Alphonse Georges

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Georges (left) and John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort

Alphonse-Joseph Georges (born August 19, 1875 in Montluçon , † April 24, 1951 in Paris ) was a French general who fought in the First and Second World Wars.

Life

Youth and career start

He came from a medium-sized family. During his school career in Saint-Amand-Montrond and Bourges , he showed exceptional academic performance, and later he attended the Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux to prepare for admission to the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr . In 1897 he left Saint-Cyr as the third best of 578 graduates and opted for the infantry , namely the 1er régiment de tirailleurs algériens in Algiers , one of the most renowned regiments of the army.

In North Africa he learned the craft of war and took part in some fights that were supposed to lead to the pacification of the Sahara , which quickly made his superiors aware of him.

Georges married a local township woman in 1902. From 1903 he prepared for the selection process at the Collège interarmées de défense of the École supérieure de guerre , which he passed with flying colors. When General Toutée became head of cabinet of the Minister of War, he appointed Georges in March 1908 to the attaché of Picquart , the Minister of War in the cabinet of Georges Clemenceau .

Two years later he returned to Algeria as commander of the fifteenth company of the second "régiment de tirailleurs algériens" . Just a few months later, he was determined to take part in a "police action" on the Algerian-Moroccan border. During a serious encounter with rebels in which he led his company victoriously, General Hubert Lyautey became aware of the fearless captain.

In Algiers he led the usual life of a garrison officer until in 1912 he was given an almost impossible task: the integration of the natives . Within a few months, Georges wrote a dossier that not all those affected believed a solution. Joseph Joffre , Marshal of France from 1916 , had Capitaine Georges transferred to the 1st Office of the Army High Command around 1912/1913. From then on, Georges worked on mobilization plans for millions of people, as provided for in Plan XVII .

First World War

In August 1914, Georges served in the High Command of the Second Army, which was under General Édouard de Castelnau . At the beginning of September he received a command of the troops, he became chief of a battalion of the 122nd Infantry Regiment. Because of a serious injury on September 11, 1914, he was only able to exercise this office briefly. After a few weeks of convalescence, Georges wanted a command again, but Joffre did not follow this request: Georges appeared more valuable as an officer in the high command and was transferred to the high command of the army.

In October 1916 he managed to return to the Orient Army. He got the post of deputy chief of staff, but did not get along with General Maurice Sarrail . In March 1917 he returned to France. Two months later, Charles Jonnart , the former Governor General of Algeria, remembered the young officer. Georges took on the position of military advisor. He was entrusted with the command to arrest King Constantine I of Greece . He did not want his country to be drawn into the war against the Central Powers and was fond of the Germans. The plan worked out by Georges was a complete success: the king had to leave Greece.

Back in France, Georges was one of Marshal Foch's closest collaborators until 1921 , primarily as head of the office for foreign activities. In this position he played a crucial role in organizing the offensive led by Marshal Louis Félix Marie Franchet d'Esperey in September 1918 at the Salonikifront .

Ruhr occupation

In December 1919 he was made a colonel . In January 1922 he got command of the 64th Moroccan Rifle Regiment (64e régiment de tirailleurs marocains) in Speyer . A year later he was asked by General Jean-Marie Degoutte to take over the management of the secrétariat des Affaires techniques during the occupation of the Ruhr . This ended his time in command; in March 1924 he was appointed general.

The Rif War (1921)

After completing the courses at the Center des hautes études militaires (CHEM), the French military academy , he became Chief of Staff ( chef d'état-major ) of General Degoutte, designated commander of the Armée des Alpes in the event of war. At that time he enjoyed a high reputation in the whole army; Marshal Pétain called him to his side as an advisor in the Rif War . Georges designed and put into action the essential part of the plan with which the rebels were defeated (see also use of chemical weapons in the Rif War ).

