Peshkov enlisted on August 31, 1914 as EVDG (an acronym for “voluntary enlisted for the duration of the war”) in the marching battalion of the
1st Foreign Regiment. Peshkov was given the rank of 1st class on October 21, 1914, and named corporal on April 1, 1915. In May 1915, during combat with his division before
Arras, he was seriously wounded. During the capture of
Carency, a bullet shattered his left arm while he was leading his soldiers, resulting in its amputation. He then retired from service, and returned to Italy. On June 22, 1916, Peshkov enlisted again for the duration of the war with the grade of 2nd class. He was attached to the 20th section of the military staff.
Aristide Briand, a French statesman, sent Zinovy to the French Ambassador,
Jusserand, with the grade of temporary 3rd class interpreter (lieutenant), for the duration of his mission. At the end of nine months, Peshkov returned to Paris. Peshkov was promoted to Captain on May 13, 1917. He was present for the
October Revolution, and was promoted temporarily to head of a
battalion for the duration of his mission from December 9, 1918. From 1918 he worked with
Grigory Semyonov's anti-Bolshevik army in the far east of Russia and afterwards was part of
Alexander Kolchak's
White government at
Omsk. In 1920 he went to
Pyotr Wrangel's forces in Crimea, and accompanied this army
into exile. Afterwards, Peshkov returned to Italy. In May 1922, he was put at the disposal of
Marshall Lyautey, commander of the troops in
Morocco, to be attached to the staff of
Meknes. He was then transferred to the 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment on February 17, 1923, where he commanded the 12th company. In June 1925, his left leg was injured during an attack at
Bab Taza, “for the sake of symmetry” he quipped, showing the right sleeve of his uniform, useless for the past ten years. He stayed at the French embassy in the United States from 1926 to 1929, but met with Gorky During holidays. He met his second wife, Jacqueline Delaunay-Belleville, the widow of a diplomat, but this marriage was quickly dissolved. He was positioned in
North Africa, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Foreign Regiment. Peshkov joined General
Charles de Gaulle in London after hearing his speech, the
Appeal of 18 June. At the end of 1941, de Gaulle promoted him to the rank of
colonel and sent him on a mission to
South Africa, where he organized the transport of arms for
Allied troops. Zinovy then arranged to be sent to
French West Africa, where he organized the rallying of the colonies. ==Diplomatic career==