French Military Leader. He served as the Marshal of France and Commander of Allied forces during the closing months, March to November of 1918, of World War I. While some critics considered him reckless, he ended the war. On November 11, 1918, Foch accepted the German request for an armistice, but later stated the Treaty of Versailles was weak. Born into a devoted Roman Catholic family, who had many military officers, he attended school in Tarbes, Rodez, Polignan and at the Jesuit Collège Saint-Michel in Saint-Étienne before attending the Jesuit Collège Saint-Clément in Metz. At the dawn of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the 19-year-old Foch enlisted in the French 4th Infantry Regiment. Although he did not take part in combat, he remained in the army after the war eventually becoming a career military officer. In 1871, he entered the École Polytechnique, choosing the school of artillery. In 1873 with a shortage of officers, he received his commission, before finishing his class, as an artillery officer, serving as a lieutenant in the 24th Artillery Regiment in Tarbes. In 1876, he attended the cavalry school of Saumur to train as a mounted artillery officer. On September 30, 1878, he became a captain and arrived in Paris on September 23, 1879 as an assistant in the Central Personnel Service Depot of the artillery. Continuing to climb the ranks, he attended École Supérieure de Guerre where he was later an instructor from 1895 to 1901. He was later the head of the French War College in 1907 and published two documents on battle. He was a colonel by 1903 and by August 6, 1918 he was the Marshal of France. At the dawn of World War I, he was in command of XX Corps, part of the Second Army of General de Castelnau. After the war, he received many honors including being made a British Field Marshal in 1919. For his advice during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920, as well as his pressure on Germany during the Greater Poland Uprising, he was awarded the title of Marshal of Poland in March of 1923. A statue of Foch was erected at the Compiègne Armistice site when the area was converted into a national memorial. In Paris, he has a bronze equestrian statue as well as one in Lower Grosvenor Gardens in London. He was buried near Napoleon under the dome of the Church of Saint-Louis, in the Invalides in Paris. Some historians claim him as the most accomplished general of the 20th century.