Joffre, Joseph Jacques (Joffre)

Joseph Jacques Joffre was a son of a small vintner. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique. During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 years served as a junior officer in engineer units. At the conclusion of peace was in artillery and military engineering school in Fontainebleau. Participated in the reconstruction of the forts of Paris and in 1876 for the special distinction was made Marshal P. MacMahon in capital.

In 1894 he commanded the expeditionary force of colonial troops on the territory of modern Republic of Mali.

Upon his return to France, Joffre quickly made a military career. In 1901 he was promoted to brigadier general and appointed military governor of the fortress of Lille.

. He then became director of the engineering department of Ministry of Defense, but after some time - the division commander.

. In 1908, General Joffre commanded the Army Corps
. Two years later he became a member of the Supreme Military Council and the country was to develop a new military doctrine, without having the adequate representation of the future great European war.

. In 1911, Joffre, known for his republican views, becomes vice-president of the Supreme Military Council and chief of General Staff of the French Republic.

. In those years, the French General Staff was a heated discussion about the initial period of the expected war with Germany.

. July 21, Germany declared war on France
. General Joseph Jacques Joffre became commander of the French army. Officially, his title was so - Chief of the armies of the North and North-East. Land forces of France were combined in 5 armies.

. The French Commander in Chief Joffre at the very beginning of the war had to establish relations and joint action with allies the British.

. Beginning of World War showed that all further hostilities will not be carried out in Germany and in France and Northern Belgium
. Therefore, General Joffre had to hastily prepare for the positional combat and deter the onslaught of the advancing German armies, which were aimed at Paris.

Almost all over the Western Front were bloody battles. Five Germanic armies rushed into the breach between Amiens and Verdun. The atmosphere here was so menacing that Joffre had to withdraw 6 th Army under General Maunoury to strengthen the Paris garrison. Defense is the French capital required three army corps.

. By the end of August 1914 offensive of the French troops began to be fragmented, with large losses.

. Plan departure for the new position of the army of France do not fully succeeded - Germanic troops tried to keep up with the French and not give them a foothold on the new frontiers.

. In the end, unfolded on the banks of the river Marne fierce battle has brought the French semi-victory, as Germany's armies had to stop the attack and retreat.

. Joffre managed positional warfare of the French army since the end of 1914, the entire 1915-th and the end of 1916
. In men joined the war more and more countries. Russian army during the Battle of Galicia and Warsaw, Vistula River once again pulled over some of Germanic troops from the Western Front.

. In late 1915 the Government appointed General Joseph Jacques Joffre chief of all the armies of France, including the Eastern Balkans
. However, following 1916, when Joffre received the highest military rank of Marshal of France, commander that his reputation has suffered greatly because of Verdun accident.

. The French press accused the commander in chief in all kinds of sins, including ignoring the views of subordinate commanders regarding the defense construction in the Verdun front.

. Battle of Verdun became a military history also called Verdun-Grinder ", turned out to be so huge losses fighting sides in a relatively small part of the front
. Germanic losses amounted to 280 thousand people killed and wounded, the French - 315 thousand people.

. This was too much for parliamentarians France, and in December 1916 by decision of the Government of Marshal Joseph Joffre left his post as commander in chief, handing it over to General Nivelle
. However, the fact a lot worse, and soon he also resigned as commander in chief.

Joffre became technical military adviser to the government. In 1917 he visited the U.S. to obtain U.S. aid to the Entente. In the same 1917 American troops landed in Europe. Then Marshal Joffre was with the same military mission in Japan, which was an Asian ally of the Entente in World War. Its troops acted against Germanic colonies in China and the Pacific Islands.

. After the war, Marshal Joseph Joffre was among the French military leaders, who advocated for foreign military intervention against Soviet Russia.

. In 1918 he was elected a member of the French Academy
. In 1922, Joffre headed a government commission on the defense of France. The author of "Memoirs of Marshal Joffre (1910-1917) and a number of military-theoretical works. One of them, "Preparation of war and the conduct of operations", was translated into Russian and published in Moscow in 1923.