View source for Ferdinand Foch

{{Short description|French general and military theorist (1851–1929)}}
{{Redirect|Foch}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[Généralissime]]<br>[[Marshal of France|Marshal]]
| name                = Ferdinand Foch
| honorific_suffix    = [[Legion of Honour|LH]] [[Order of Merit|OM]] {{post-nominals|size=100|GCB|DSO}}
| image               = Maarschalk Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929), Bestanddeelnr 158-1095 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = General Foch, {{circa|1914}}
| office1             = [[Supreme Allied Commander]]
| term_start1         = 26 March 1918
| term_end1           = 10 January 1920
| predecessor1        = ''Office established''
| successor1          = ''Office disestablished''{{efn|The position of [[Supreme Allied Commander]] was re-established during the [[Second World War]].}}
| office2             = 26th [[Chief of Staff of the French Army|Chief of the Army Staff of France]]
| term_start2         = 16 May 1917
| term_end2           = 29 December 1918
| predecessor2        = [[Philippe Pétain]]
| successor2          = [[Henri Alby]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1851|10|02|df=y}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1929|03|20|1851|10|02|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Tarbes]], [[Second French Republic|France]]
| death_place         = [[Paris]], [[Third French Republic|France]]
| resting_place       = [[Les Invalides]]
| nationality         = French
| children            = {{hlist|Anne|Eugène|Germain|Marie}}
| mother              = Marie Dupré
| father              = Bertrand Foch
| spouse              = Julie Bienvenüe
| alma_mater          = [[École polytechnique]]
| signature           = Signature Ferdinand Foch.svg
| allegiance          = {{ubl|[[Second French Empire]]|[[Third French Republic]]}}
| branch              = [[French Army]]
* [[Artillery]]
| serviceyears        = 1870–1923 (53 years)
| rank                = Division general{{efn|Marshal of France is a dignity and not a rank.}}
| unit                = {{Collapsible list
 | title = List
 |
* 24th Artillery Regiment
}}
| commands            = {{Collapsible list
 | title = List
 |
* [[Army Group North (France)|Army Group North]]
* [[Ninth Army (France)|Ninth Army]]
* 20th Army Corps
* [[Moroccan Division (France)|Moroccan Division Detachment]]
* [[35th Parachute Artillery Regiment|35th Artillery Regiment]]
}}
| battles             = {{Collapsible list
 | title = List
 | {{Tree list}}
* [[Franco-Prussian War]]
* [[First World War]]
** [[Battle of the Frontiers]]
** [[First Battle of the Marne]]
** [[Battle of the Somme]]
** [[First Battle of Artois]]
** [[German spring offensive]]
** [[Hundred Days Offensive]]
{{Tree list/end}}
}}
| primeminister2      = [[Alexandre Ribot]] <br> [[Paul Painlevé]] <br> [[Georges Clemenceau]]
| 1blankname2         = [[Minister of War (France)#Third Republic|Minister of War]]
| 1namedata2          = Paul Painlevé <br> Georges Clemenceau
| president2          = [[Raymond Poincaré]]
| office3             = 1st [[Army Group North (France)#Commanders|Commander]] of the [[Army Group North (France)|Army Group North]]
| president3          = Raymond Poincaré
| termstart3          = 4 October 1914
| termend3            = 27 December 1916
| predecessor3        = ''Military unit created''
| successor3          = [[Louis Franchet d'Espèrey]]
| 1blankname3         = [[Minister of War (France)#Third Republic|Minister of War]]
| 2blankname3         = [[Chief of Staff of the French Army#Third Republic|Chief of Staff]]
| 1namedata3          = [[Alexandre Millerand]] <br> [[Joseph Gallieni]] <br> [[Pierre Roques]] <br> [[Hubert Lyautey]]
| 2namedata3          = [[Joseph Joffre]] <br> [[Robert Nivelle]]
| office4             = 1st [[9th Army (France)#World War I|Commander]] of the [[9th Army (France)|9th Army]]
| president4          = Raymond Poincaré
| 1blankname4         = [[Minister of War (France)#Third Republic|Minister of War]]
| 1namedata4          = Alexandre Millerand
| 2blankname4         = [[Chief of Staff of the French Army#Third Republic|Chief of Staff]]
| termstart4          = 29 August 1914
| termend4            = 5 October 1914
| predecessor4        = ''Military unit created''
| successor4          = [[Antoine de Mitry]] (1918)
| 2namedata4          = Joseph Joffre
| office5             = 8th [[:fr:20e corps d'armée (France)#Les chefs du 20e corps d'armée|Commander of the 20th Army Corps]]
| termstart5          = 11 August 1913
| termend5            = 29 August 1914
| president5          = Raymond Poincaré
| 1blankname5         = [[Minister of War (France)#Third Republic|Minister of War]]
| 2blankname5         = [[Chief of Staff of the French Army#Third Republic|Chief of Staff]]
| 2namedata5          = Joseph Joffre
| 1namedata5          = [[Eugène Étienne]] <br> [[Joseph Noulens]] <br> [[Théophile Delcassé]] <br> [[Adolphe Messimy]] <br> Alexandre Millerand
| predecessor5        = Paul Henri Goetschy
| successor5          = [[:fr:Maurice Balfourier|Maurice Balfourier]]
}}
'''Ferdinand Foch''' ({{IPAc-en|f|ɒ|ʃ}} {{respell|FOSH}}, {{IPA|fr|fɛʁdinɑ̃ fɔʃ|lang}}; 2 October 1851<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/LH/LH074/PG/FRDAFAN83_OL0988037v027.htm|title=Birth certificate of Foch, Ferdinand|last=Government of the French Republic|website=culture.gouv.fr|language=fr|access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref> – 20 March 1929)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/LH/LH074/PG/FRDAFAN83_OL0988037v009.htm|title=Death certificate of Foch, Ferdinand|last=Government of the French Republic|website=culture.gouv.fr|language=fr|access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref> was a French general, [[Marshal of France]] and a  member of the [[Académie Française]] and [[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des Sciences]]. He distinguished himself as [[Supreme Allied Commander#World War I|Supreme Allied Commander]] on the Western Front during the [[World War I|First World War]] in 1918.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atteridge |first=Andrew Hilliard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BUgAAAAMAAJ&q=ferdinand+foch |title=Marshal Ferdinand Foch, His Life and His Theory of Modern War |date=1919 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |language=en}}</ref>

