Joffre, Marshal Joseph (1852-1931)

French General. He commanded the French forces in their successful 1914 stand at the Battle of the Marne, and oversaw the early stages of the Battle of Verdun.

Joffre joined the French Army as a 2nd Lieutenant during the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871. Thereafter he served as: Lieutenant 1872; Captain, 1876; Major, 1889; Lieutenant-Colonel 1894; Colonel 1897; Brigadier, 1901; General of Division, 1905; served China; organised defences of Formosa (later Taiwan); commanded a battery during siege of Paris. By 1914 he was Chief of the French General Staff and served as Commander-in-Chief of the French armies, 1915-1917.