Alphonse Juin (16 December 1888-27 January 1967) was a general of France who fought in the Zaian War, World War I, the Rif War, and World War II, often commanding Moroccan troops. In 1952, he became a Marshal of France, but he was forced to retire by President Charles de Gaulle due to his opposition to North African independence.
Biography[]
Alphonse Juin was born on 16 December 1888 in Bone, French Algeria, and he graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1912. He served in Morocco in 1914 as a commander of North African troops, and he lost the use of his right arm during World War I. Juin would choose to return to North Africa after the war, fighting against Abd el-Krim's rebellion in the Rif War, and he took command of the 15th Motorized Division shortly before World War II. Juin was captured by the Germans in 1940 but released thanks to the intercession of the Vichy France authorities, but he refused the latters' offer of the post of war minister. He became the commander of their forces in North Africa but joined the Allies and led the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy in 1943. He then served in Western Europe. After the war, he turned down an offer to command French forces in French Indochina during the war with the Viet Minh, and he was strongly opposed to Charles de Gaulle's withdrawal from Algeria. He was placed under house arrest for his OAS sympathies, and he died in 1967.