The Cook County news-herald., 1921-12-15

French officers to study the German
operations Of. 1870 calmly. Honest
attempts had been made, In fact the
Ecole de Guerre was established Just
after the >Ehnco-P Prussian war as .
part of thu reorganization Of the
French army with view to discov-.
ering just what happened In 1870.
But until Foch was detailed to- the
school In 1894 it was just like, trying
to lind out the manner INK which Mr..
William Patterson had been assaulted.
! 1t was too. soon after the war, for the
hearts of both officers and students
were too heavy with sadness over the
loss of Alsace-Lorraine to investigate
the facts dispassionately.
Foch's Anti-German Strategy.
Foch was the first man to fill the
French with hope that French general
ship might be- match for German. As
calmly, as mathematically and as cold
bloodedly as the German general staff
itself, Foch set to work to analyze for
| his pupils German military science. He
arrived at conclusion just the op-
posite to what might be expected. In
stead of declaring that in the next
war France must beat Germany at her
own game, he emphasized that French
strategy must be the opposite of Ger
man, that tron-clad plans must give
way to hexibility.
Y1r,{ 0iro1n hn6
effect upon French staff work during
the war, for the young students, who
we're filed with enthusiasm over
F0ch's maxims laid down in the School
of War in the late nineties, were the
division commanders and the corps
and army staff officers Of the World
| war. That France alone Of the allies
had well-trained and active minded
staff officers in 1914 is largely due to
Foch.
Marshal Foch was born in Tarbes,
October 2, 1851. Boyish enthusiasm
over the campaigns of Napoleon-he
had mastered Theirs "History Of the
Consulate and the Empire'' before he
was twelve-filled him with the am
b1tion to enter the army. The year
previous to the Franco-Prussian war
he was studying at st. Clements,
Jesuit college in Metz, where more
candidates for army comissions were
! taught than at any other school in
France. He enlisted as a private in
the Fourth regiment of infantry which
never got into action. Alsace-Lorraine
lost and with it his beloved school at
Metz, he entered the Polytechnique at
Fontainebleau, and after the usual gar
rison life he was detailed to the Ecole
de Guerre as assistant professor OF
| military history and strategy.
His Sense Of Propriety.
Two stories may be told to illustrate
Marshal Foch's sense Of fitness of
things. There is the incident at his
headquarters car the night the German
commissioners arrived to negotiate for
an armistice. The military delegate
was wearing, among other decorations,
the cross of the Legion OF Honor
which had been conferred upon him
before the war; The Germans filed
into the small room in Marshal Foch's
car and saluted. Foch made no sign,
but stared at the red ribbon that
seemed so out Of place among German
decorations. While his associates
fdgeted, the German officer finally
saw a great light and in silence re-
moved the French decoration, Then
Foch acknowledged the salute and en-
tered into a discussion of the armis-
tice terms.
| Then there was his tactful, punctili-
! GUS behavior the day Of the Victory
Fete in Paris, July II, 1919. Prelim-
; mary plans had Foch selected to lead
the allies march through the Arc de
j Triomphe, but some friends of Joffre
threatened to make political capital
If the senior marshal of France did
! not have place at the head of the
procession. 1t was a DELICATE matter
to decide which should precede the
other. Foch was generalissimo of the
allied land forces, yet in the French
army he was outranked by Joffre.
1t was finally decided that the mar
shals should ride side by side, but,
thanks to the tact Of Foch, neither
outplaced the other AS supreme COM
mander Of the Allies, Foch had the po-
sition Of honor on the right, but
throughout the whole five miles of the
march through the streets of Paris,
Marshal Foch was careful to keep his
horse at least a yard behind Joffre.
Foch's right Of the line was Offset by
his allowing Joffre to ride few feet
ahead, and the difficulty was solved.