Forest of Compiègne

Coordinates: 49°22′48″N 2°53′00″E / 49.38003°N 2.8834°E / 49.38003; 2.8834
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Forest of Compiègne
National Forests Office (France)
Ecology
Dominant tree speciesOak, Beech

The Forest of Compiègne (French: Forêt de Compiègne, French pronunciation: [fɔʁɛ də kɔ̃pjɛɲ]) is a large forest in the region of Picardy, France, near the city of Compiègne and approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Paris.[1]

The forest is notable as the site of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 between the Allies and Germany which marked the end of fighting in World War I, as well as the Armistice of 22 June 1940 after the Battle of France in World War II.

Geography

The forest of Compiègne is roughly circular with a diameter of about 14 kilometres (9 mi);[2] it is approximately 93 kilometres (58 mi) in circumference[3] and its area is roughly 14,414 hectares (35,620 acres).[4] The forest is lushly irrigated, being adjacent to the rivers Oise and Aisne, as well as many smaller tributaries and streams.[5]: 749 

On its northwest, the forest hugs its small namesake city, and to its north and northeast, beyond the Aisne, lies the large national forest of Laigue (Forêt Domaniale de Laigue). Around its remaining perimeter, it contains or is adjacent to numerous communes including Vieux-Moulin, Lacroix-Saint-Ouen, Saint-Sauveur, Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, Saint-Jean-aux-Bois, and Pierrefonds.[6] On its south it borders the Forest of Halatte.

Just outside the city of Compiègne, a grand entrance to the forest begins at the resplendent Château de Compiègne, a former royal residence on the city's western edge. Stretching forward from the château, the Avenue de Beaux Monts scales the heights of the same name, providing a scenic promenade into the woods.[7]: 101 

Characteristics

Signpost in the Compiègne forest
Avenue de Beaux Monts, the promenade into the forest from the Château de Compiègne

The forest of Compiègne is famous for its picturesque natural attractions, with its arrays of oak and beech trees projecting a "noble and ordered beauty".[5]: 749 

The most prominent tree species are oak (Quercus robur), beech (Fagus sylvatica) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus).[8][9]: 776  Much of the oak was heavily harvested over the centuries but was replanted aggressively in the nineteenth century when fears of deforestation began to be addressed.[10] Since the late twentieth century, the North American black cherry tree (Prunus serotina) has spread vigorously throughout the forest, eliciting mixed reactions from local arborists.[11]

Numerous flowering plants thrive in the woods,

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis).[12]: 92  Small lakes, ponds, brooks and springs abound throughout the forest,[5]: 749  including the Spring of Saint-Sauveur,[13]: 131  which is actually a pair of therapeutic mineral water springs running both hot and cold.[14]

The forest sustains a great number of game animals including deer, rabbit and wild boar,

kings of France.[7]: 101  Some 350 roads and pathways cross it[3] adding up to over six hundred miles of trail[15] with stately vintage signposts marking most of the intersections.[2] The oldest ones include a small red mark which shows the direction to the château, relics of an imperial order given during the Second French Empire after the Empress Eugénie found herself lost in the thick woods.[2]

The forest of Compiègne is a popular destination for all types of tourists. Horse-riders and bicyclists particularly enjoy the forest;[16] a long-running bicycle event, the Paris-Roubaix race,[17] has an established path through the forest.[18]

History

Prehistoric and classical eras

The forest of Compiègne area shows evidence of prehistoric habitation,

Chaussée Brunehaut.[21] During the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar won a decisive victory in the forest, defeating one of the larger tribes of north-eastern Gaul, the Bellovaci.[22] A multitude of the forest's classical-era artifacts are on display at the Château's museum.[23]

Early Middle Ages

The earliest Frankish kings established the forest as their privileged hunting grounds,

Clothaire the Great built the first royal residence there in the 7th century,[21]: 357–358  and there he died of a fever.[24] The small palace, fitted cozily among the trees, was named Cusia and for some time thereafter the forest itself went by the name Forêt de Cuise[21]: 357–358  that is memorialized in the village of Cuise-la-Motte that lies to the east of the forest boundaries. A battle between the Merovingian-era kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria took place in the forest in the year 715.[21]
: 358 

Later Middle Ages

As Empress Eugénie's signposts attest, the thick and heavy forest can be a disorienting and potentially fatal place. In the twelfth century, at the age of fourteen, the future King

St. Thomas of Canterbury in England to offer thanks for his recovery.[7]: 98  In the sixteenth century, King Francis I commanded the construction of eight hard-surfaced roads through the forest, all of which converge on a single point called the King's Well (Puits du Roi).[21]
: 358 

Early modern era

Napoleon I
at his sport.

