Victor-François, 2nd duke de Broglie

Victor-François, 2nd duke de Broglie (born Oct. 19, 1718—died March 30, 1814, Münster, Westphalia [Germany]) was a marshal of France under Louis XV and Louis XVI, who became one of the émigrés during the French Revolution.

He served with his father, the first duke, in Italy and took part, during the War of the Austrian Succession, in the storming of Prague (1741) and in the campaigns on the Rhine (1744–45) and in the Netherlands (1747). During the Seven Years’ War, his victory over Ferdinand of Brunswick at Bergen (near Frankfurt) in 1759 won him the rank of marshal of France from Louis XV and that of prince of the Holy Roman Empire from the emperor Francis I. Early in July 1789, Louis XVI put him in command of the troops gathered around Versailles with a view to checking the disorders that were to develop into the Revolution and made him minister of war. This attempt was short-lived, and within a few days Broglie had to emigrate.