born Sept. 20, 1872, Paris, France
died April 18, 1958, Paris
French army commander.
He entered the army in 1893 and rose to division command in World War I and army chief of staff in 1931. He supported the defensive strategy based on the Maginot Line and, as commander of Allied forces when World War II broke out, took no offensive action during the Phony War . Surprised by the German assault in the Ardennes (May 1940), he was dismissed and replaced by Maxime Weygand , but France collapsed the next month. He was tried by the Vichy government and interned in Germany in 194345.