A commander during the First [[First Battle of the Marne|Marne]], [[First Battle of Ypres|Flanders]] and [[First Battle of Artois|Artois]] campaigns of 1914–1916, Foch became Supreme Allied Commander in late March 1918 in 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 [[Hundred Days Offensive|war-winning counterattack]].<ref>Charles Messenger, ed., ''Reader's Guide to Military History'' (2001) pp. 170–171.</ref> 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 the brief [[Battle of Lorraine|invasion of Germany]] before retreating in the face of a German counter-attack and successfully blocking the Germans short of [[Nancy, France|Nancy]]. Ordered west to defend Paris, Foch's prestige soared as a result of the [[First Battle of the Marne|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 the Northern Zone, a role which evolved into command of [[Army Group North (France)|Army Group North]], and in which role he was required to cooperate with the British forces at [[First Battle of Ypres|Ypres]] and the [[Battle of the Somme|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.<ref name="Greenhalgh, 2011">Greenhalgh, 2011</ref> After being named the commander-in-chief of Western Front with the title [[Generalissimo|Généralissime]], Foch was appointed "[[Commander-in-chief|Commander-in-Chief]] of the Allied Armies" on 26 March 1918. He played a decisive role in halting [[German spring offensive|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."<ref name="Larry H. Addington 1994 167–68">{{Cite book
 | title = The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century
 | last = Addington | first = Larry H.
 | year = 1994
 | publisher = Indiana UP
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/patternsofwarsin00addi_0/page/167 167]–168
 | url = https://archive.org/details/patternsofwarsin00addi_0
| url-access = registration
 | isbn = 0253208602 }}</ref>

On 11 November 1918, Foch accepted 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 but apocryphal quote about the Peace Treaty of Versailles to Foch: "This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years."<ref>{{Cite book
 | title = The Gathering Storm
 | author1 = Winston Churchill
 | year = 1948
 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin
 | page = 7
 }}</ref> Indeed, [[World War II|the next war]] sprung out 20 years later.

== Early life ==
[[File:Tarbes Foch.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Foch's birthplace in Tarbes]]

Ferdinand Foch was born in [[Tarbes]], a municipality in the department of [[Hautes-Pyrénées]], in southwestern France, into a modest, devout, middle-class Catholic family.<ref name="Hart2013">{{cite book|author=B. H. Liddell Hart|title=Foch – The Man of Orleans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPl9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|year=2013|publisher=Read Books Limited|isbn=978-1-4733-8483-5|pages=16–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ferdinand Foch {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/french-history-biographies/ferdinand-foch |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=MacMillan |first=Margaret |url= |title=Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World |date=18 December 2007 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-43296-4 |pages=167 |language=en}}</ref> His last name reflects the ancestry of his father, a civil servant from [[Valentine, Haute-Garonne|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,<ref name="Baussan 1918 65–79">{{Cite journal |last=Baussan |first=Charles |date=1918 |title=General Foch |url= |journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review |volume=7 |issue=25 |pages=65–79 |issn=0039-3495}}</ref> showed great interest in military history and strategy, and was an avid reader of military literature.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edu |first=World History |date=21 April 2023 |title=Ferdinand Foch: Biography, World War I & Accomplishments |url=https://worldhistoryedu.com/ferdinand-foch-biography-world-war-i-accomplishments/ |access-date=15 November 2024 |website=World History Edu |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2024 |title=Ferdinand Foch {{!}} Biography, World War I, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Foch |access-date=15 November 2024 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> He attended school in Tarbes, [[Rodez]], [[Gourdan-Polignan]] and at the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] {{lang|fr|Collège Saint-Michel}} in [[Saint-Étienne]] before attending the Jesuit {{lang|fr|Collège Saint-Clément}} in [[Metz]].<ref name="Puaux1919">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WmrzZ2h3lwC&pg=PA15|title=Foch: Sa vie. Sa doctrine. Son œuvre. La foi en la victoire|author=René Puaux|publisher=Payot|year=1919|page=14|language=fr}}</ref> A professor there once said of Foch, "A geometric mind, he is made for the Polytechnique."<ref name="Baussan 1918 65–79"/> His brother, Germain Foch, became a Jesuit priest, which may have hindered Foch's rise in the [[French Army]] since the Republican government of France was [[anti-clerical]].<ref name="Greenhalgh, 2011"/>

