The French general and military theorist, Ferdinand Foch, functioned as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War.
In late March 1918, at the head of the German spring offensive, which drove the Allied forces away using fresh troops and novel tactics that pits could not endure, Foch, a combative, even reckless commander during the First Marne, Flanders, as well as Artois initiatives of 1914–1916, was named the Allied Commander–in–Chief.
He skillfully managed his strategic reserves while successfully integrating the French, British, and American operations.
He halted the German advance and mounted a successful counterattack that won the war. Marshal Foch attended November 11, 1918, Armistice and welcomed the German suspension of operations in November 1918.
Foch's XX Corps took part in a short conquest of Germany at the start of the war in August 1914 before retiring in the presence of a German counterattack and successfully stopping the Germans shy of Nancy.
As a consequence of the Marne triumph, Foch's prestige soared and he was largely acknowledged as the main protagonist while heading the French Ninth Army, he was sent west to protect Paris.
Then he received another promotion, this time to assistant commander-in-chief for the Northern Zone, a position that eventually led to him taking charge of Army Group North and requiring him to work with the British forces at Ypres as well as the Somme.
Foch was sent to Italy at the conclusion of 1916, partially as a result of the latter offensive's underwhelming results and partially as a result of political rivalry during the war. After serving as the commander-in-chief of the Western Front with the title Généralissime in 1918, Foch was designated Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Armies on March 26, 1918.
During the Second Battle of Marne, where he was instrumental in stopping a fresh German assault on Paris, he was elevated to the rank of Marshal of France.
Foch agreed to the German cessation and an armistice on November 11, 1918. Foch pushed for peace agreements that would prevent Germany from ever again endangering France. On June 28, 1919, during the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, he stated that he thought it was excessively mild toward Germany.
Foch became well-known for his critical evaluations of the Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian conflicts and their applicability to modern military operations. His military doctrines were ultimately fashioned by the logic of Clausewitz, which had a great impact on him.
Foch, throughout his career, talked about several topics. Ferdinand Foch writes to Alvin C. York about his remarkable capture of over 100 enemy troops while they were hidden behind enemy lines. He talked about the military value, the human soul, airplanes being nothing but interesting toys, the first world war, military art, and many more.
Famous Ferdinand Foch Quotes
Read out these quotes from Ferdinand Foch which one must know!
“I am conscious of having served England as I served my own country.”
“This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.”
“What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all of the armies of Europe.”
“to a large extent, the final Allied strategy which won the war on land in Western Europe in 1918 was Foch's alone.”
- Addington
“A beaten general is disgraced forever.”
“There is but one means to extenuate the effects of enemy fire: it is to develop a more violent fire oneself.”
“Mon centre cède, ma droite recule. Situation excellente, j'attaque.”
“It takes 15,000 casualties to train a major general.”
“School is a building that has four walls with tomorrow inside. Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. There are many ways of going forward, but there is only one way of standing still.”
“This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.” His prophecy came true: 20 years later, the Second World War broke out.
“A lot of us would like to move mountains, but few of us are willing to practice on small hills. Doing your best is more important than being the best. Giant oak trees started out as little nuts.”
“No study is possible on the battlefield.”
“My centre is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack.”
“A battle won is a battle which we will not acknowledge to be lost.”
“None but a coward dare to boast that he has never known fear.”
Fascinating Ferdinand Foch Quotes
Check out these amazingly interesting quotes from Ferdinand Foch and be ready to get fascinated!
“The military art is not an accomplishment, an art for dilettante, a sport.”
“One does simply what one can in order to apply what one knows.”
“Regulations are all very well for drill, but in the hour of danger, they are no more use. You have to learn to think.”
“Victory is a thing of the will.”
“Don't drown yourself in details. Look at the whole.”
“To be disciplined does not mean being silent, abstaining, or doing only what one thinks one may undertake without risk; it is not the art of eluding responsibility; it means acting in compliance with orders received, and therefore finding in one's own mind, by effort and reflection, the possibility to carry out such orders. ”
“In whatever position you find yourself, determine first your objective.”
“The fundamental qualities for good execution of a plan is first; intelligence; then discernment and judgment, which enable one to recognize the best method as to attain it; the singleness of purpose; and, lastly, . . . stubborn will.”
“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
“The power to command has never meant the power to remain mysterious.”
Ferdinand Foch Quotes About War
A war is a situation of armed hostile conflict. Check out what Ferdinand Foch has to say about war!
“A war not only arises, but derives its nature, from the political ideas, the moral sentiments, and the international relations obtaining at the moment when it breaks out.”
“The distribution of troops devoted to the defence of a place includes a garrison, an occupying force, numerically as weak as possible; a reserve as strong as possible, designed for counterattacking and for providing itself, at the moment it goes into action, with a security service which will guard it from any possible surprise.”
“In tactics, action is the governing rule of war.”
“The unknown is the governing principle of war.”
“In war there are none but particular cases; everything has there an individual nature; nothing ever repeats itself. In the first place, the data of a military problem are but seldom certain; they are never final. Everything is in a constant state of change and reshaping.”
“The military mind always imagines that the next war will be on the same lines as the last. That has never been the case and never will be.”
“The will to conquer is the first condition of victory.”
“One is defeated only when one accepts defeat.”
Ferdinand Foch Quotes On Airplanes
Ferdinand Foch wasn't a big fan of aircraft. Check out what he has to say about them!
“Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”
“One of the great factors on the next war will be aircraft obviously. The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost incalculable.”
“Aviation is fine as a sport. But as an instrument of war, it is worthless.”
