Foch biography

Click here to read Foch's final telegram to Allied Army Commanders-in-Chief, dated 9 November , in which he urged co-ordinated action to achieve a complete military victory. Saturday, 22 August, Michael Duffy. It was later used by Anzac soldiers when going over the top. Home Site Map. In , after serving in a variety of staff positions, including two appointments with the General Staff, Foch returned to the War College to teach strategy.

He taught for many years, developing a philosophy of war that was exciting to students and fellow teachers alike. Foch favored an offensive approach to fighting. Foch's lectures were so respected that they were collected and published as The Principles of War in and The Conduct of War in By , Foch had risen to the rank of general and was appointed head of the War College from to When World War I broke out, he did such a good job defending against a German attack there that he was given command of another force, the Ninth Army, which fought in the first battle of the Marne in early September In that battle and in later ones, such as the first battle of Ypres October 19 to November 22, and the battle of the Somme July 1 to November 13, , Foch's offensive tactics caused the loss of many French lives.

His strategy of aggressive attacks did not work well against the Germans, who were heavily armed with the most modern weapons. Other generals began to blame Foch because the war was going badly for France. In , Foch was called back to active duty and made chief of the French general staff. He led his troops so successfully on the Italian Front that in March he was appointed supreme commander of the British, American, and French armies.

Though he had some conflict with the American general John J. Pershing — , Foch used skill and training to coordinate the Allied efforts, and he masterminded an Allied counterattack against Germany that brought about the end of the war. On November 11, , Foch, who had been promoted to marshal of France on August 6, accepted the German surrender.

Foch was present when the Treaty of Versailles was negotiated to end the war, and he was appointed head of the military committee charged with enforcing the terms of the treaty. He felt that the treaty should have given Germany even harsher punishment to prevent the rise of German military power in the future. Frustrated that his advice was not taken, Foch predicted another European war with Germany at its center within twenty years.

Perhaps fortunately, Foch did not live to see the truth of his prediction. At the age of seventy-seven, he died of a heart attack in Paris on March 20, He had continued to work for France almost until the day of his death. Aston, Sir George. The Biography of the Late Marshal Foch. New York : Macmillan, Foch, Ferdinand.

Foch biography

The Principles of War. De Morinni. Bradley, Dermot. New York: Harper, Fenton, Damien. When Marshal Ferdinand Foch died, there was not only a solemn funeral mass in Paris, but there were memorials honoring him as far away as London and Washington. He returned to the War College as a major in , serving as a professor. A battle won is a battle in which one will not acknowledge oneself beaten.

Joffre promoted him to assistant commander in chief, and, after coordinating strategies among the French, English and Belgian armies in battles at Ypres , Somme and others, he was named chief of the General Staff of the French Army in May , a position that put him in charge of military coordinations along the Western Front. A year later, with Germany seemingly headed for victory, Foch was made commander in chief of the Allied armies.

The Allies pushed the German Army back and weakened its defenses, ultimately ending the war. Foch was born in Tarbes on in the bosom of a middle-class, pious family. Sent to Metz in to prepare the entrance to the Ecole Polytechnque, he will live the Prussian occupation in Lorraine. At the Polytechnique he chooses the military career. A pupil in at the School of war, he will teach at this same school later, from to , before becoming commander in Already two works gathered the his strategic conceptions together.

General since , Foch commanded at that time the 20th corps at Nancy. On August 29th he will lead the 9th army, which distinguished itself during the "Marais de Saint-Gond" battle. This was an essential operation during the 1st Marne battle.