Marshal Ferdinand Foch versus Georges Clemenceau in 1919

Abstract

This article defends Marshal Ferdinand Foch against historian J.C. King’s harsh verdict that Foch had caused a political crisis in 1919 with his dispute with the French premier, Georges Clemenceau, during the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles. After placing civil–military relations in France into a wide chronological and national context, the relative contributions of Foch and Clemenceau to the treaty negotiations and the stages of their quarrel are assessed and the degree of danger to the French polity is evaluated. Finally the reasons for the surprising persistence into recent times both of King’s verdict and of the concept of complete civilian control over the military are weighed.