Maurice César Joseph Pellé (18 April 1863 – 16 March 1924) was a French
général de division
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...
, leader of the
French Military Mission to Czechoslovakia
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and first
Chief of staff of
Czechoslovak Army from February 1919 to January 1921.
Early life and education
He was born on 18 April 1863 to Charles Henri Joseph Pellé, French artillery officer and later general, and his wife Céline Virginie Aimée Augustine Pellé (née Bruneau). He studied at Douai lycée, from October 1882 to July 1884 at
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
and to July 1885 at
École d'application de l'artillerie. In 1888–1889 he studied at
École d'application de Cavallerie.
Military career
In September 1885 he was assigned to 12th Artillery Regiment as a platoon commander. In December 1888 he became an instructor at École d'application de l'artillerie. In November 1891 he was appointed to 11th Artillery Regiment as a first officer and in April 1892 to 16th Artillery Regiment as a deputy commander.
Between 1900 and 1903, he was chief of staff of Colonel
Joffre in Madagascar.
As a Colonel, Pellé was the French military attaché in Berlin, in the service of Ambassador
Jules Cambon
Jules-Martin Cambon (5 April 1845 – 19 September 1935) was a French diplomat and brother to Paul Cambon. As the ambassador to Germany (1907–1914) he worked hard to secure a friendly détente. He was frustrated by French leaders such as Raym ...
between 1909 and 1912. In this period he met many German personalities and became an expert on the German Empire.
In 1913, he was transferred to Morocco, as chief of staff to General
Hubert Lyautey
Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early in ...
.
At the outbreak of World War I, he commanded the 2nd Moroccan Brigade, but was right away called by Joffre to serve in the Bureau for External Theatres of War of the
Grand Quartier Général.
In December 1916 he was placed at the head of the 153rd Infantry Division with which he distinguished himself at the
Second Battle of the Aisne. Promoted to ''Général de division'' on 2 May 1917, he took command of the
5th Army Corps (France)
The 5th Army Corps was a military unit of the French Army which fought in the Franco-Prussian War and both World War
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is ...
until January 1919. With this corps he participated in the
German spring offensive and
Hundred Days Offensive (Noyon, Marne and Argonne).
Czechoslovakia and Constantinople
After the war he was leader of the French Military Mission to Czechoslovakia and one of the fathers and first
Chief of staff of the new
Czechoslovak Army.
In 1921, he becomes French High Commissioner for the Orient and Ambassador in Constantinople. He signed the
Armistice of Mudanya
The Armistice of Mudanya (in Turkish: ''Mudanya Mütarekesi'') was an agreement between Turkey (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) on the one hand, and Italy, France, and Britain on the other hand, signed in the Ottoman town of Mudanya, in t ...
for France and was leader of the French delegation at the
Conference of Lausanne, which led to the
Treaty of Lausanne signed on 24 July 1923, which defined the borders of the modern Turkish Republic.
He died the next year, only 60 years old.
He is buried in the
Batignolles Cemetery
The Batignolles Cemetery (french: Cimetière des Batignolles) is a cemetery in Paris.
History
Batignolles Cemetery opened on 22 August 1833. Part of the cemetery had to be closed and the graves moved because of the construction of the great ring ...
in Paris.
Decorations
Awarded by Belgium:
:
Order of Leopold (Grand Officer)
:
Order of the Crown (Grand Officer)
:
Croix de guerre
Awarded by Czechoslovakia:
:
Order of the White Lion
The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...
(Grand Cross)
:
War Cross 1918
Awarded by France:
:
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
(Grand Cross)
:
Croix de guerre 1914–1918
Croix (French for "cross") may refer to:
Belgium
* Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut
France
* Croix, Nord, in the Nord department
* Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...
(thrice)
:
Ordre des Palmes Académiques
A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
(Officer)
Awarded by Italy:
:
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Grand Officer)
Awarded by Japan:
:
Order of the Rising Sun (2nd Class)
Awarded by Marocco:
:
Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(2nd Class)
Awarded by Persia:
:
Order of the Lion and the Sun
The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun ( Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extended to Iranians) who had rendered disting ...
(1st Class)
Awarded by Romania:
:
Order of the Star of Romania (Grand Cross)
Awarded by Russia:
:
Order of St. Anna
The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...
(1st Class)
Awarded by Serbia:
:
Order of the White Eagle (2nd Class)
Awarded by Spain:
:
Order of Military Merit (2nd Class)
Awarded by Tunisia:
:
Order of Glory
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
(5th Class)
Awarded by United Kingdom:
:
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
(Knight Commander)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelle, Maurice
French generals
1863 births
1924 deaths
People from Douai
Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni
École Polytechnique alumni
French military personnel of World War I
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)
Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Grand Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania
Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Chiefs of the General Staff (Czechoslovakia)
Recipients of the Order of the White Lion
French military attachés
Burials at Batignolles Cemetery