Paul Marie Cesar Gerald Pau, (29 November 1848,

Montélimar Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; la, Acumum) is a town in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in north Provence, Southeastern France. It is the second-largest city in the department after Valence. In 2018 ...

– 2 January 1932) was a French soldier and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

who served in the Franco-Prussian War and in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He took part in the Franco-Prussian War, suffering the loss of his lower right arm. By 1903, he had reached the rank of General, but he retired from active service in 1911. He was offered the position of Army Chief of Staff by War Minister

Adolphe Messimy Adolphe Marie Messimy (31 January 1869 – 1 September 1935) was a French politician and general. He served as Minister of War in 1911–12 and then again for a few months during July Crisis, the outbreak of and first three weeks of the First Wor ...

, but was removed from consideration due to his anti-republican political views and his insistence on the authority to personally nominate generals for high commands. The position instead passed to

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 would become the French commander-in-chief during

. When war broke out in 1914, General Joffre recalled Pau from retirement to command the Army of Alsace to participate in the attacks towards Alsace called for by

Plan XVII Plan XVII () was the name of a "scheme of mobilization and concentration" that was adopted by the French (the peacetime title of the French ) from 1912 to 1914, to be put into effect by the French Army in the event of war between France and Ger ...

. The Army of Alsace contained VII Corps (which had taken but failed to hold Mulhouse between 7 and 10 August), 44th Division, the 55th Reserve Division, the 8th Cavalry Division and the 1st Group of Reserve Divisions (58th, 63rd and 66th Reserve divisions). Although initially successful, Pau was forced to withdraw after the defeat of the First Army at Morhange-Sarrebourg. When it was clear to Joffre that French hopes for a quick victory in Alsace had faded and that France now faced the real possibility of quick defeat (caused by the

Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on 4 ...

), Pau's army was broken up and sent north to join Maunoury's Sixth Army in time to participate in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

. After this, Pau was not given another field command. After serving in the French Supreme War Council, he was sent in January 1916 as French representative to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n high command, known as the

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff, a ...

. Pau also toured

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

between September 1918 and January 1919 with the French Mission on a post-war diplomatic visit. While in

a kauri, ''

Agathis australis ''Agathis australis'', commonly known by its Māori name kauri (), is a coniferous tree in the family ''Araucariaceae'', found north of 38°S in the northern regions of New Zealand's North Island. It is the largest (by volume) but not t ...

'', was named the 'General Pau' in his honor. He died in Paris in 1932.

References

1848 births 1932 deaths People from Montélimar French generals French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War {{France-mil-bio-stub