Monday, September 6, 2010

The monument to Ferdinand Foch in Paris, France

I already heard and read the named Ferdinand Foch since last year. I am trying to remember where and how but now it finally came to my mind. During my first visit in Paris last March 2009, the bus where we rode during the trip passed-by at the monument of Foch. I remember that our tour guide mentioned his name. That is the reason why I took an image of him during my second visit. I can't really elaborate more about him but you can continue reading below about what this person had contributed to France during his time.

The monument to Ferdinand Foch in his native Tarbes in Paris, France. I took this photo during my second visit in Paris last August 2010.

Ferdinand Foch (pronounced "Fosh") OM GCB (2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. ] He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its final year: 1918. Shortly after the start of the Spring Offensive, Germany's final attempt to win the war, Foch was chosen as supreme commander of the Allied armies, a position that he held until 11 November 1918, when he accepted the German request for an armistice.

He advocated peace terms that would make Germany unable to pose a threat to France ever again. His words after the Treaty of Versailles, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years" would prove exactly prophetic; World War II started almost twenty years later. more here

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