General Trochu
| Louis Jules Trochu | |
|---|---|
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| Interim French Head of State 26th Prime Minister of France |
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In office 4 September 1870 – 13 February 1871 |
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| Preceded by |
Emperor Napoleon III (Head of State) |
| Succeeded by |
Adolphe Thiers (President of France) Jules Dufaure (Chief of Government) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 March 1815 Le Palais, France |
| Died | 7 October 1896 (aged 81) Tours, France |
| Nationality | French |
Emperor Napoleon III (Head of State)
Louis Jules Trochu (French pronunciation: [lwi ʒyl tʁɔʃy]; 12 March 1815 – 7 October 1896) was a French military leader and politician. He served as President of the Government of National Defense—France's de facto head of state—from 4 September 1870 until his resignation on 22 January 1871 (although he retained the role symbolically until the legislative elections of February 1871).
Trochu was born at Le Palais (Belle-Île-en-Mer). Educated at St. Cyr, he received a commission in the Staff Corps in 1837, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1840, and captain in 1843. He served as a captain in Algeria under Marshal Bugeaud, who, in recognition of his gallantry in the battles of Sidi Yussuf and Isly, made him his aide-de-camp and entrusted him with important commissions. He was promoted to major in 1845, and to colonel in 1853. He served with distinction throughout the Crimean campaign, first as aide-de-camp to Marshal St. Arnaud, and then as general of brigade, and was made a commander of the Légion d'honneur and general of division. He again distinguished himself in command of a division in the Italian campaign of 1859, where he won the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur.
In 1866 Trochu was employed at the ministry of war in the preparation of army reorganization schemes, and he published anonymously in the following year L'Armée française en 1867, a work inspired with Orleanist sentiment, which ran through ten editions in a few months and reached a twentieth in 1870. This brochure brought him into bad odour at court, and he left the war office on half-pay and was refused a command in the field at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. After the earlier disasters in 1870, he was appointed by the emperor first commandant of the troops of Châlons camp, and soon afterwards (17 August) governor of Paris and commander-in-chief of all the forces destined for the defence of the capital, including some 120,000 regular troops, 80,000 mobiles, and 330,000 National Guards.
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