World War I French Military Officer. Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre was the commander of the French armies on the Western Front during World War I until 1916. After ruining the German's hopes for a swift victory on the Western Front, he was praised as "the Victor of Marn." Having several unsuccessful battle moves, he was promoted to Marshal of France, which was an advisory role instead of direct field command. At that point, he quickly resigned on December 26, 1916. As a young student, he graduated from the College of Perpignan with high honors in mathematics. After entering as the youngest student enrolled, he started his studies at École Polytechnique in 1869. With the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, his classes were dismissed and he became an army officer. During the Siege of Paris, from September of 1870 to January of 1871, he saw military action on the battle field. After the war, he resumed his education. With the death of his first wife, he requested deployment to Indochina. He spent much of his early military career in the colonies as an engineer, serving for 3 years as chief of engineers at Hanoi. He was transferred to Madagascar in 1897 and constructed the naval base of Diégo-Suarez. He was subsequently made colonel. He did see some action during conflicts in North Africa and dealing with China before returning to France. Being promoted regularly, he was placed in command of the 19th Cavalry Brigade in 1903; moved to the War Ministry in Paris as Director of Engineers in 1904; and promoted to Général de division, which was the highest rank in the French Army at the time in 1905. Subsequently he commanded the 6th Infantry Division and served as Inspector of Military Schools. He commanded the 2nd Army Corps from 1908 until 1910 when he was appointed to the Conseil supérieur de la guerre. In 1911, the army staff was reorganized and without any compelling leadership experience, he was appointed as a French General, the Commander-In-Chief of The French Army. Although he was due to be replaced in 1914, World War I started, leaving him in command during wartime. He fought to stop German progression and maintain the war effort in France, but failed with a high casualty rate. Besides being at war with Germany, he was under attack from political and parliamentary forces as well as his own generals, who thought with a defensive mind instead of an offensive mind. He often had poor communications between him and the troops. After his resignation, he was given a diplomatic mission to the United States, while General Robert Nivelle became the commander of the French armies on the Western Front with little success and was replaced within five months. In December of 1918 he was elected to the French Academy and retired from the military. Even after the end of the war, he remained a very popular figure and led the victory parade of July 14, 1919 on the Champs Élysées. His two-volume "Mémoires" was published in 1932. He married three times and had a son during his first marriage.