While we have been making changes at the Admiralty, the
French, but with a bolder hand, have been altering their high military commands. At the French Cabinet Council on Tuesday General Petain, who was lately made Chief of the Staff, was appointed Commander-in-Chief, while General Nivollo was appointed com- mander of an Army group and General Foch Chief of the General Staff. The causes, or alleged causes, of these changes will not be discussed by us. It is sufficient to say that the French Army and also the French Government regard General Petain with a most complete confidence. He is somewhat brusque, with, it is said, no great love for politicians, or at any rate with a whole-hearted desire to speak home truths to them. That in itself is good, and he has behind him the splendid record of Verdun. It will be remembered that he took over the defence of Verdun in the darkest hour. It is interesting to think that General Petain, like our own General Robertson, was a Staff College professor.
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