Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain, generally known as Philippe Pétain, Marshal Pétain or The Old Marshal, was a French general officer who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World War I, during which he became known as The Lion of Verdun, and in collaboration with Nazi Germany, served as the Chief of State of Vichy France from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state.
11th (Northern) Division
The 11th (Northern) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, raised from men who had volunteered for Lord Kitchener's New Armies. The division fought in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front. The division's insignia was an ankh or ankhus.
Robert Nivelle
Robert Georges Nivelle was a French artillery officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion, and the First World War. Nivelle was a very capable commander and organizer of field artillery at the regimental and divisional levels. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in the Battle of Verdun, leading counter-offensives that rolled back the German forces in late 1916. During these actions he and General Charles Mangin were already accused of wasting French lives.
Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau
Noël Édouard Marie Joseph, Vicomte de Curières de Castelnau was a French general in World War I. He represented a militant French Catholic element in the French Army, and later headed the Fédération Nationale Catholique, a short-lived movement (1924-1944) which espoused a socio-religious political ideology, driven by conservative Catholic dogma.
Allies of World War I
The Allies of World War I or Entente Powers were the coalition that opposed the Central Powers of Germany, Austria–Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria during the First World War (1914–1918).
Noel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin & Two Bars, MC was a senior British Army officer, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War. He was also instrumental in some reforms to the training and equipment of British soldiers after the defeat in France in 1940, intended to meet the demands of modern warfare.
Nivelle Offensive
The Nivelle Offensive, was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front in the First World War. The French part of the offensive was intended to be strategically decisive by breaking through the German defences on the Aisne front within 48 hours, with casualties expected to be around 10,000 men. A preliminary attack was to be made by the French Third Army at St Quentin and the British First, Third and Fifth armies at Arras, to capture high ground and divert German reserves from the French fronts on the Aisne and in Champagne. The main offensive was to be delivered by the French on the Chemin des Dames ridge, with a subsidiary attack by the Fourth Army. The final stage of the offensive was to follow the meeting of the British and French armies, having broken through the German lines, then the pursuit of the defeated German armies towards the German frontier.
Émile Fayolle
Marie Émile Fayolle was a Marshal of France.
Denis Auguste Duchêne
Denis Auguste Duchene was a French World War I general.
Allied leaders of World War I
The Allied leaders of World War I consist of the political and military figures that fought for or supported the Allies during World War I.
French Army in World War I
This article is about the French Army in World War I. During World War I, France was one of the Triple Entente powers allied against the Central Powers. Although fighting occurred worldwide, the bulk of the fighting in Europe occurred in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Alsace-Lorraine along what came to be known as the Western Front, which consisted mainly of trench warfare. Specific operational, tactical, and strategic decisions by the high command on both sides of the conflict led to shifts in organizational capacity, as the French Army tried to respond to day-to-day fighting and long-term strategic and operational agendas. In particular, many problems caused the French high command to re-evaluate standard procedures, revise its command structures, re-equip the army, and to develop different tactical approaches.
Grand Quartier Général (1914–1919)
The Grand Quartier Général was the general headquarters of the French Army during the First World War. It served as the wartime equivalent of the Conseil supérieur de la guerre and had extensive powers within an area defined by the French parliament. The GQG was activated by parliament on 2 August 1914, after the violation of French borders by German military patrols, and remained in existence until 20 October 1919.
Army Group Centre (France)
Army Group Centre was a grouping of French field armies during World War I, which was created on June 22, 1915. The army group covered the Western Front roughly between Rheims and Verdun.