JOITRE, JOSEPH JACQUES CESAIRE French soldier, was born Jan. 12,1852, at Rivesaltes, at the edge of the eastern Pyrenees. According to a tradition preserved in the family, his stock is Spanish and noble, and its proper name is Goffre. His great-grandfather fled from Spain for political reasons, came to France, gave his name the French spelling of Joffre, and became a merchant. The grandson of this first Joffre adopted the trade of a cooper. He had II children, one of them being the future victor of the Marne.
The studies of young Joffre at the Ecole Polytechnique were interrupted by the Franco-German War and he took part in the defence of Paris in 187o. Afterwards he passed out from the Polytechnique into the engineers and worked on the fortification of Paris. In 1876 he was promoted captain. The loss of his wife so affected him, however, that he applied for a transfer to Indo China, where he took part in the occupation of Formosa in 1885 and remained three years at Hanoi as chief of engineers. In 1888 he returned with Gen. Mensier to Paris. In 1889 he entered the railway regiment. In 1892 he was sent to Senegal to build a railway from Kayes to Bafoulabe. At the end of 1893, a column commanded by Col. Bonnier marched on Timbuktu via the Niger. Joffre, who was a major, was ordered to form a second column, which was also to march to Timbuktu by the left bank of the river. He left Segou on Dec. 27, to receive the news at Goundam at the end of January that Col. Bonnier had been murdered on the 15th. Nevertheless, he continued his march on Timbuktu undaunted, and entered the town on Feb. 12, 1894, after march ing 813 kilometres. Some years later he went to Madagascar to form the base at Diego-Suarez. He was appointed general of brigade in 190o and general of division in 1905. While com mander of the 2nd Army Corps at Amiens he was called to the Conseil Superieur de la Guerre in 191o. This council, re-estab lished in 1872, consisted of the generals who in time of war would have the chief commands. Gen. Joffre was entrusted with the direction of the lines of communication.
Under the system then existing, the vice-president of the Higher Council became in time of war commander-in-chief of the armies in the field. But in time of peace he had very little
authority over his future subordinates. He could not determine either promotion or commands. The real authority lay with the chief of general staff of the army. Gen. Michel, vice-president of the Higher Council, resigned in July 1911, and the minister of war, M. Messimy, decided to unite the functions of vice-president and those of chief-of-staff of the army in one person, so that in the eventuality of war the chief of the general staff would become commander-in-chief. Who was to exercise these united duties, which constituted a position of considerable power? M. Messimy thought of Gen. Pau, who refused on the ground that he had only 18 months' more service on the active list. Gen. Gallieni was due to pass into the reserve even sooner M. Messimy's choice accordingly fell on Joffre, who was only 59 years old, and had therefore five years more on the active list.
For three years Joffre exercised complete authority over the army. He had laid his plan of campaign, known as Plan 17, before the Conseil Superieur on April 18, 1913. Germany having declared war on France on Aug. 3, 1914, he took up the post of commander-in-chief on the 5th. From this day on, the history of his life for more than two years was that of the War itself. This silent general, jealous of his authority but undismayed by the most tragic events, had to bear on his broad shoulders a weight which only his coolness and energy enabled him to sustain. Af ter having attempted in vain to throw himself on the flank of the advancing Germans, he was obliged to withdraw his left wing a considerable distance. He resumed the offensive on Sept. 6, and threw the Germans back to the Aisne in the memorable battle of the Marne. He attempted then to turn their right wing, a frustrated manoeuvre which ended with the rival fronts resting on the sea. The Germans first made the attempt to break the allied line on the Yser in Nov. 1914, and they failed. The French, in turn, tried vainly to break the German front in Champagne, in the Woevre, in Artois, and simultaneously in Artois and Champagne (Sept. 1915).