , but

13800-511: Was reinforced during the November 2015 Paris attacks , and was part of a state of emergency in France due to continued terror threats and attacks. The organisation of the army is fixed by Chapter 2 of Title II of Book II of the Third Part of the Code of Defense, notably resulting in the codification of Decree 2000-559 of 21 June 2000. In terms of Article R.3222-3 of the Code of Defence,

13920-405: Was set up to control the planned Allied General Reserve, with Clemenceau 's agreement being obtained by having Foch on the board rather than Maxime Weygand . Pétain agreed to release only eight French divisions and made a bilateral agreement with Haig, who was reluctant to release any divisions at all, to assist one another. The situation was worsened by Clemenceau's and Pétain's dislike of Foch. At

14040-566: Was surprised by the German offensive ( "Bluecher" ) on the Chemin des Dames (27 May). Foch believed it was a diversion to draw Allied reserves away from Flanders. This was partly true, although the planned German Flanders Offensive ( "Hagen" ) never took place. The Allied armies under Foch's command ultimately held the advance of the German forces. The celebrated phrase, "I will fight in front of Paris, I will fight in Paris, I will fight behind Paris", attributed both to Foch and Clemenceau, illustrated

14160-467: Was that he sheltered Haig from British political interference. Before the armistice and after the Armistice of Villa Giusti , Foch controlled all the operations against Germany including a planned invasion from Italy into Bavaria . Foch accepted the German cessation of hostilities in November from the German delegate, Matthias Erzberger , at 5:00 a.m. local time. However, he refused to accede to

14280-606: Was the leading force in opposition to decolonization, which was perceived as a humiliation. In Algeria the Army repressed an extensive rising in and around Sétif in May 1945 with heavy fire: figures for Algerian deaths vary between 45,000 as claimed by Radio Cairo at the time and the official French figure of 1,020. The Army saw maintaining control of Algeria as a high priority. By this time, one million French settlers had established themselves, alongside an indigenous population of nine million. When it decided that politicians were about to sell them out and give independence to Algeria,

14400-516: Was to have its headquarters to be formed on the basis of the staff of the Armoured and Cavalry Branch Training School at Saumur . In the late 1970s an attempt was made to form 14 reserve light infantry divisions, but this plan, which included the recreation of the 109th Infantry Division , was too ambitious. The planned divisions included the 102nd, 104e, 107e, 108e, 109e, 110e, 111e, 112e, 114e, 115th, and 127th Infantry Divisions. From June 1984,

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