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

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

under the Third Republic. It was under the presidency of the

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, 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 who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...

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, 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 (World War I), Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 19 ...

, who also appointed a separate army chief of staff beneath him ( Auguste Dubail). This separate army chief of staff was suppressed in 1912. Following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(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 Henri Joseph Brugère (Uzerche, 27 June 1841 – Lautaret, 31 August 1918) was a French divisional general. Career On 4 October 1914, German attacks by the II Cavalry Corps (General Georg von der Marwitz) and the XIV Reserve Corps drove the ...

(1900–1906) * Alexis Hagron (1906–1907) * Henry de Lacroix (1907–1909) * Charles Trémeau (1909–1910) * Victor-Constant Michel (July 1910 – July 1911) *

(July 1911 – August 1914) *

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general, Marshal of France and a member of the Académie Française and French Academy of Sciences, Académie des Sciences. He distinguished himself as Supreme Allied Commander ...

(1919–1920) *

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

(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, as well as a high ranking member of the Vichy France, Vichy regime. Born in Belgium, Weygand was raised in France and educate ...

(February 1931–1935) *

Maurice Gamelin Maurice Gustave Gamelin (; 20 September 1872 – 18 April 1958) was a French general. He is remembered for his disastrous command (until 17 May 1940) of the French military during the Battle of France in World War II and his steadfast defence of ...

(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