Édouard Castelnau

Castelnau, Édouard

 

(Viscount de Curières). Born Dec. 24, 1851, in St. Affrique; died Mar. 18, 1944, in Montastruc-la-Conseillèra, Haute-Garonne. French general.

Castelnau participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. He became first deputy to the chief of the General Staff in 1911. Appointed to the Supreme War Council in 1913, Castelnau assisted in the formulation of a plan for the strategic deployment of a war against Germany. During World War I (1914–18) he commanded an army and an army group in France. From December 1915 to the middle of 1916, he was the chief of staff to the commander in chief of the French armies, J. Joffre. From 1919 to 1923, Castelnau served as a deputy to the French National Assembly and the chairman of a military committee.