The Conseil supérieur de la guerre (CSG, Superior War Council) was the highest military body in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

under the Third Republic. It was under the presidency of the Minister of War, although vice presidents presided in his absence and took care of day-to-day activities. On 5 December 1889, a corresponding Conseil supérieur de la Marine (CSM) for naval affairs was created, and in April 1931 a Conseil supérieur de l'Air (CSA).Frédéric Guelton, "Les hautes instances de la Défense nationale sous la Troisième République", in Olivier Forcade, Eric Duhamel, Philippe Vial, eds., ''Militaires en République (1870–1962): les officiers, le pouvoir et la vie publique en France'' (Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999), pp. 58–59. The CSG was created by President

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...

by executive decree on 27 July 1872. It is not to be confused with the Conseil de Défense created on 29 June 1872, which was charged with planning the construction of fortifications and was composed solely of military officers. In 1888, the minister of war,

Charles de Freycinet Charles Louis de Saulces de Freycinet (; 14 November 1828 – 14 May 1923) was a French statesman and four times Prime Minister during the Third Republic. He also served an important term as Minister of War (1888–1893). He belonged to the Opp ...

, merged the Conseil de Défense into the CSG. The original CSG had twenty-two members both civilian and military. It was to restructure the army to accommodate the new recruitment law (''loi de recrutement''). It did not originally have anything to do with war plans, which were the responsibility of the Conseil de Défense. Prior to 1888, the CSG rarely met. In July 1888, the CSG was reconstituted by an executive decree that set out its various committees and their responsibilities. When the Chief of the General Staff of the Army (''Chef d'État-Major Général de l'Armée'') was created in May 1890, its holder became the only ''ex officio'' member of the CSG and in charge of war planning.Elizabeth Greenhalgh, ''The French Army and the First World War'' (Cambridge University Press, 2014), p. 12. The office of vice president was formalized in 1903, resulting in a power struggle between the vice presidents and the chiefs of staff. Finally in 1911, the offices were merged, so that the chief war planner in peacetime would also have operational command of the army upon mobilization. The first vice president with combined powers was

Joseph Joffre Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regroupi ...

, who also appointed a separate army chief of staff beneath him (

Auguste Dubail Augustin Yvon Edmond Dubail (15 April 1851 – 7 January 1934) was a French Army general. He commanded the First Army and Army Group East during World War I. Biography Augustin Dubail was born in Belfort on April 15, 1851. He graduated from ...

). This separate army chief of staff was suppressed in 1912. Following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(1914–18), the offices of vice president of the council and chief of the general staff were separated again by decrees of 23 January 1920 and 18 January 1922. In January 1935, the situation of 1911–12 was restored: an army chief of staff (''chef d'état-major de l'armée'') was appointed to act under the vice president of the council, who was also chief of the general staff.

List of vice presidents

* Félix Gustave Saussier (1889–1897) * Edouard Ferdinand Jamont (1898–1900) * Joseph Brugère (1900–1906) * Alexis Hagron (1906–1907) * Henry de Lacroix (1907–1909) * Charles Trémeau (1909–1910) *

Victor-Constant Michel Général Victor-Constant Michel (30 January 1850 – 8 November 1937) was a French General officer. He led the French Army in 1911, but following his opposition to the French strategy for war with Germany was replaced by General Joseph Joffre in J ...

(July 1910 – July 1911) *

(July 1911 – August 1914) *

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...

(1919–1920) *

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

(January 1920 – February 1931) *

Maxime Weygand Maxime Weygand (; 21 January 1867 – 28 January 1965) was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educated at the Saint-Cyr military academy in Paris. After graduating in 1 ...

(February 1931–1935) * Maurice Gamelin (1935–1940)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conseil superieur de la guerre French Army French military staff French Third Republic 1872 establishments in France 1940 disestablishments in France