Maurice Gamelin

Maurice Gustave Gamelin (September 20, 1872 - April 18, 1958) was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 and his steadfast defense of republican values. Photograph of Maurice Gamelin, French general. ... Photograph of Maurice Gamelin, French general. ... September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Field Marshal of the French armed forces in World War II, Gamelin was viewed as a man with significant intellectual ability. He was well respected, including in Germany, for his intelligence and "subtle mind". Despite this, and his distinctive service in World War I, his command of French forces in May of 1940 could not prevent the German Blitzkrieg. Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz...

Maurice Gamelin (left) with General Edward Rydz-Śmigły, future Marshal of Poland; Warsaw, August 1936.

Gamelin served with distinction under Joseph Joffre in World War I. He is often credited with being responsible for devising the outline of the French counter-attack in 1914 which led to victory during the First Battle of the Marne. After the war, he served as a military advisor during the Soviet-Polish War. In 1933, Gamelin rose to command of the French Army and oversaw a modernization and mechanization program, as well as the completion of the Maginot Line defenses. Download high resolution version (547x812, 219 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Maurice Gamelin Edward Rydz-Smigly Categories: Pre-1994 Poland images ... Download high resolution version (547x812, 219 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Maurice Gamelin Edward Rydz-Smigly Categories: Pre-1994 Poland images ... Edward Rydz-Śmigły. ... Marshal of Poland (Marszałek Polski) is the highest rank in the Polish Army. ... Warsaw (Polish: , , in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto StoÅ‚eczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland, its largest city, and a gamma world city. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (January 12, 1852 - January 3, 1931) was a Catalan French general who became prominent in the battles of World War I. Joffre was born in Rivesaltes, Roussillon. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... Combatants France United Kingdom German Empire Commanders Joseph Joffre John French Helmuth von Moltke Karl von Bulow Alexander von Kluck Strength 1,071,000 1,485,000 Casualties Approximately 263,000: 250,000 French casualties (80,000 dead) 13,000 British casualties (1,700 dead) Approximately 250,000 total The... Combatants Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic Second Polish Republic Commanders Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Joseph Stalin Józef PiÅ‚sudski Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Strength 950,000 including reserves 5 million 360,000 including reserves 738,000 Casualties Unknown, dead estimated at 100,000 - 150,000 Unknown, dead estimated at... The Maginot Line (IPA: [maÊ’ino], named after French minister of defence André Maginot) was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy, in the light of experience from World War I, and...

A US historian and journalist who had been embedded with the German forces during their advance in France, William L. Shirer, promoted a view of Gamelin as using World War I methods to fight World War II, but with less vigour and slower response. Shirer after winning a National Book Award in 1961 for his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, pictured with fellow authors and award winners Conrad Richter and Randall Jarrell. ...

Gamelin's vision for France's defense had been based on a defensive line along the Franco-German border, reinforced by the Maginot Line, and an aggressive advance northward into Belgium and the Netherlands to meet the attacking German forces as far removed from French territory as possible. To this advance, known as the Dyle Plan, Gamelin committed much of the motorized forces in the French Army and the entire BEF. BEF can mean: British Expeditionary Force Belgian franc, ISO 4217 currency code for the former currency of Belgium Brazilian Expeditionary Force Bef is also a name this is her [Image:http://myspace-110. ...

The German attack occurred further south than Gamelin had gambled and his forces in the Low Countries soon find themselves cut off. On May 15, the Dutch army surrenders. On May 17 the Belgian government flees to Ostend. On May 18 Gamelin is removed from his post succeeded as Field Marshal by Maxime Weygand. The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries (see Country) on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers. ... General Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (January 21, 1867 - January 28, 1965) was a French military commander in both World War I and World War II. // Weygand was born in Brussels. ...

During the German occupation, Gamelin was arrested and tried for treason along with other important political and military figures of the Third Republic (Edouard Daladier, Guy La Chambre, Léon Blum and Robert Jacomet) during the Riom Trial. At this trial, Gamelin refused to answer the charges against him, instead maintaining a dignified silence. He was later deported to Germany. After the war he published his memoirs titled Servir ... . The French Third Republic, (in French, Troisième Republique, sometimes written as IIIème Republique) ( 1870/ 75- 1940/ 46), was the governing body of France between the Second French Empire and the Fourth Republic. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ... Léon Blum Édouard Daladier The Riom Trial (February 19, 1942 - May 21, 1943) was an attempt by the regime of Vichy France headed by Marshall Pétain to prove that the leaders of the French Third Republic (1870-1940), and particularly the leaders of the Popular Front government elected...

References

William L. Shirer The Collapse of the Third Republic 1969 http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/info/historical/HistDocs.nsf/(LookupVolNoNumber)/3~249 Shirer after winning a National Book Award in 1961 for his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, pictured with fellow authors and award winners Conrad Richter and Randall Jarrell. ...

Further reading

• Martin S. Alexander, The Republic in Danger : General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• Maurice Gamelin, Servir ..., Paris, 1946.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Tissier, The Riom trial, with a foreword by General Charles de Gaulle, London, G. G. Harrap, 1942.