Further avenues connected by an octagonal ring were opened through the woods for the formal hunting parties of

Louis XIV, and under the Ancien Régime the number of rides was increased to 200. Napoleon opened the avenue of Beaux-Monts (illustration).[25] Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the lush woodlands provided lumber for a thriving woodworking community around Compiègne.[26] One of the most popular products supplied by the forest was beech oil, used for cooking and folk medicines: it was bottled in prodigious quantities and sold worldwide from Compiègne through the 19th century, until its marketshare was supplanted by newer, more refined oils.[27]

Second Empire

The forest of Compiègne witnessed much activity during the reign of the

Grand Veneur to oversee it.[29] The Emperor had a deep affection for the forest and frequently organized his hunting parties at the King's Well.[30]: 321  In addition to hunting parties and competitions, the forest of Compiègne was the scene of extravagant receptions, parties and even theatrical performances.[19]

Armistices of 1918 and 1940

The forest of Compiègne was the site of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany which marked the end of fighting in World War I on 11 November 1918.[31] The French commander-in-chief Marshal Foch convened the armistice talks deep in the forest beside the tiny village of Rethondes,[32]: 261  with an eye towards secrecy because he wanted to shield the meeting from intrusive journalists,[33] as well as spare the German delegation any hostile demonstrations by French locals.[34]

During World War II, a second treaty was signed in the forest, this time arranging the Armistice between France and Nazi Germany (22 June 1940).[35] With an unmistakable desire to humiliate his defeated enemy,[34] German dictator Adolf Hitler gave orders that the surrender should be received in exactly the same spot, even the same railway car, where the Germans had surrendered in 1918.[34]

  • Images of the armistices
  • Ferdinand Foch outside the armistice train.
    Ferdinand Foch outside the armistice train.
  • The Great War concludes, 11 November 1918.
    The Great War concludes, 11 November 1918.
  • Hitler observing the statue of Marshal Foch, before launching the negotiations, 21 June 1940.
    Hitler observing the statue of Marshal Foch, before launching the negotiations, 21 June 1940.
  • The second Treaty of Compiègne, 22 June 1940.
    The second Treaty of Compiègne, 22 June 1940.

Armistice Clearing

Main article: Glade of the Armistice

A memorial site called Clairière de l'Armistice ("Glade of the Armistice", or "Armistice Clearing") covers the historic treaty area. Additions include a statue of Marshal Foch and the large

Alsace-Lorraine Memorial, which depicts an Allied sword pinning down an Imperial German eagle. A famous memorial tablet placed at the precise location of the cease-fire signing reads (in French), "Here on the eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German Reich... vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave."[36]: 50  The original tablet was destroyed by the Nazis, but a new one was emplaced after the war.[37]

For bringing the German delegation to the 1918 meeting, the French had assembled the train with a special

fall of France in World War Two, this same railway carriage was specifically used by the Germans for the armistice of 1940; it was remanded to Germany where it was eventually destroyed by SS troops in Crawinkel, Thuringia, in 1945, and the remains were buried.[15] In 1950, a faithful replica of this original railcar was installed at the site.[38] Decades later, some vestiges of the original car were discovered in Germany and returned to France: the pieces were added to the memorial display in 1995.[38]

The Armistice Clearing remains open to the public six days a week.[38] Visitors routinely leave photographs and other mementos to be displayed or stored in the museum, making it "an ever-changing place of pilgrimage".[15]

A memorial slab marks the location of the original railcar at Armistice Clearing.

References

  1. ^ https://www.oisetourisme.com/la-foret-de-compiegne</ref[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Compiègne Forest". Office de Tourisme de Pierrefonds. 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-548-07018-5
    . Retrieved 2010-12-30. Compiègne Forest history.
  4. OCLC 3794852
    . Retrieved 2011-01-04. Compiègne Forest.
  5. ^
    OCLC 447927755
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  6. ^ "Compiègne Forest". Google Maps. 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  7. ^
    OCLC 1737047
    . Retrieved 2011-01-04. Battle of Compiègne +forest.
  8. ^ New York Times current history: the European war, Volume 16. New York: The New York Times Co. 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  9. ^ Dana, Samuel T. (November 1914). "French Forests in the War Zone". American Forestry. 20 (11). American Forestry Association. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  10. ISBN 978-1-84593-564-1
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  11. ISBN 2-8317-0602-5
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  12. OCLC 476229043
    . Retrieved 2010-12-30. flora of Compiègne Forest.
  13. ISBN 0-691-08661-3
    . Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  14. OCLC 68605315
    . Retrieved 2011-01-03. spring of Saint-Sauveur Oise.
  15. ^ a b c d Sciolino, Elaine (2 November 2008). "North of Paris, a Forest of History and Fantasy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  16. ^ "The city and forest of Compiegne near Paris". Paris Digest. 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  17. ISBN 0-02-862929-9
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  18. ^ "Foret de Compiegne and Foret de Laigue". Sheldrake Press. Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
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  22. JSTOR 1781759
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  23. OCLC 220274784
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  24. ^ Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum i, book IV.
  25. ^ René Gast, La Picardie (Itinéraires de découvertes, éditions Ouest-France), 2003:111.
  26. OCLC 220404996
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  27. ^ '"Beech and Linden Oils". Chemist and Druggist. 45. London: 145. July–December 1894. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  28. OCLC 46309553
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  29. ^ "Compiègne Forest". Fondation Napoléon. 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  30. OCLC 912797
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  31. ISBN 0-7570-0158-0
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  32. ISBN 0-521-77352-0
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  33. ^
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  34. ^
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  37. ^ Friedrich, Otto (4 September 1989). "Desperate Years". Time. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  38. ^
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