Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau
French general / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Noël Édouard, vicomte de Curières de Castelnau (24 December 1851 – 19 March 1944) was a French army general, army group commander and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces during the First World War. Elected deputy in 1919 and president of the Army Commission in the legislature, he then took the head of a confessional political movement, the Fédération Nationale Catholique. During the Second World War, he opposed Marshal Pétain and the Vichy regime and supported the French Resistance. For a long time controversial because of a Catholicism that was considered outrageous by his opponents, historians[1] have moderated that portrait by emphasising his great loyalty to republican institutions and disputed in particular that he could have been reactionary or anti-Semitic.
Noël Édouard, Vicomte de Curières de Castelnau | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | the fighting friar |
Born | 24 December 1851 Saint-Affrique, Second French Empire |
Died | 19 March 1944 (aged 92) Montastruc-la-Conseillère, German-occupied France |
Allegiance | France |
Service/ | French Army |
Years of service | 1870–1919 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | II Army Army Group Centre Chief of the General Staff |
Battles/wars | Franco-Prussian War World War I Battle of the Trouée de Charmes Battle of Grand Couronné Battle of Verdun |
Awards | Grand-croix de la Légion d'honneur Médaille militaire Croix de guerre 1914-1918 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order |