The future General early showed a deep interest in mathematics and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science at the College of Perpignan at the early age of 16. He was a student at the Polytechnic Institute when the Franco-German War of 1870 broke out. Joffre was placed in charge of a large part of the defense of Paris and drew the plans of the fortifications in the direction of Enghein. At the age of 19 he was promoted to Captaincy in the presence of Marshal MacMahon and his whole staff.
Marshal Joffre traveled much and spent a great many years fighting France's colonial wars. He served in the Formosa campaign of 1885; constructed a chain of forts at Tonkin, Cochin-China; was decorated for distinguished bravery in leading his troops in action there in the eighties; was Chief Engineer of the Engineering Corps at Hanoi, and undertook the building of a railroad from Senegal to the Niger River in 1892.
Joffre fought through the Dahomey Campaign in 1893; saved the day for the French in a brilliant rear-guard action and entered Timbuctoo as a conqueror. Later he proceeded to Madagascar, where he constructed fortifications and organized a naval station.
Recalled to France, General Joffre became a Professor in the War College and obtained his stars in 1901. He later entered the Engineering Department of the War Ministry; then became Military Governor of Lille. Later he was promoted to be a Division Commander in Paris and then commander of the Second Army Corps at Amiens. He gained the honor in 1911 of a unanimous vote of the Superior Council of War making him Commander of all the military forces of France.
A FAMOUS WAR RECORD.
His record in the World War is well known. Every one has read of his masterly conduct of the retreat from the Belgian border; of his work in regrouping the shattered and retiring French forces; of his ringing appeal to the men to strike back at the moment he had determined upon. At the Marne he saved France and perhaps the world.
Joffre is unsympathetic and grim when at work. He has no patience for anything but the highest efficiency. At a single stroke he cashiered a score of Generals who did not measure up to his standards. He is a master builder, organizer and strategist. Though rather taciturn he is loved both by the officers and poilus. Among the latter he became known as "Papa" Joffre.
He showed by his appointments and acts that a new inspiration—an inspiration of patriotism—controlled the Republic. Joffre's accession to supreme command symbolized that France had experienced a new birth, that the army was well organized and that the man who for three years had been silently performing the regeneration of the land forces had rightly been placed over the forces he had reformed.
Almost unknown to the masses, Joffre was placed at the head of the French troops in the summer of 1914. Among his associates he was known as an authority on aeroplanes, automobiles, telegraphs and the other details of modern warfare. Above everything else he stood for efficiency and preparedness, and lacked the qualities of the French soldier of literature. To be prepared for instant war had been his effort for three years, and when that time came France found herself nearly as well prepared for the conflict as was Germany, which had prepared for twenty-five years.