General Joseph Joffre once said: “The safety of the country is at stake. . . . We must let ourselves be killed on the spot rather than retreat. . . . No faltering can be tolerated today”. Such gallant words are demonstrative of his strong persistence and drive. During World War I, Joseph led his troops with impressive, albeit questionable, leadership. His leadership ensured some victories on the Western front, a sure morale boost for the Allies. He made a remarkable impact on the outcome of the conflict due to his execution of the updated French war plan, leadership in the First Battle of the Marne, and leadership in other offensives. He was a man who dominated the field, and drastically impacted the war. Joseph Joffre consistently served…show more content… Plan XVII previously called for an invasion in which “French troops attack[ed] through Belgium”; however, it did not go as planned because Joffre was “unwilling to violate that nation’s neutrality” (Hickman). Respecting Belgian neutrality, Joffre did not want them embroiled in France’s conflict. Instead, he decided to send troops to “concentrate along the German border and mount attacks through the Ardennes and into Lorraine”: a two-pronged attack (Hickman). Reverence may have been one of Joffre’s strengths; however, Joffre was “not a man of enormous knowledge” (Stokesbury 31). Moreover, his ultimate blunder in his war plan was “thinking the Germans had far fewer troops than they were actually able to mobilize”. (Stokesbury 31). The success of the Allied forces was contingent on Germany “sending at least twenty divisions to the Eastern front as well as not immediately activating their reserves” (Hickman). Circumstances did not work out because “Belgian fortresses fell more quickly than expected” (Hickman). Consequently, the reformed French Plan XVII came toe-to-toe with the Schlieffen Plan, a German war plan that “was formulated in its essentials by 1895”, many years prior to the conflict (Stokesbury
