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Louis Félix Marie François Franchet d'Espèrey (25 May 1856 – 8 July 1942) was a French general during World War I.
Early life
He was born in Mostaganem in what is today Algeria, the son of an officer of cavalry in the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was educated at Saint-Cyr and graduated in 1876. He served in French Indochina, China (against the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 during which his cousin the German plenipotentiary Klemens von Ketteler was killed) and Morocco before 1914.
First World War
In 1914, Franchet d'Espèrey did well as a corps commander at the Battle of Charleroi, and as result he rose rapidly through the ranks during the war. On the eve of the First Battle of the Marne, Franchet d'Espèrey was given command of the French Fifth Army. By March 1916, Franchet d'Espérey was in command of the Eastern Army Group and by January 1917 the Northern Army Group. He was badly defeated by the Germans at the Battle of Chemin des Dames in May 1918. He was removed from the Western Front and appointed commander of the Allied armies at Salonika.
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Between September 15–29, 1918 General Franchet d'Espèrey, in command of a large army of Greeks (9 divisions), French (6 divisions), Serbians (6 divisions), British (4 divisions) and Italians (1 division) - staged a successful offensive in Macedonia that knocked Bulgaria out of the war. General Franchet d'Espèrey followed up this victory by overrunning much of the Balkans and by the war's end, his troops had penetrated well into Hungary.
During this final campaign, he was given the nickname "Desperate Frankie" by the British officers.
Post World War I career
After World War I ended, General Franchet d'Espèrey directed operations against the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.
He was made a marshal of France on February 19, 1921, and was given an honorary title of Vojvoda (equivalent of Field-Marshal) from the Serbs. He represented France at the coronation of Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa on 1 November 1930. He was elected to the Académie française on 15 November 1934.
Assessment
Franchet d'Espèrey had drive and great energy and his victories against Bulgaria and the remnants of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies were independent of the situation on the Western front, demonstrated by the fact that they came before the main assault on the Hindenberg Line and against a still capable army that offered strong resistance to the British and Greeks in the Battle of Doiran). As a consequence of his generalship Bulgaria signed armistice on 29. September thus becoming the first Central Power to sign an armistice. In terms of personality, he was vain and pompous, if able. In terms of politics, Franchet d'Espèrey was a nationalist Royalist whose loyalty to France outweighed his loyalty to the Bourbons. He died in Albi, France.
In the Serbian capital Belgrade, one boulevard has been named after him.
Decorations
- Légion d’honneur
- Knight (21 August 1886)
- Officer (29 December 1904)
- Commander (31 December 1912)
- Grand Officer (30 December 1914)
- Grand Cross (10 July 1917)
- Médaille militaire (1918)
- Croix de guerre 1914-1918 with 3 palms
- Médaille Interalliée de la Victoire
- Médaille Commémorative du Maroc
- Médaille Commémorative de la Grande Guerre
- Médaille Coloniale with bars "Tonkin" and "Maroc"
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