From Foch's brilliant staff officer to a general of defeat and accommodation
On 12 June 1940, Weygand advised the French government to capitulate.
Maxime Weygand was a French general who served as Ferdinand Foch's key staff officer in the First World War, coordinating Allied operations and reading the armistice terms to the German delegation in 1918. Between the wars he carried French military influence in Poland and the Levant, then became commander-in-chief of the French armies in May 1940 and, after the German breakthrough, judged that continued fighting in metropolitan France was no longer feasible and advised an armistice. He joined the Vichy government and later directed French North Africa, choosing limited accommodation with Germany while enforcing antisemitic measures harshly. Detained after the war on treason charges and cleared in 1948, he later defended Marshal Pétain's memory.
Career Timeline
- 1885–1888Studied at Saint-Cyr and the Saumur Cavalry School
- 1914–1918Chief of staff to Foch and senior staff officer at Allied Supreme Headquarters
- 1918Read the armistice terms at the Compiègne negotiations
- 1920Military adviser to the Inter-Allied Mission in Poland
- 1923–1924High Commissioner of the Levant
- 1931–1935Vice-president of France's Superior War Council and Inspector-General of the Army
- 1940.05–06Commander-in-chief of the French armies; advised an armistice
- 1940.06–1941.11Vichy Minister for Defence and Delegate-General in North Africa
- 1942–1945Held by Germany, including internment at Itter Castle
- 1948Cleared of treason charges