When the [[Franco-Prussian War]] broke out in 1870, the 19-year-old Foch enlisted in the French [[:fr:4e régiment d'infanterie|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]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=FOCH Ferdinand (X1871) - Bibliothèque Centrale |url=https://www.polytechnique.edu/bibliotheque/actualites/foch-ferdinand-x1871 |access-date=26 February 2024 |website=www.polytechnique.edu |language=fr}}</ref> There, he was an excellent, hard-working, and studious student,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aston |first=Sir George |url= |title=The Biography of the Late Marshal Foch |date=1929 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=16 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Atteridge |first=Andrew Hilliard |url= |title=Marshal Ferdinand Foch, His Life and His Theory of Modern War |date=1919 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |pages=3 and 17 |language=en}}</ref> and pursued studies in [[mathematics]], [[engineering]], [[science]], history, and literature.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edu |first=World History |date=21 April 2023 |title=Ferdinand Foch: Biography, World War I & Accomplishments |url=https://www.worldhistoryedu.com/ferdinand-foch-biography-world-war-i-accomplishments/ |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=World History Edu |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Atteridge |first=Andrew Hilliard |url= |title=Marshal Ferdinand Foch, His Life and His Theory of Modern War |date=1919 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |pages=9–10 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Aston |first=Sir George |url= |title=The Biography of the Late Marshal Foch |date=1929 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=23 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2024 |title=Ferdinand Foch {{!}} Biography, World War I, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Foch |access-date=14 November 2024 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> He eventually chose the school of [[artillery]]. In 1873, he received his [[Commissioned officer|commission]] as an artillery officer and served as a [[lieutenant]] in the [[:fr:24e régiment d'artillerie|24th Artillery Regiment]] in Tarbes, despite not having completed his course, because there was a shortage of junior officers. In 1876, he attended the [[cavalry]] school of Saumur to train as a mounted artillery officer. On 30 September 1878, he became a [[Captain (land)|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 a colonel he became regimental commander of the [[35th Parachute Artillery Regiment|35th Artillery Regiment]] (35<sup>e</sup> R.A) at Vannes. Foch was known for his physical strength and his sharp mind who always maintained a highly dignified bearing.<ref name="Winter, Denis page 275">Winter, Denis ''Haig's Command: A Reassessment'', New York: Viking, 1991 p. 275.</ref> 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.<ref name="Winter, Denis page 275"/> One of Foch's favourite phrases 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.<ref name="Winter, Denis page 275"/>

In 1907 Foch was promoted to ''[[Brigade General#France|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 was appointed ''[[Division General#France|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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jan |last=Palmowski|authorlink=Jan Palmowski|title=A Dictionary of Contemporary World History: From 1900 to the present day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hJy2Tp-RsCsC|year= 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-929567-8}}</ref> In 1913 he took command of {{Ill|XX Corps (France)|lt=XX Corps|fr|20e corps d'armée (France)}} at [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], and he had held this appointment for exactly one year when he led XX Corps into battle in August 1914.

== Military thought ==
[[File:Colonel Foch - 35 RA - 1903.png|thumb|right|200px|Regimental commander [[Ranks in the French Army|Colonel]] Foch in his uniform of the [[35th Parachute Artillery Regiment|35th Artillery Regiment]] in 1903]]

Foch was later acclaimed as "the most original military thinker of his generation".<ref>[[Michael Carver]] (editor), ''The War Lords: Military Commanders of the Twentieth Century'', (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976), p. 123. {{ISBN|0-297-77084-5}}.</ref> He was a disciple of Napoleon, and made use of the lessons taught by [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder|Moltke]].<ref name="Baussan 1918 65–79"/> He became known for his critical analyses of the Franco-Prussian and [[Napoleonic Wars|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 the French theorist on offensive strategies.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ferdinand Foch |url=https://archive.org/details/ferdinandfoch00unse |language=fr |location=Montreal |publisher=G. Inglis |date=1919 |oclc=933167263}}</ref> He also employed mathematical terms in his lectures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aston |first=Sir George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKcBAAAAMAAJ |title=The Biography of the Late Marshal Foch |date=1929 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=78 |language=en}}</ref>

During his time as an instructor, Foch created renewed interest in [[Military history of France|French military history]], inspired confidence in a new class of French officers, and brought about "the intellectual and moral regeneration of the French Army".<ref name=" Shirer, p. 81" /> His thinking on military doctrine was shaped by the [[Carl von Clausewitz|Clausewitzian]] philosophy, then uncommon in France, that "the will to conquer 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ferdinand Foch {{!}} Biography, World War I, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Foch |access-date=15 July 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> While Foch advised "qualification and discernment" in military strategy and cautioned that "recklessness in attack could lead to prohibitive losses and ultimate failure",<ref>Shirer, p. 80</ref> his concepts, distorted and misunderstood by contemporaries, became associated with 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 offensives that brought France close to ruin and the army to mutiny in 1917.

Foch was seen as a master of the Napoleonic school of military thought, but he was the only one of 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 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.<ref>{{Cite EB1922
 | last = Atkinson | first = Charles Francis
 | wstitle = Foch, Ferdinand
}}</ref>

== World War I ==
=== 1914 ===
On the outbreak of [[World War I]], Foch was in command of XX Corps, part of the [[Second Army (France)|Second Army]] of General [[Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau|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 15th Army Corps (France) to its right forced Foch into retreat. Foch acquitted himself well, covering the withdrawal to [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] and the Charmes Gap before launching a counter-attack that prevented the Germans from crossing the [[Meurthe (river)|River Meurthe]].

Foch was then selected to command the newly formed [[Ninth Army (France)|Ninth Army]] during the [[First Battle of the Marne]] with [[Maxime Weygand]] as his chief of staff.<ref>Singer, Barnett (2008). ''Maxime Weygand: A Biography of the French General in Two World Wars''.</ref> 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 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."<ref>Raymond Recouly, ''Foch:  Le Vainqueur de la Guerre'' [Foch: The victor of the war] (Paris, France:  Hachette, 1919), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ub5XbiDqIjIC&q=j%27attaque page 121] :  "Mon centre céde, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque."  (My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking.)</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book
 | title = The Reader's Companion to Military History
 | edition = 1st
 | editor1-last = Cowley | editor1-first = Robert
 | editor2-last = Parker | editor2-first = Geoffrey
 | year = 1996
 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin
 | others = sponsored by the Society for Military History
 | pages = 164–165
 | isbn = 0-395-66969-3
}}</ref> Accordingly, on 4 October 1914, Foch was made the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of 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 (France)|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 the Marne at [[Châlons-en-Champagne|Châlons]] and liberated the city. The people of Châlons greeted as a hero the man widely believed to have been instrumental in stopping the [[Great Retreat|retreat]] and stabilising the Allied position. Receiving thanks from the [[Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne|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).<ref>"Nouvelles de Rome:  S. G. Mgr. Tissier à Rome (Rome, 19 janvier 1917)" [News from Rome:  S. G. Monsignor Tissier in Rome], [http://nova.polymtl.ca/~simark/journaux/lacroix/1917/020-1355946492.pdf ''Le Croix'' (French Catholic newspaper), 25 January 1917] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105140930/http://nova.polymtl.ca/~simark/journaux/lacroix/1917/020-1355946492.pdf |date=5 November 2013 }}, p. 7:  "On sent ... qu'il n'oubliera plus jamais le réponse du général Foch à ses félicitions, au lendemain de la victoire: ''Non nobis, Domine, non nobis; sed nomini tuo da gloriam''." (One feels ... that he will never forget the reply of General Foch to his congratulations in the aftermath of the victory: ''Not to us, Lord, not to us; but to Your name give glory''.)</ref>

