GAMELIN, Maurice (1872-1958), French general. He commanded t - Lot 136

GAMELIN, Maurice (1872-1958), French general. He commanded the French Army during the 1939-1940 war. Set of 5 documents: -M.A. entitled "Du Raisonnement dans les choses de la Guerre". S.l.n.d. 6 pp. in-folio. Erasures, additions and corrections. Very interesting reflections on military strategies. "The theory of war is not a science. Scientific reasoning is only possible if the same operation can be repeated indefinitely. No law can be drawn from the observation of facts unless the same phenomenon is repeated under the same conditions [ ]". Long reflections on the study of war, illustrated with examples: Rome, Carthage, Napoleon, Frederick the Great and contemporary history: the United States and Cuba, Japan and Korea, etc. -M.A. of a conference on the art of war. S.l.n.d. 2 pp. 1/2 in-folio. Study on the different schools of War. Gamelin details his various schools, then criticizes them to arrive at the contemporary school, to get to "the very essence of war, its philosophy". "Allow me, as if I were speaking ex cathedra, to begin with a quotation, not from scripture, but from Clausewitz [Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (1780-1831), Prussian general and military theorist] [ ]". -L.D.S. to Baron Benoist-Méchin with autograph compliment. Paris, March 25, 1938. 1 p. in-8. Retained envelope. Gamelin thanks Benoist-Méchin for sending his book "Histoire de l'Armée Allemande", with the edifying date of 1938. -L.D.S. to a lady with autograph compliment. S.l., February 20, 1940. 1 p. in-4. He receives "a magnificent consignment of cigarettes" which he will distribute "among the hospitals in the most advanced zone; they will bring a little sweetness to those who have already suffered more particularly for the great Cause we defend". -A period photographic portrait of General Gamelin, in civilian clothes. Folds. Approx. 24 x 18 cm.