Algiers and Maginot

As designated division general, he took over command of the division in Algiers only 18 months after he had been appointed brigadier general. But he did not stay longer than a year in this position: the new Minister of War André Maginot wanted Georges his cabinet chief ( chef de cabinet was). After 15 months (from November 1929 to February 1931) in the Hôtel de Brienne , the seat of the War Ministry, he returned to North Africa and took over the prestigious 19th Army Corps.

Conseil supérieur de la Guerre

In November 1932 he was promoted to brigadier general and became a member of the Supreme War Council (SG - Conseil supérieur de la guerre ). Given his age - he was 58 years old - he could still be active for 7 to 10 years. Almost all of his general colleagues saw him as the future inspector general of the army, i.e. as commander in chief in the event of war.

The Marseille assassination attempt

In the autumn of 1934, Georges was appointed to receive King Alexander of Yugoslavia , who arrived in Marseille by ship on October 9th. Georges and Alexander became friends in World War I.

A few minutes after the arrival of the Yugoslav delegation there was an assassination attempt on Alexander, in which he and the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou were killed by Vlado Chernozemsky . Georges, who was in the car with the two victims, survived the attack.

The high command

Finally, in January 1935, General Gamelin appointed him to replace General Weygand , who had reached retirement age. Georges became a troop inspector in North Africa, but had no other specific tasks. Gamelin entrusted him with various tasks, such as For example, revising the new regulations for large troops or managing large maneuvers, he actually tried to keep Georges out of the circles where important decisions were made.

At the numerous conferences during this time, Georges always found an opportunity to point out various deficits in the army: lack of training of the reservists, very inadequate motorization, deficiencies in aviation, deficiencies in the production of modern armaments and much more. This was confirmed in the Second World War, which broke out in September 1939.

Second World War

During the mobilization he became General Maurice Gamelin's adjutant for the north-eastern front and then in December commander of this section of the front.

This title was misleading, however: Georges saw his powers curtailed because Gamelin split up the Allied headquarters in Europe ( Grand quartier général des puissances alliées en Europe ) (GQG) and withdrew both funds and some of his closest collaborators from Georges. Georges could therefore not fully complete his command. In addition, Georges had to carry out a plan that he refused; especially the relocation of the mighty Seventh Army to Holland.

The western campaign of the German Wehrmacht , which began on May 10, 1940, proved the inability of the French army to carry out strategic movements. The front broke on May 15th near Sedan on the Meuse. Georges (...) saw what had to be done, but his orders often came too late. The enemy advanced at a speed never seen before. After Gamelin's release on May 19 - he was replaced by Maxime Weygand - Georges got his funds back. He began to organize new lines of defense. He was well aware that after the defeat of the northern armies, the Germans now had three times as many divisions as the Allies.

After the Armistice of Compiègne , General Georges quickly raised a new “Vichy Army”, which was not allowed to number more than 10,000 men in the capital. When he reached the age limit of 65 in August 1940, he was transferred to the deuxième section du cadre des officiers généraux .

Algiers or CFLN

In 1943 Churchill organized that Georges was flown out of France so that he could work with General Henri Giraud in Algeria. Georges took an active part in the French Committee for National Liberation (CFLN - Comité français de la Liberation nationale ) from June to November ; but he did not succeed in asserting his moderate position. He was sidelined by General de Gaulle and finally withdrew from any political or military activity.

After the war

Georges died in 1951 in the Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris.

Awards

France

Other countries

literature

  • Max Schiavon: Le général Georges, un destin inachevé. Anovi, Parçay-sur-Vienne 2009, ISBN 978-2-914818-40-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konstantin had studied in Germany and was married to the German princess Sophie of Prussia . In 1915 the king dismissed Prime Minister Venizelos, who was orienting himself towards the sea power Great Britain, twice, finally dissolved the parliament and took over the government himself, while Venizelos with the support of the Entente powers installed a counter-government in northern Greece and finally Constantine on July 12th Forced to abdicate in 1917 .
personal data
SURNAME Georges, Alphonse
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Georges, Alphonse-Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French general
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Montluçon , France
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1951
Place of death Paris , France