The rank of marshal goes back to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the King's horses. In the 1300s, a distinction began to be drawn between "court marshals" and "military marshals". In 1560, France established the title Marshal of France (Maréchal de France), and by the time of the Thirty Years War, most Continental armies had a field marshal or two. Great Britain was a relative latecomer; the Duke of Argyll became her first field marshal in 1736.
As the highest rank, answerable only to the nation's ruler, appointments have often been made as much for political as for military purposes, and not infrequently as a way to publicly reward a successful general.
The field marshal's special symbol was a baton, famously mentioned by Napoleon: "Every French soldier carries a marshal's baton in his knapsack". The Marshals of France (Maréchaux de France) carried blue batons with gold fleurs-de-lis engraved with the motto "Decus pacis, terror belli ("The symbol of peace, the terror of war"). Hermann Göring, as "Reichsmarschall" of Nazi Germany, also carried a baton.
With no medieval tradition to preserve, and a persistent aversion to anything that smacked of aristocracy, the United States never created the rank. However, this became a problem for the Allies in World War II, when Dwight Eisenhower, a mere General, was chosen to be the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and was thus in a position to give orders to field marshals, who technically outranked him. The solution was to create the rank of General of the Army, wearing five stars, and equivalent to field marshal. (An alternate story holds that George C. Marshall did not want to be called "Marshal Marshall".)
At the beginning of the 21st century, with military forces shrinking worldwide, there remain few field marshals to be seen anywhere. Although traditionally the British monarch is a field marshal, Queen Elizabeth II does not hold that rank (although she has since 1964 been the Lord High Admiral), and the Prince of Wales has indicated an unwillingness to be the only five-star officer of the military; the Duke of Edinburgh is one of the few Field Marshals of the British Army remaining.
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Notable Marshals
As a surname
See also
