Maurice Gamelin
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Maurice Gustave Gamelin (September 20, 1872 - April 18, 1958) was a French general. Gamelin is best remembered for his unsuccessful command of the French military in 1940 during the Battle of France and his steadfast defense of republican values.
The generalissimo of the French armed forces in World War II, Gamelin was viewed as a man with significant intellectual ability. He was respected, even in Germany, for his intelligence and "subtle mind", though he was also viewed by some German generals as stiff and predictable. Despite this, and his competent service in World War I, his command of the French armies during the critical days of May 1940 proved to be disastrous. Historian and journalist William L. Shirer presented the view that Gamelin used World War I methods to fight World War II, but with less vigor and slower response.[1]
Gamelin served with distinction under Joseph Joffre in World War I. He is often credited with being responsible for devising the outline of the French counter-attack in 1914 which led to victory during the First Battle of the Marne. In 1933, Gamelin rose to command of the French Army and oversaw a modernization and mechanization program, as well as the completion of the Maginot Line defenses. Edouard Daladier supported Gamelin throughout his career due to his refusal to allow politics to play a part in military planning and promotion, and his commitment to the republican model of government—not a trivial concern at a time when Communists on the left, Royalists and Fascists on the right were openly advocating regime change in France.
Gamelin's vision for France's defense was based upon a static defense along the Franco-German border, which was reinforced by the Maginot Line. The defensive approach of the Maginot Line was rather out of step with Gamelin's own views and he favoured an aggressive advance northward into Belgium and the Netherlands to meet the attacking German forces as far removed from French territory as possible. To this advance, which fitted with Beligan defence plans and British objectives was known as the Dyle Plan. Gamelin committed much of the motorized forces in the French Army and the entire BEF to this approach. The British and French, however, fearful of being outflanked withdrew quickly from the defensive lines drawn up across Belgium without holding them properly. Ultimately they did not pull back fast enough to prevent them being outflanked by the German Panzer divisions.
The wing of the German attack occurring further south was fortunate to be able to rush across the River Meuse faster than anticipated aided by heavy Luftwaffe aerial bombardment. On this front Colonel-General Heinz Guderian disobeyed orders and forged ahead. Similarly farther North, Major-General Erwin Rommel also kept pushing on quickly, against commands from his superiors and so came to the sea to the West of the BEF trapping the forces that had been sent into the Low Countries around Arras and Dunkirk. The speed of this advance, German air supremacy and the inability of the British and French to successfully counter-attack undermined the overall Allied position to such a degree that Britain abandoned the conflict on the continent, pulling out the second BEF that had been landing in Normandy in mid-June. The Dutch surrendered in five days of being attacked, the Belgians in a little over two weeks and the French were left with only a rump of their former army to defend their nation. Gamelin was removed from his post on May 18, 1940 by Paul Reynaud, who had replaced Edouard Daladier as Prime Minister earlier in the month. Gamelin was replaced by Maxime Weygand who immediately tried to launch counter-attacks but the British forces by then were keen to evacuate from France; 40,000 French troops left with the British through Dunkirk.
Gamelin was both preceded and succeeded as generalissimo by Maxime Weygand. During the Vichy regime, Gamelin was arrested and unsuccessfully tried for treason along with other important political and military figures of the Third Republic (Edouard Daladier, Guy La Chambre, Léon Blum and Robert Jacomet) during the Riom Trial. At this trial, Gamelin refused to answer the charges against him, instead maintaining a dignified silence. He was later deported to Germany. After the war he published his memoirs titled Servir... .
[edit] References
- ^ William L. Shirer The Collapse of the Third Republic 1969
[edit] Further reading
- Martin S. Alexander, The Republic in Danger : General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940, Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Maurice Gamelin, Servir..., Paris, 1946.
- Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Tissier, The Riom trial, with a foreword by General Charles de Gaulle, London, G. G. Harrap, 1942.
- http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/info/historical/HistDocs.nsf/(LookupVolNoNumber)/3~249
