Pau, Paul ( Paul-Gerald-Marie-Cesar, fr. - Pau Paul Marie Cesar Gerald) - ( November 29, 1848 , Montelimar - August 22, 1932 , Paris ) - French general, representative of France to the Royal Headquarters during the First World War.
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Biography
Father - Vital Esprit Césaires Pau, captain of the 68th Infantry Regiment, mother - Louise Petronilla Eyma Alléaume (Louise Pétronille Eyma Alléaume).
He studied at the Saint-Cyr Military School ( 1869 ). He served in the infantry. He participated in the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871). On August 6, he was seriously injured in the general battle of Frentwiller. Lost the bottom of his right hand.
June 24, 1870 he became a holder of the Order of the Legion of Honor .
Brigadier General (12.07. 1897 ) and Division General (07.04. 1903 ) of the French Service. Since 1902, the commander of the 14th Infantry Division in Belfort.
The commander of the 16th Army Corps in Montpellier (June 24, 1906 - March 24, 1907 ) and the 20th Army Corps in Nancy (March 24, 1907 - 10.30. 1909 ). Member of the Supreme Military Council (10.30. 1909 - 11.29. 1913 ). In 1910, he was present at large German maneuvers, where he met with Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1911, he refused to be appointed as chief of staff of the army, partly because of his age.
On July 31, 1913, he delivered a big report in the Senate on the law, which extends the mandatory military service for three years. In the same year, unrest broke out in the barracks in protest against the law on three years. He attributed these disturbances to anti-militaristic propaganda. In the same year he was credited to the reserve.
July 10, 1913 received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. December 6, 1913 - Military Medal.
World War I
With the outbreak of World War I, a critical situation was created in the north of France. On August 8, 1914 , the President of the French Republic, Raymond Poincare, recorded:
General Joffre, in order to correct the critical situation, ordered the creation of a new army (Alsatian army) on August 10 and appointed General Poe as commander (10-28.08.1914). The Alsatian army consisted of 7 army corps, 44th infantry, 55th reserve, 8th cavalry divisions and 1st group of reserve divisions (58th, 63rd, 66th reserve divisions), in total the army numbered about 115,000 troops. On August 13, 1914 , Poincare made the following entry:
On August 16, General Poe launched a major offensive along the entire front in Alsace. On August 18, Poincare wrote:
Despite initial successes, General Poe's army was forced to retreat due to the defeats of the French armies in Lorraine. On August 28, Geoffres disbanded the Alsatian Army. General Poe was forced to resign. Part of the troops of the Alsatian army became part of the 1st Army. The bulk of the soldiers were sent north and became the core of the new 6th Army, which later took part in the first battle on the Marne .
The head of the French military mission in Belgium (05-16.10. 1914 ), during which he met in Ostend with King Albert I., the Belgian army had to occupy the territory between Calais and Saint-Omer, with headquarters in Boulogne, and act in accordance with guiding requirements of the French command.
From February to April 1915 he visited Serbia, Greece, Russia. He headed the French military mission at the Tsarist Headquarters in Russia (11.29.1915 - 09.13.1916).
Nicholas II in a letter from the Tsar’s Headquarters of January 4, 1916 to his wife Alexandra Fedorovna very kindly spoke about General Poe:
“The good old General Poe is a wonderful neighbor at the table; I like his simple, correct view of things and direct conversation” [5] .
Shortly after the Verdun operation began , on February 19 (March 3), the head of the French military mission in Russia, General Poe, sent Alekseev a lengthy letter in which he expressed the opinion of Joffre regarding Russia's role in this situation. The French believed that the attack on Verdun was the beginning of decisive enemy operations on their front. It was important that the Allies, by active actions on their fronts, fettered the enemy’s forces and deprived him of the freedom to maneuver. Of particular importance was the offensive on the Russian front. In a telegram to Joffre, which General Poe literally quoted in his letter, it was said: “ In anticipation of the development, which is now quite likely, of the German operations on our front and on the basis of the decisions of the meeting in Chantilly, I ask that the Russian army proceed immediately with preparations for the offensive stipulated by this meeting ” [6] . Thus, the French allies influenced the decision to launch an offensive much earlier than planned. This offensive began in March 1916 and went down in history under the name Naroch operation , which ended to no avail. with huge casualties for the Russian imperial army.
May 24, 1915, in connection with the entry into the war of Italy on the side of the Entente, went on a visit to the High Command of Italy. An extraordinary French military mission in Russia at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was led by General Janin. Later, General Poe improved his health in the Caucasus.
On August 13, 1916, Nicholas II wrote to the Empress from the Royal Headquarters:
"Old General Poe returned from the Caucasus - he has a good appearance, lean, with a beautiful gray beard. He is leaving today and hopes to have the good fortune to say goodbye to you!"
In connection with the appearance of Romania on the side of the Entente in August 1916, General Poe worked on the drafting of the Russian-Romanian agreement on military cooperation.
In 1917, General Poe served as army commander in Upper Alsace.
As part of the French mission, General Poe visited Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (07/13/1918 - 08/01/1919). After the war, General Poe was president of the French Red Cross Society.
Family
On August 7, 1884, he married Marie Henriette de Guntz, who worked as an inspector for military hospitals. Two sons were born in the marriage: Roland (Roland) and Marie-Edmée (Marie-Edmée).
Rewards
- Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor (06.24.1870)
- Legion of Honor officer
- Commander of the Legion of Honor
- Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
- Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor (07/10/1913)
- Military Medal (Médaille militaire, 12/6/1913)
- Commemorative Medal of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 (Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1870-1871)
- Commemorative Medal of the First World War (Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1914-1918)
- Military Cross 1914-1918 "(Croix de guerre 1914-1918) with palm trees
- Medal of Victory 1914-1918 "(Médaille de la Victoire)
- Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (01.03. 1915 , with swords)
- Order of St. 4th degree George [7] (05/11/1916)
- Honorary Cossack of the Kislovodsk stanitsa of the Kuban Cossack army (27.9. 1916 ).
Sources and Literature
- Russian State Historical Archive. F.496, op.1, d.873.
- Zalessky K. A. Who was who in the First World War. M., 2003 .-- P.485.
- Cavaliers of the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1725-1917). Bibliographic dictionary in three volumes. T.3. - M., 2009 .-- P.825.
- Poincare R. In the service of France 1914-1915. / In the service of France 1915-1916. - M .: ACT, Mn .: Harvest, 2002.
- Greenhalgh E. The French Army and the First World War . Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 (unspecified title) - 1924.
- ↑ 1 2 3 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 1038391857 // General regulatory control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ Léonore database - ministère de la Culture .
- ↑ Platonov O.A. Nicholas II in secret correspondence. - M.: Rodnik, 1996.
- ↑ The offensive of the South-Western Front in May - June 1916. Collection of documents. - M., 1940 .-- S. 56.
- ↑ Shabanov V.M. Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George . - M. , 2004.