As assistant Commander-in-Chief with responsibility for co-ordinating 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|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 the Germans attacked on 13 October, they narrowly failed to break through the [[United Kingdom|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 (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Sir John French]], C-in-C of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF) had described Foch in August 1914 to [[J. E. B. Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone|J. E. B. Seely]], a liaison officer, as "the sort of man with whom I know I can get on" and later in February 1915 described him to [[William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne|Lord Selbourne]] as "the best general in the world". By contrast, [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]] [[William Robertson (British Army officer)|William Robertson]], another British officer, thought that Foch was "rather a flat-catcher,<ref>Flat-catcher (British racing slang) a horse that looks good but is not. See: [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flatcatcher Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary].</ref> a mere professor, and very talkative" (28 September 1915).<ref>Holmes 2004, p. 243</ref>

On 2 December 1914, [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]] appointed him an Honorary [[Order of the Bath|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29044|page=601|date=19 January 1915}}</ref>

=== 1915–16 ===
[[File:General Foch.jpg|thumb|right|General Foch in 1916]]

In 1915, his responsibilities by now crystallised in command of the [[Army Group North (France)|Northern Army Group]], he conducted the [[Third Battle of Artois|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 [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] armies during these battles, and in December 1916 was removed from command by Joffre and sent to command Allied units on the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian front]]; Joffre was himself sacked days later.

=== 1917 ===
Just a few months later, after the failure of General [[Robert Nivelle]]'s [[Nivelle Offensive|offensive]], General [[Philippe Pétain]], the hero of [[Battle of Verdun|Verdun]], was appointed Chief of the General Staff; Foch hoped to succeed Pétain in command of [[Army Group Centre (France)|Army Group Centre]], but this job was instead given to General [[Émile Fayolle|Fayolle]]. The following month Pétain was appointed C-in-C in place of Nivelle, and Foch 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, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]], another British Army officer, that the planned [[Battle of Passchendaele|Flanders offensive]] was "futile, fantastic & dangerous") until the Americans, who had [[American entry into World War I|joined the war in April 1917]], were able to send large numbers of troops to France.<ref>Woodward, 1998, p. 135</ref>

Outside of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], Foch opposed [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[David Lloyd George]]'s plans to send British and French troops to help Italy take [[Trieste]], but was open to the suggestion of sending heavy guns.<ref>Woodward, 1998, p. 139</ref> 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 [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Sir Douglas Haig]], C-in-C of the BEF, rather than the 300 which Lloyd George wanted. As the guns reached Italy, [[Luigi Cadorna|Cadorna]] called off [[Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo|his offensive]] (21 September).<ref>Woodward, 1998, pp. 144–146</ref>

Until the end of 1916, the French under Joffre had been 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.<ref name="Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–9">Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–189</ref>

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 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 [[Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet|Sir William Robertson]], the British [[Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Imperial General Staff]], an ally of Haig's, who had lost 250,000 men at the battle of Ypres the same year.<ref>{{Cite journal
 | title = War in History
 | last = Whelan | first = B.
 | journal = British Library Serials
 | year = 2010 | volume = 17 | pages = 526
 | series = 4
}}</ref> [[Georges Clemenceau|Clemenceau]] was eventually persuaded to appoint Foch's protégé [[Maxime Weygand|Weygand]] instead, although many already suspected that Foch would eventually become the Allied Generalissimo.<ref>Jeffery 2006, pp. 206–208, 210–211</ref>

Late in 1917 Foch would have liked to have seen Haig replaced as C-in-C of the BEF by [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer|Herbert Plumer]]; however, Haig would remain in command of the BEF for the remainder of the war.<ref>Jeffery 2006, pp. 212–213</ref>

=== 1918 ===
[[File:Promotion to Marechal Ferdinand Foch.tif|thumb|Foch in 1918]]

In January 1918, in accordance with Lloyd George's wishes, an executive board was set up to control the planned Allied General Reserve, with [[Georges Clemenceau|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 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.<ref>Jeffery 2006, pp. 214–215, 219–220</ref><ref>Callwell, MG C.E., ''Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, His Life And Diaries'', Vol. II, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.209304/page/n81/mode/2up?q=%22Foch%2C+of+course%22 pp. 69–70]</ref>

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 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.<ref>Jeffery 2006, pp. 220–221</ref> At the [[Doullens Conference]] (26 March) and at the [[Beauvais Conference]] (3 April), Foch was given the job of coordinating the activities of the Allied armies,<ref>Keegan, John, ''The First World War'' (Vintage Books, 1998), p. 403.</ref><ref>{{Gutenberg|no=17511|name=Foch the Man}}</ref> forming a common reserve and using these divisions to guard the junction of the French and British armies and to plug the potentially fatal gap that would have followed a German breakthrough in the [[Fifth Army (United Kingdom)|British Fifth Army]] sector. Two days later, while Foch was writing in his notebook, he allowed an interview to a group of war correspondents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laughlin |first=Clara Elizabeth |url= |title=Foch the Man: A Life of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies |date=1918 |publisher=Fleming H. Revell Company |pages=150 |language=en}} Reprint: {{ISBN|978-1-4219-7064-6}}.</ref>  At a later conference he was given the title Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies with the title of [[Generalissimo|Généralissime]] ("Supreme General"). In May 1918, in the fifth session of the Supreme War Council, Foch was given authority over the Italian Front.<ref name="Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–9" />

