Map of the 1918 German offensives on the Western Front from The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Ferdinand Foch. © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.

German Offensives

Of Mar. 21 (Picardy)

Of May 27 (Aisne-Marne)

Of July 15 (Champagne-Marne)

Of Apr. 9 (Flanders)

Of June 9 (Compiegne)

Front and situation of the German Armies March 20, 1918 (on the eve of the offensive)

Front at the end of the offensive

Scale of miles

Other views: Larger, Detail

Sunday, June 2, 1918

"(1) The line of conduct to be followed by the French Command is to stop the enemy's advance on Paris at all costs, especially in the region north of the Marne.

(2) The means consists in a foot-by-foot defence of the territory in this direction, pursued with the utmost energy.

(3) To accomplish this, it is essential that orders be drawn up prescribing exactly what the troops must do, and see that these orders are strictly carried out, by removing any commanding officer who shows signs of weakness.

(4) All the Allied troops are oriented in the same direction, and they will be put into the battle as resources in transportation become available."

Quotation Context

Note from Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch to French General Henri Philippe Pétain after their meeting of June 2, 1918, and after the German advance of the Aisne Offensive. Foch adds that he added item (4) 'in order to restore confidence,' and that he 'took important steps to carry out this promise.'

Source

The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, pp. 298–299, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931

Tags

1918-06-02, 1918, June