General Foch in WWI

1. In 1914, as Commander of the French 9th Army, Foch stopped the German advance at the First Battle of the Marne.  His determination not to give way, and his belief in attack, is exemplified in his famous (though probably apocryphal) message: "My centre is yielding.  My right is retreating.  Situation excellent.  I am attacking.”

2. As assistant Commander-in-Chief with responsibility for co-ordinating the activities of the northern French armies and liaising with the British forces, he oversaw the French forces during the ‘Race to the Sea’ – British C-in-C John French described him as: "the best general in the world", and the American General Tasker Bliss noted that Foch had: "an unteachable ability to foresee the future – to read his opponent's mind". 

3. In 1916 he commanded the French forces during the battle of the Somme.  Although he was dismissed for his tactics and heavy casualties, in fact the French forces captured more ground, and suffered fewer casualties, than the British under Haig. 

4. Foch did not have an easy time in the war; he clashed:

   • with Lloyd George, who wanted to open a second front in Italy;

   • with Haig, whom he wanted replaced as C-in-C of the BEF;

   • with Clemenceau (the French Prime Minister) and Pétain (the French Chief of Staff).

5. During the German Spring Offensive, with front line in danger of collapsing, Foch appealed directly to British Chief of Imperial General Staff Henry Wilson, as a result of which a defensive reserve was created, and at a joint meeting at Doullens on 26 March 1918 Foch was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, with the job of coordinating the activities of the Allied armies. 

6. At that meeting, at Doullens, with the Germans advancing and the Allied generals speaking of retreat, Foch in a sentence inspired those present to resist:

"Foch arrived, surrounded by officers, and dominating everything with his cutting voice:

'You aren't fighting?  I would fight without a break.  I would fight in front of Amiens.  I would fight in Amiens.  I would fight behind Amiens.  I would fight all the time.'"

remembered by Clemenceau in Grandeur and Misery (1930). 

7. His counter-offensive at the second Battle of the Marne (July 1918) is regarded as brilliant, and a turning point in the war.

8. With Haig, he planned the Hundred Days Offensive which drove the Germans back and forced the Armistice.

9. It was Foch who drew up the military clauses of the Armistice presented to the Germans at Compiègne through 8-11 November 1918.