Marie Louis Adolphe Guillaumat (4 January 1863 – 18 May 1940) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

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during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early years

Adolphe Guillaumat was born in Bourgneuf, Charente-Maritime. He graduated first from his class of 1884 at the Saint-Cyr military academy.

Career

His early career was partly spent in the French Colonies (

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, Tonkin,

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). He was appointed a sub-lieutenant of infantry in October 1884. Four years later he was promoted lieutenant. In November 1893 he became a captain and was transferred to the 147th infantry regiment. In 1903 he was appointed professor of military history at St. Cyr, and later became lecturer on infantry tactics at the École de Guerre. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1907 and colonel in 1910. In January 1913, he was appointed director of infantry, and obtained the rank of brigadier general in October of that year.

World War I

At the start of

, he was chief of

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Adolphe Messimy's military cabinet. When the latter left office, Guillaumat was appointed as the head of the 33rd Infantry Division on 30 August 1914, and then of the 4th Infantry Division on 9 December 1914. He led the 1st Army Corps from 25 February 1915, and on 15 December 1916 he replaced Robert Nivelle as commander of the Second Army, when the latter was made commander-in-chief of the

. Guillaumat was sent to replace General Sarrail as commander of the Allied Army of the Orient in Salonika in December 1917. He laid the plans later executed by his replacement, General Franchet d'Esperey, and rebuilt the relations with France's allies somewhat damaged by his predecessor. Guillaumat was recalled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 17 June 1918 and replaced with Franchet d'Esperey. There, he replaced Auguste Dubail as military governor of Paris. After the success of the Second Battle of the Marne, he was appointed to the Supreme War Council. He then returned to active command as commander of the Fifth Army, which he led through the Ardennes at the end of the war.

Occupation of the Rhine

Following the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, Guillaumat was appointed commander in chief of Allied occupation forces in the Rhineland. He was criticised for his failure to take suitable precaution against cold weather in the winter of 1928/1929 which led to some of the soldiers under his command freezing to death.

Political career

He was a

minister of war A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in a short-lived (June–July 1926) government led by Aristide Briand, who had been one year his senior at the

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Lycée.

Personal life

Adolphe Guillaumat married Louise Bibent from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

on 17 July 1906 and had two sons: Louis, who became an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, and Pierre, who became a civil servant and served as a minister of the armies of General De Gaulle after the latter's return to power from 1 June 1958 to 5 February 1960. General Guillaumat was a practising

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and an admirer of Frédéric Bastiat.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Biographical note on Guillaumat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaumat, Adolphe 1863 births 1940 deaths People from Charente-Maritime French Army generals of World War I French generals 19th-century French military personnel École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Military governors of Paris Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Ministers of war of France Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) French Roman Catholics Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)