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 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 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.<ref>Edward A. Goedeken, "Charles Dawes and the Military Board of Allied Supply" ''Military Affairs'' (1986) 50#1 pp. 1–6 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1988526 online]</ref>

[[File:The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Q9251.jpg|thumb|Foch, [[Maxime Weygand|Weygand]], [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Haig]], [[Philippe Pétain|Pétain]] and other British and French officers with King [[George V]], 1918]]

Foch was surprised by the German offensive (''[[Third Battle of the Aisne|"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.<ref>Harris 2008, p. 477</ref> 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 the Généralissime's resolve to keep the Allied armies intact, even at the risk of losing the capital. The British general [[Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson|Sir Henry Rawlinson]], commanding the [[Fourth Army (United Kingdom)|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."<ref name="Winter, Denis page 275"/> Rawlinson also noted Foch's intense Frenchness: "He knew nothing of Britain. The Rhine was for him a river of life and death."<ref name="Winter, Denis page 275"/>

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 [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] was withholding manpower.<ref>Harris 2008, p. 478</ref> At a major Allied conference at Beauvais (7 June) [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Lord Milner]] agreed with Clemenceau that Foch should have the power to order all Allied troops as he saw fit, over the protests of Haig who argued that it would reduce his power to safeguard the interests of the British Army.<ref>Harris 2008, p. 479</ref>

[[File:The Cooperation of the Allied Forces on the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q7179.jpg|thumb| Foch and [[Douglas Haig]] inspecting the [[Gordon Highlanders]], 1918]]

The British were disappointed that Foch operated through his own staff rather than through the Permanent Military Representatives at [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]], and on 11 July 1918 British ministers resolved to remind Foch that he was an Allied, and not a French, C-in-C.<ref name="Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–9" /> The Allies (mainly French and the growing [[American Expeditionary Forces|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.<ref>{{"'}}How did I win the war?' Foch will say chaffingly to André de Marincourt, many months later. 'By smoking my pipe. That is to say, by not getting excited, by reducing everything to simple terms, by avoiding useless emotions, and keeping all my strength for the job.{{'"}} Frank H. Simonds, ''History of the World War'', Vol. 5, Ch. 3, III. Doubleday, Page & Co., 1920.</ref> An unintended consequence of Foch's appointment was that he sheltered Haig from British political interference.<ref name="Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–9" />

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]].<ref name="Woodward, 1998, pp. 187–9" /> Foch accepted the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|German cessation of hostilities]] in November from the German delegate, [[Matthias Erzberger]], at 5:00&nbsp;a.m. local time. However, he refused to accede to 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 with Germany (Compiegne)|Armistice]] at 5:45&nbsp;a.m.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/armistice.htm|access-date=26 November 2018|title=Armistice: The End of World War I, 1918|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126000847/http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/armistice.htm|archive-date=26 November 2018|website=EyeWitness to History}}</ref> and its entry into force, "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month", about 11,000 additional men on both sides were needlessly wounded or killed due to Foch – far more than usual for a similar time period according to the military statistics.<ref>{{cite book|first=Joseph E.|last=Persico|author-link=Joseph E. Persico|title=Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918: World War I and Its Violent Climax|publisher=[[Random House]]|location=[[New York City|New York]]|year=2004|isbn=0-375-50825-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/eleventhmonthele00pers/page/378 378]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/eleventhmonthele00pers/page/378}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=24 October 2013|publisher=le site du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS)|title=Foch Ferdinand|url=https://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=104846|website=cths.fr}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator -->.</ref>

== Assessments ==
In the [[Aftermath of World War I|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 the idea took root that his military doctrines had set the stage for the futile and costly [[Battle of the Frontiers|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 the pivot on which the neighbouring French and British forces depended in rolling back the German line.<ref name="Larry H. Addington 1994 167–68" />

After the reading of the preamble of the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|November 1918 armistice]], Foch left the [[Compiègne Wagon|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 [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|France signed an armistice with Germany]], [[Adolf Hitler]], in 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.<ref name="Shirer, p. 81">Shirer, p. 81</ref>

== Paris Peace Conference ==
In January 1919, at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] Foch presented a [[memorandum]] to the Allied [[plenipotentiaries]] in which he stated:

{{blockquote|Henceforward 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 the natural defences of France, the Rhine, [[Meuse]], conquering the Northern Provinces and entering the Parisian area.<ref name=Gifford>Ernest R. Troughton, ''It's Happening Again'' (John Gifford, 1944), p. 17.</ref>}}

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:

{{blockquote|What the people of Germany fear the most is a renewal of hostilities since, this time, Germany would be 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 Cordiale|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.<ref name=Gifford />}}

Upon returning home. Foch wrote in his diary:

{{blockquote|Watch out: suspect peace, English peace... We must have 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neiberg |first=Michael S. |url= |title=Foch: Supreme Allied Commander in the Great War |date=2014-05-14 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=978-1-61234-057-9 |pages=8 |language=en}} [https://archive.org/details/fochsupremeallie00neib Brassey's 2003 edition].</ref>}}

He later wrote:

{{blockquote|In a word, the occupation is a lever that we have in our hand and with which we can call the tune.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nelson |first=Keith L. |url= |title=Victors Divided: America and the Allies in Germany, 1918-1923 |date=2023-04-28 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-33726-8 |pages=66 |language=en}}</ref>}}

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 the [[Treaty of Versailles]] to be "a [[Capitulation (treaty)|capitulation]], a [[treason]]" because he believed that only permanent occupation of the Rhineland would grant France sufficient security against a revival of German aggression.<ref>Anthony Adamthwaite, ''Grandeur and Misery: France's Bid for Power in Europe, 1914–40'' (Hodder Arnold, 1995), p. 57.</ref> It is claimed that Foch said: "This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years".<ref>Ruth Henig, ''Versailles and After, 1919–33'' (Routledge, 1995), p. 52.</ref>

