Rarely has an author had such a destiny; when he writes The principles of war (1903) and then The conduct of war (1904), Ferdinand Foch taught at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre, where he taught a new way of combining analysis and preparation for action, the latter being the most complex of all: waging war.
While we know that the principles he put forward are enduring - and that they will still be relevant to our armies in 2024 - the future Marshal has also been much criticised for being a man of his time. But to reduce him to a tactician obscures Foch's ability to rise to the strategic level, at the intersection of political ends and military means.
With Martin Motte, a former student of the ENS Ulm and Director of Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, we will look back at Foch, the professor of energy who inspired de Gaulle, Churchill, Eisenhower and Patton.
A replay of this strategic debate is available on our Youtube channel:
