Grand Quartier Général (1914-1919)

The Grand Quartier Général des Armées Françaises in the short form Grand Quartier Général ( GQG or GQG ) was the high command of the French Army in the First World War . The GQG was the counterpart to the German headquarters and was responsible for the planning and implementation of military operations during the First World War.

structure

Romilly-sur-Seine - memorial plaque on the former staff building of the GQG, a school

The GQG was divided into the following staff departments :

• 1st Bureau (Human Resources)
• 2eme Bureau ( military intelligence service )
• 3eme Bureau (operation planning )
• Direction de l´Arrière (replenishment and rear services)
• Direction des chemins de fer (DCF) (military railways) later renamed Direction des transports militaires aux armées (DTMA) (military transport)

Commander in Chief and Chiefs of Staff

Joseph Joffre

Philippe Pétain

The GQG possessed during the First World War the following Commander and Chief of Staff

Commander in chief

• General Joseph Joffre , from August 2, 1914 to December 13, 1916
• General Robert Nivelle , December 17, 1916 to May 17, 1917
• General Philippe Pétain , from May 17, 1917 to October 9, 1918

Chief of Staff

• General Émile Eugène Belin , from August 2 to December 9, 1914
• General Maurice Pellé , from March 22nd to December 11th, 1915

Chief of Staff (Chef d'état-major général des armées françaises)

• General Noël de Castelnau , December 11-17, 1916

Chief of Staff of the French Forces in France

• • General Maurice Janin , from December 11, 1915 to April 19, 1916

Chief of Staff for Operations Outside France (Théâtres d'opérations extérieurs)

• • General Maurice Pellé from December 11, 1915 to April 19, 1916

Chief of Staff

• General Maurice Pellé from April 19 to December 20, 1916
• General Ferdinand Auguste Pont , from December 20, 1916 to May 2, 1917
• General Marie-Eugène Debeney , from May 2 to December 23, 1917
• General François Anthoine , from December 23, 1917 to July 5, 1918
• General Edmond Buat , July 5 to October 9, 1918

Other members of the GQG

Direction de l'Arriere

Commanders

• General Étienne Laffon de Ladebat , from August 2, 1914 to November 30, 1914
• Colonel Camille Ragueneau , from November 30, 1914 to May 2, 1917, from August 8, 1916 as Brigadier General

Chief of Staff

• General Linder, from August 2 to November 22, 1914

General Foch

Contrary to the widespread misunderstanding that Ferdinand Foch was head of the GQG , this is not the case. Foch was assigned to the GQG from October 4, 1914 to March 22, 1915 in order to set up the Groupe provisoire du Nord (later renamed Groupe d'Armees du Nord ), since at the beginning of the war there was only one French army on the Belgian border. Furthermore, the British Expeditionary Force had to be involved there. During the war, he led the Groupement Général Foch, which was subordinate to the GQG , from January 21 to March 31, 1917 . From March 26, 1918, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in France . His general staff was the Grand Quartier Général des Armées allies (GQGA) , to which the GQG was subordinate.

Stationing locations

The GQG - like its German counterpart, the Great Headquarters - moved several times during the war. It was in

• Vitry-le-François , from August 4, 1914
• Bar-sur-Aube , from September 1, 1914
• Châtillon-sur-Seine , from September 5, 1914
• Romilly-sur-Seine , from September 26, 1914
• Chantilly (Hôtel Le Grand Condé ) from November 29, 1914,
• Beauvais , from January 11, 1917,
• Compiègne ( Compiègne Castle ) from April 3, 5 or 8, 1917 (various sources)
• Provins , from March 26, 1918.

Subordinate associations

The following Groupes d'Armées ( army groups ) were subordinate to the GQG for the duration of the First World War :

Groupe d'Armées du Nord (GAN)

• Groupe provisoire du Nord , from October 4, 1914 to June 13, 1915
• Groupe d'Armées du Nord from June 13, 1915 to July 6, 1918
• Renamed Groupe d'Armées du Center on July 6, 1918

Groupe d'Armées du Center (GAC)

• Groupe d'Armées du Center , from June 22, 1915 to December 1, 1917
• On December 1, 1917, renamed Forces Françaises d'Italie (FFI) and later relocated to Italy .
• Reorganization on July 6, 1918 by renaming the Groupe d'Armées du Nord

Groupe d'Armées de l'Est (GAE)

• Groupe provisoire du l'Est , from January 5th to June 13th 1915
• Groupe d'Armées de l'Est from June 13, 1915 to January 2, 1917
• Groupement du Général Foch , from January 21st to March 31st 1917
• Groupe d'Armées de l'Est from March 31, 1917

Groupe d'Armées de Réserve de 1917 (GAR)

• Established January 1, 1917, disbanded May 8, 1917

Groupe d'Armées de Réserve de 1918 (GAR)

• Established January 30, 1918, disbanded November 21, 1918

Groupe d'Armées des Flandres (GAF)

• under Belgian command, established September 12, 1918 and disbanded October 18, 1918

literature

• Les Armées françaises dans la Grande guerre ( AFGG ) , Tome X / Vol. 1: Ordre de bataille des grandes unités. , Paris 1923, digitized on Gallica .

Web links

Commons : Joseph Joffre  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Commons : Robert Georges Nivelle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Philippe Pétain  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Cards from Joffres memoirs  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Western Front maps of World War I  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 5-9, digitized on Gallica .
2. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), p. 5, digitized on Gallica .
3. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), p. 9, digitized on Gallica .
4. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 13-18, digitized on Gallica .
5. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 19-24, digitized on Gallica .
6. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 25-28, digitized on Gallica .
7. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 29-30, digitized on Gallica .
8. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 31-33, digitized on Gallica .
9. ↑ AFGG X / 1 (1923), pp. 35-37, digitized on Gallica .