Editing Philippe Pétain (section)

===End of World War I===
[[File:Foch Pershing Petain and Haig.jpg|thumb|Pétain, [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Haig]], [[Foch]] and [[John Pershing|Pershing]] in 1918]]

The year 1918 saw major German offensives on the Western Front. The first of these, [[Operation Michael]] in March 1918, threatened to split the British and French forces apart, and, after Pétain had threatened to retreat on Paris, the Doullens Conference was called. Just prior to the main meeting, Prime Minister [[Georges Clemenceau|Clemenceau]] claimed he heard Pétain say ''"les Allemands battront les Anglais en rase campagne, après quoi ils nous battront aussi"'' ("the Germans will beat the English (sic) in open country, then they'll beat us as well"). He reported this conversation to President [[Raymond Poincaré]], adding "surely a general should not speak or think like that?" [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Haig]] recorded that Pétain had "a terrible look. He had the appearance of a commander who had lost his nerve". Pétain believed – wrongly – that [[Hubert Gough|Gough]]'s [[Fifth Army (United Kingdom)|Fifth Army]] had been routed like the Italians at [[Battle of Caporetto|Caporetto]].{{sfn|Farrar-Hockley|1975|pp=301–302}} At the Conference, [[Ferdinand Foch]] was appointed as Allied [[Generalissimo]], initially with powers to co-ordinate and deploy Allied reserves where he saw fit. Pétain eventually came to the aid of the British and secured the front with forty French divisions.

Pétain proved a capable opponent of the Germans both in defence and through counter-attack. The third offensive, "Blücher", in May 1918, saw major German advances on the [[Aisne (river)|Aisne]], as the French Army commander (Humbert) ignored Pétain's instructions to [[defence in depth|defend in depth]] and instead allowed his men to be hit by the initial massive German bombardment. By the time of the last German offensives, Gneisenau and the [[Second Battle of the Marne]], Pétain was able to defend in depth and launch counter offensives, with the new French tanks and the assistance of the Americans. Later in the year, Pétain was stripped of his right of direct appeal to the French government and requested to report to Foch, who increasingly assumed the co-ordination and ultimately the command of the Allied offensives.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|On the day of the armistice]], Pétain wanted to continue offensive operations into Germany to prevent another war but was overruled by Foch.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-15 |title=Hero of Verdun: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hero-of-verdun-marshal-henri-philippe-petain/ |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=Warfare History Network |language=en-US}}</ref>
After the war ended Pétain was made [[Marshal of France]] on 21 November 1918.<ref>Tucker, S. C. (2009) ''A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East'', ABC-CLIO, California, p. 1738.</ref>