== Post-war career and legacy ==
[[File:Marsz. Foch rozmawia z gen. Sosnkowskim (1923).jpg|thumb|left|200px|Foch and General [[Kazimierz Sosnkowski]] at [[Belweder Palace]] in [[Warsaw]] (1923). [[Marshal of Poland]] [[Józef Piłsudski]] is in the center.]]
[[File:Graf van Ferdinand Foch - Dôme des Invalides - Parijs 23-8-2017 13-17-14.JPG|thumb|Foch's tomb, [[Hôtel des Invalides]]]]
Foch was made a [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|British field marshal]] in 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31481 |supp=y|page=9809|date=29 July 1919}}</ref> and, for his advice during the [[Polish–Soviet War]] of 1920, as well as his pressure on Germany during the [[Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919)|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 [[National World War I Museum and Memorial|Liberty Memorial]] that was being constructed there. Also present that day were Lieutenant General [[Jules Marie Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude|Baron Jacques]] of Belgium, Admiral [[David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty|David Beatty]] of Great Britain, General [[Armando Diaz]] of Italy and General [[John J. Pershing]] of 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 a {{convert|3000|mi|km|sigfig=1|adj=on}} 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.<ref>''The New York Times'', 10 November 1921 "Foch Sees Ingots Rolled into Plates".</ref>

In 1923, Foch retired from the French Army, having served a total of 53 years in uniform. His career began as 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://archive.org/details/journal1921royauoft/page/344/mode/1up?q=foch |title=Local Sections: Liverpool and North-Western Counties Section |journal=Journal and Proceedings 1921, Part VI |date=1921 |publisher= Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland |page=345 |language=en}}</ref>

Foch died on 20 March 1929. He was buried in [[Les Invalides]], next to Napoleon and other famous French soldiers and officers. Initially he was interred in the crypt of the Saint-Louis Church, or {{lang|fr|Caveau des Gouverneurs}}. In 1937 his remains were transferred to a monumental tomb sculpted by [[Paul Landowski]], with inspiration from the 15th-century [[tomb of Philippe Pot]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Paul Landowski: l'œuvre sculpté |author=Michèle Lefrançois |publisher=Creaphis editions |date=2009 |page=64}}</ref> at the center of the Dome Church's northeastern chapel ({{lang|fr|Chapelle Saint-Ambroise}}).<ref>{{cite web|title=Les tombeaux et monuments funéraires |website=Musée de l'Armée |url=https://www.musee-armee.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/Documents/Support-Visite-Fiches-Presentation/dome-tombes.pdf}}</ref>

A statue of Foch was set up at the [[Compiègne]] Armistice site when the area was converted into a national memorial. This statue was the one item left undisturbed by the Germans following their defeat of France in June 1940. Following the signing of France's surrender on 21 June, the Germans ravaged the area surrounding the railway car in which both the 1918 and 1940 surrenders had taken place. The statue was left standing, to view nothing but a wasteland. The Armistice site was restored by German prisoner-of-war labour following the Second World War, with its memorials and monuments either restored or reassembled.

In the 2022 film [[All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film)|''All Quiet on the Western Front'']], Foch is portrayed by [[Thibault de Montalembert]].

== Military ranks ==

{| class="wikitable"  style="width: 100%"

|-
! Private
! Student
! Artillery student
! Second lieutenant
! Lieutenant
! Captain

|-
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OR-1.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OR-1.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" |
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-1a.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-1b.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-2.svg|25px]]

|-
! 24 January 1871<ref name=r>{{cite web|url=http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/LH/LH074/PG/FRDAFAN83_OL0988037v032.htm|title=Services records of Foch, Ferdinand|last=Government of the French Republic|website=culture.gouv.fr|access-date=27 July 2019}}</ref>
! 1 November 1871<ref name='r' />
! 10 January 1873<ref name='r' />
! 16 October 1874<ref name='r' />
! 1 October 1875<ref name='r' />
! 30 September 1878<ref name='r' />

|-
! colspan="6" style="background: lightsteelblue"|

|-
! Squadron chief
! Lieutenant colonel
! Colonel
! Brigadier general
! Divisional general
! Marshal of France

|-
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-3.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-4.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-5.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-6.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-7.svg|25px]]
| align="center" width="13%" | [[File:French Army (sleeves) OF-10.svg|25px]]

|-
! 27 February 1891<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6441521g/f4.image|title=Decree on promotions in the active army|last=Government of the French Republic|website=gallica.bnf.fr|language=fr|date=27 February 1891|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
! 10 July 1898<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6247393n/f32.image|title=Decree on promotions in the active army|last=Government of the French Republic|website=gallica.bnf.fr|language=fr|date=10 July 1898|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
! 12 July 1903<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64564157/f24.image|title=Decree on promotions in the active army|last=Government of the French Republic|website=gallica.bnf.fr|language=fr|date=12 July 1903|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
! 20 June 1907<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6476395g/f9.image|title=Decree on promotions in the active army|last=Government of the French Republic|website=gallica.bnf.fr|language=fr|date=20 June 1907|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
! 21 September 1911<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6417037n/f6.image|title=Decree on promotions in the active army|last=Government of the French Republic|website=gallica.bnf.fr|language=fr|date=21 September 1911|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
! 6 August 1918<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000679119|title=Decree appointing Divisional General Foch Ferdinand as Marshal of France|last=Government of the French Republic|website=legifrance.gouv.fr|language=fr|date=6 August 1918|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>

|}

== Honours and decorations ==
* 6 August 1918: [[Marshal of France]]
* 19 July 1919 : [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal of the United Kingdom]]
* 25 March 1921: Honorary Colonel (the first) of the [[Royal 22nd Regiment]] of the [[Canadian Army]]
* 13 April 1923: [[Marshal of Poland]]

== Honours and awards ==
[[File:FS Foch Dragon Hammer '92.jpg|thumb|The aircraft carrier [[French aircraft carrier Foch (R99)|''Foch'' (R99)]] was named in his honor.]]

[[File:Marshal Foch Equestrian Statue Paris.jpg|thumb|Equestrian statue of Marshal Ferdinand Foch in Paris, France.]]

A [[French cruiser Foch|heavy cruiser]] and an [[Foch (R 99)|aircraft carrier]] were named in his honor. An early district of [[Gdynia]], Poland was also named "Foch" after the Marshal but was renamed by the [[People's Republic of Poland|communist]] government after the Second World War. Nevertheless, one of the major avenues of the City of [[Bydgoszcz]], located then in the [[Polish corridor]], holds Foch's name as sign of gratitude for his campaigning for an independent Poland. [[Avenue Foch]], a street in Paris, was named after him. Several other streets have been named in his honor in [[Melbourne]], [[Ypres]], [[Lyon]], [[Kraków]], [[Chrzanów]],<ref>[http://homepage.mac.com/crowns/chrzanovia/ Chrzanovia Patria Parva] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211190157/http://homepage.mac.com/crowns/chrzanovia/ |date=11 February 2010 }} Street chart of Chrzanów</ref> [[Grenoble]], [[Quito]], [[Beirut]], [[New Orleans]], [[Truth or Consequences, New Mexico]], [[Wynnum]], [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], [[Mineola, New York]], [[Foch Sitting Area|Queens, New York]], [[Milltown, New Jersey|Milltown]], [[Shanghai]] (now part of Yan'a Road) and Singapore (Foch Road). A city quarter in the former French sector of Berlin is called Cité Foch in his honor. This is where French garrison soldiers were housed while Berlin was divided. [[Fochville]] in [[South Africa]] was also named in his honour. A [[Equestrian statue of Ferdinand Foch, London|statue of Foch]] stands near [[London Victoria station|Victoria railway station]] in London. He is the only Frenchman ever to be made an honorary field-marshal by the British.<ref>{{Cite book
 | title = Foch, Ferdinand
 | last = Palmowski | first = Jan
 | year = 2008
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199295678.001.0001/acref-9780199295678-e-828?rskey=oTwsX8&result=1&q=Foch
 | access-date = 9 October 2012
 | isbn = 978-0199295678
}}</ref> A statue of Foch stands on the Bapaume-Peronne road, near the village of Bouchavesnes, at the point where [[Adolphe Messimy|Messimy]]'s ''chasseurs'' broke through on 12 September 1916. [[Marie-Eugene Debeney|General Debeney]] spoke at the statue's unveiling in 1926, praising Foch's operational concepts of 1918.<ref>Philpott 2009, p. 441, p. 555</ref> Foch also has a [[Marechal Foch (grape)|grape cultivar]] named after him. In the Belgian city of [[Leuven]], one of the central squares was named after him after the First World War, but it was renamed in 2012.<ref>[http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=HO26KKO 1]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Fochsquare gets new name</ref> [[Mount Foch]] in [[Alberta]] is also named after him. The position of [[Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature]] at the University of Oxford was founded in 1918 shortly after the end of the First World War.

In the late 1920s, Foch Avenue in [[Mount Roskill]], [[Auckland]] was named after him.<ref name="Roskill">{{cite Q|Q116775081|page=154}}</ref>

=== France ===
* [[Legion of Honour]]:

::[[File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg|80px]] Knight: 9 July 1892
::[[File:Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg|80px]] Officer: 11 July 1908
::[[File:Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|80px]] Commander: 31 December 1913
::[[File:Legion Honneur GO ribbon.svg|80px]] Grand Officer: 18 September 1914
::[[File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg|80px]] Grand Cross: 8 October 1915
* [[File:Medaille militaire ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Médaille militaire]]: 21 December 1916
* [[File:Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre 1914–1918]]
* [[File:Medaille commemorative de la guerre 1870-1871 ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War]]
* [[File:Palmes academiques Officier ribbon.svg|80px]] Officer of the [[Order of Academic Palms]]

=== Foreign decorations ===
[[File:Marshal Foch statue.jpg|thumb|[[Equestrian statue of Ferdinand Foch, London|Statue of Foch]] in [[Victoria, London]]]]
* [[File:Order of Merit (Commonwealth realms) ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Order of Merit]] (United Kingdom)
* [[File:Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg|80px]] Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Bath]] (United Kingdom)
* [[File:Dso-ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] (United Kingdom)
* [[File:POL Order Orła Białego BAR (1921-1990).svg|80px]] [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]] (15 April 1923)
* [[File:POL Virtuti Militari Wielki BAR.svg|80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Virtuti Militari]] (15 April 1923, Poland)
* [[File:POL Polonia Restituta Wielki BAR.svg|80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (Poland)
* [[File:BEL - Order of Leopold - Grand Cordon bar.svg|80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] (Belgium)
* [[File:MAR Order of the Ouissam Alaouite - Grand Cross (1913-1956) BAR.png|80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Ouissam Alaouite]] (Morocco)
* [[File:U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg|80px]] [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medal]] (United States Army)
* [[File:GRE Order Redeemer 1Class.png|80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Redeemer]] (Greece)
* [[File:Lacplesis Military Order Ribbon.png|80px]] [[Order of Lāčplēsis]] 3rd Class (Latvia)
* [[File:RUS Order of Saint George 2nd class ribbon 2000.svg|80px]] [[Order of Saint George]] Second Class (''Орден Святого Георгия'', 1916, Russian Empire)
* [[File:Order of Rama 1st Class ribbon.svg|80px]] Knight Grand Commander (First Class) of the [[Order of Rama]] (''Senangapati'', 16 November 1918, Thailand)

Foch received an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] from the [[Jagiellonian University]] of Kraków in 1918. By special vote of the board of directors of the [[Knights of Columbus]], he became the one millionth knight of that order.<ref name=billings>{{cite news | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39974075/ferdinand_foch_becomes_the_one/ | title = Marshal Foch made a Knight of Columbus | newspaper = The Billings Weekly Gazette | location = Billings, Montana | date = 10 November 1921 | page = 3 | via=newspapers.com }} {{open access}}</ref>

