Galliffet, Gaston Alexandre Auguste, marquis de

Galliffet, Gaston Alexandre Auguste, marquis de (gästôN' äleksäN'dru ōgüst' märkē' du gälēfā') [key], 1830–1909, French general. He served in the Crimean War, in colonial campaigns, in the Mexican expedition, and in the Franco-Prussian War. His cruel suppression of the Commune of Paris in 1871 won him a reputation as a strong man and the enduring enmity of the political left. He later reorganized the French cavalry. As minister of war (1899–1900) in the crucial period of the Dreyfus Affair, Galliffet restored peace and order in the army.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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