Joffre, Joseph Jacques Césaire (1852-1931)

Marshal of France during World War I. He was chief of general staff in 1911. The German invasion of Belgium in 1914 took him by surprise, but his stand at the Battle of the Marne resulted in his appointment as supreme commander of all the French armies in 1915. His failure to make adequate preparations at Verdun in 1916 and the military disasters on the Somme led to his replacement by Nivelle in December 1916.