Joseph Joffre was France’s most senior officers in World War One. It was Joffre who replaced the popular Pétain during the Battle of Verdun in 1916.
While in North Africa, he won distinction in 1894 when, as a lieutenant-colonel, he led a column of men across the North African desert to capture Timbuktu. Between 1904 and 1906, he furthered his career by showing exceptional organisational skills as Director of Engineers. In 1911, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff which meant that he was the senior officer in the French Army when World War One broke out in August 1914. By this time, Joffre had gained a reputation as a man who favoured an offensive rather than a defensive strategy. He had weeded out senior officers in the French Army who he believed were defensively minded and replaced them with like-minded men.Joffre was born in 1852 at Rivesaltes in the eastern Pyrenees.