== Books by Ferdinand Foch ==
* ''Des principes de la guerre'', 1903<ref name="academie-francaise.fr">{{Cite web |title=Ferdinand FOCH {{!}} Académie française |url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/les-immortels/ferdinand-foch |access-date=26 December 2023 |website=www.academie-francaise.fr |language=fr}}</ref>
* ''De la conduite de la guerre'', 1904<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''La bataille de Laon, mars 1814'', 1909<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Préceptes et jugements'', 1919<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Éloge de Du Guesclin'', 1921<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Éloge de Napoléon'', 1921<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Ce que j'ai appris à la guerre'', 1927<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Les deux batailles de la Marne'', 1928 (ouvrage collectif)<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Paroles de soldat'', 1928<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la guerre de 1914-1918, 2 vol.'', 1931 (posthume)<ref name="academie-francaise.fr"/>
* Dans ''La Revue de la cavalerie'' un article sur ''l'artillerie de la division de cavalerie au combat'', un autre sur ''Mitrailleuse ou canon'', une conférence sur ''L'Attaque décisive''

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|France}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Army Manoeuvres of 1912]]
* [[Marcel Bigeard]]
* [[Foch Line]]
* [[Pierre Jeanpierre]]
* [[Lafayette Escadrille]]
* [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]]
* [[List of French paratrooper units]]
* [[List of streets named after Ferdinand Foch]]
* [[Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion]]
* [[Moroccan Division (France)|Moroccan Division]]
* [[Non-U.S. recipients of U.S. gallantry awards]]
* [[Russian Expeditionary Force in France]]
* [[Pierre Segretain]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== General and cited references ===
{{Refbegin}}
* ''Des Principes de la guerre. Conférences faites à l'Ecole supérieure de guerre'' (''On the Principles of War''), Berger-Levrault, 1903; [https://archive.org/details/desprincipesdel00fochgoog/page/n4/mode/2up 1906 edition].
* ''La Conduite de la guerre'' (''On the Conduct of War''), Berger-Levrault, 1905
* {{Cite book
 | last = Foch
 | first = F.
 | year = 1931
 | title = The Memoirs of Marshal Foch
 | url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.66355/page/n15/mode/2up
 | trans-title = Les souvenirs du maréchal Foch, 1914-1918
 | edition = Heinemann
 | translator = T Bentley Mott
 | location = London
 | publisher = William Heinemann
 | oclc = 86058356
 | access-date = 15 October 2020
}}
* Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2011). ''Foch in Command: The Forging of a First World War General''. Cambridge University Press. 550 pp. [https://www.h-france.net/vol13reviews/vol13no9young.pdf Online review in H-France].
* Harris, J. P. (2008). ''Douglas Haig and the First World War''. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-89802-7}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Jeffery |first=Keith |year=2006 |title=Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-820358-2}}
* Porte, Rémy, and F Cochet (2010). ''Ferdinand Foch, 1851–1929: Apprenez À Penser : Actes Du Colloque International, École Militaire, Paris, 6–7 November 2008''. Paris: Soteca. {{ISBN|978-2-916385-43-3}}.
* Woodward, David R. (1998). ''Field Marshal Sir William Robertson''. Westport, Connecticut & London: Praeger. {{ISBN|0-275-95422-6}}.
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* DiDomenico, Joseph J. (2017). [http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1038937.pdf "Rise and Fall of a Coalition: The Supreme War Council and Marshal Foch, 1917–1919"]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927072356/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1038937.pdf |date=27 September 2020 }}. Fort Leavenworth, KS: US Army School for Advanced Military Studies.
* [[Robert A. Doughty|Doughty, Robert A.]] (2005). ''Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War''. Harvard U.P.
* Falls, Cyril (1939). [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211269/page/n7 ''Marshall Foch''].
* Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2005). ''Victory Through Coalition: Britain and France During the First World War''.
* Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2016). "General Ferdinand Foch and the French Contribution to the Battle of the Somme". ''British Journal for Military History'' 2.3. [https://bjmh.org.uk/index.php/bjmh/article/viewFile/113/87 online]; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128210638/https://bjmh.org.uk/index.php/bjmh/article/viewFile/113/87 |date=28 November 2018 }}
* Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (October 2015). "General Ferdinand Foch and United Allied Command in 1918". ''Journal of Military History'' 79.4: 997–1023.
* Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2017). "Marshal Ferdinand Foch versus Georges Clemenceau in 1919". ''War in History'' 24.4: 458–497. {{doi|10.1177/0968344516640827}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Richard |year=2004 |title=The Little Field Marshal: A Life of Sir John French |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-297-84614-0}}
* King, Jere Clemens (1960). [https://archive.org/details/fochversusclemen0000king/page/n5/mode/2up ''Foch Versus Clemenceau in 1918–1919'']. Harvard UP.
* Liddell-Hart, B. H. (1937) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.152819 ''Foch, the Man of Orleans 1914–1924'']. 2 vols.
* {{Cite book |last=Philpott |first=W. |year=2009 |title=Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century |edition=1st |location=London |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-1-4087-0108-9}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links |wikt=no |commons=yes |commonscat=yes |n=no |q=yes |s=yes |b=y |v=no}} 
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ferdinand Foch}}
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/foch.htm Unjustly Accused: Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the French 'Cult of the Offensive']
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/foch.htm Biography on FirstWorldWar.com]
* [http://www.academie-française.fr/immortels/base/academiciens/fiche.asp?param=532 Foch's Biography in French on the Immortals page of the Académie française]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{Gutenberg|no=17511|name=Foch the Man}}, by [[Clara E. Laughlin]]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/005337}}

{{s-start}}
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{{s-ttl | title = Honorary Commander of [[American Legion|The American Legion]] | years = 1926| alongside = General [[John J. Pershing]]}}
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{{s-ach}}
{{S-bef | before = [[Nicholas Longworth]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[List of covers of Time magazine (1920s)|Cover of ''Time'' magazine]] | years = 16 March 1925}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Eduard Benes]]}}
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{{FrenchMarshals}}
{{Marshals of Poland}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Foch, Ferdinand}}
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