The Great War
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Select the portrait to enlarge it.Photo: Auguste Léon, Public domain

France

Maurice Sarrail

1856–1929 Commander, Allied Army of the Orient (Salonika), 1915–1917

Born in Carcassonne, Maurice Sarrail graduated from Saint-Cyr and rose through the infantry; his friendships among left-wing politicians helped his career. He commanded VI Corps in August 1914, then took over Third Army, which held the Verdun sector during the Battle of the Marne. Joffre removed him from that command in 1915 after growing friction. In autumn 1915 he took command of the Allied force at Salonika (Thessaloniki), too late to prevent the overrunning of Serbia, and later became its commander-in-chief. His forces took Monastir (Bitola) in November 1916, but his offensives did not prevent the Central Powers' conquest of Romania. Dismissed in December 1917, he served from 1924 as high commissioner in Syria and was recalled in 1925 after the shelling of Damascus. He died on 23 March 1929.

In the chronicle

Sources

Sources

Wikidata Q176522