French Army
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The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (French: Armée de terre, lit. 'Army of Land'), is the principal land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, French Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie.[3] The Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT), who is subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA), who commands active service Army units and in turn is responsible to the President of France.[4] CEMAT is also directly responsible to the Ministry of the Armed Forces for administration, preparation, and equipment.
The French Army, following the
According to British historian Niall Ferguson, out of all recorded conflicts which occurred since the year 387 BC, France has fought in 168 of them, won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10; this makes France the most successful military power in European history in terms of number of fought and won.[5][anachronism]
History
Early history
The
Meanwhile, the bulk of infantry was still provided by urban or provincial militias, which were raised from an area or city to fight locally and that were named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually, the units became more permanent, and in the late 15th century, Swiss instructors were recruited, and some of the 'Bandes' (Militia) were combined to form temporary 'Legions' of up to 9000 men. The men would be paid, contracted to fight and receive military training.
Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so be called after the region in which they were raised or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. When Louis XIII
In 1684, there was a major reorganisation of the French infantry and another in 1701 to fit in with
Wars of the Coalition
The
From 1792, the Revolutionary Army fought against a combination of European powers in the French Revolutionary Wars, with the state directing most of its industry and population to war efforts, marking the start of modern conscription in the world,[8] it also allowed more flexible military strategies, setting way for Napoleonic warfare. Moreover, many noble officers were retired, decreasing stratification and increasing military specialism. These, and the extreme investments into war efforts allowed France to begin a steady advance into Europe.
Under
In 1812, Napoleon invaded the
After Napoleon's abdication and return, halted by an Anglo-Dutch and Prussian alliance at Waterloo, the French army was placed back under the restored Bourbon Monarchy. The structure remained largely unchanged and many officers of the Empire retained their positions.[9]
The 19th century
The Bourbon restoration was a time of political instability with the country constantly on the verge of political violence.[7] The army was committed to the restoration of Spanish monarchial absolutism in 1824. It achieved its aims in six months, but did not fully withdraw until 1828. By comparison with the earlier Napoleonic invasion, this expedition was rapid and successful.
Taking advantage of the weakness of the local
The news of the fall of Algiers had barely reached Paris in 1830 when the Bourbon Monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the constitutional Orleans Monarchy. During the July 1830 revolution, the Paris mobs proved too much for the troops of the Maison du Roi and the main body of the French Army, sympathetic to the crowds, did not become heavily involved.
In 1848 a wave of revolutions swept Europe and brought an end to the French monarchy. The army was largely uninvolved in the street fighting in Paris which overthrew the King but later in the year troops were used in the suppression of the more radical elements of the new Republic which led to the election of Napoleon's nephew as president.
The Pope had been forced out of Rome as part of the Revolutions of 1848, and Louis Napoleon sent a 14,000 man expeditionary force of troops to the Papal State under General Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot to restore him. In late April 1849, it was defeated and pushed back from Rome by Giuseppi Garibaldi's volunteer corps, but then recovered and recaptured Rome.
The French army was among the first in the world to be issued with Minié rifles, just in time for the Crimean War against Russia, allied with Britain. This invention gave line infantry a weapon with a much longer range and greater accuracy and would lead to new flexible tactics. The French army was more experienced at mass manoeuvre and war fighting than the British and the reputation of the French army was greatly enhanced.
A series of colonial expeditions followed and in 1856 France joined the Second Opium War on the British side against China; obtaining concessions. French troops were deployed into Italy against the Austrians, the first use of railways for mass movement.
The French army was now considered to be an example to others and military missions to
France was humiliated following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and while the Army had far superior infantry weapons in the form of the Chassepot and Mitrailleuse, its tactics and artillery were inferior, and by allowing the Prussian Army to take the initiative, the French Army was rapidly bottled up into its fortress towns and defeated. The loss of prestige within the army lead to a great emphasis on aggression and close quarter tactics.
The World Wars
In August 1914, following the outbreak of the Great War, the French Armed Forces numbered some 1,300,000 soldiers, and in total the French Army would call up 8,817,000 men, including 900,000 colonial troops, by the end of the war; this resulted in around 1,397,000 French soldiers killed in action, mostly on the Western Front. French soldiers, at the beginning of the war, still wore the colourful uniforms of the Franco-Prussian War, with this conspicuous dress proving unsuited to the trenches and, accordingly, by 1915 the mostly blue and red peacetime uniforms had been replaced by bleu-horizon (light blue-grey), with the Adrian helmet in place of the kepi. The traditional capote of the French infantry continued to be worn in the trenches but in bleu-horizon. Colonial and North African soldiers adopted khaki uniforms.[7]
The Cold War
After 1945, despite enormous efforts in the
The Army created two parachute divisions in 1956, the
During the
In the 1970s–1980s, two light armoured divisions were planned to be formed from school staffs (the 12th and 14th). The 12th Light Armoured Division (12 DLB) was to have its headquarters to be formed on the basis of the staff of the
In the late 1970s an attempt was made to form 14 reserve light infantry divisions, but this plan, which included the recreation of the 109th Infantry Division [fr], was too ambitious. The planned divisions included the 102nd, 104e, 107e, 108e, 109e, 110e, 111e, 112e, 114e, 115th, and 127th Infantry Divisions. From June 1984, the French Army reserve consisted of 22 military divisions, administering all reserve units in a certain area, seven brigades de zone de defence, 22 regiments interarmees divisionnaires, and the 152nd Infantry Division, defending the ICBM launch sites.[18] The plan was put into action from 1985, and brigades de zone, such as the 107th Brigade de Zone, were created.[19] But with the putting-in-place of the "Réserves 2000" plan, the brigades de zone were finally disbanded by mid-1993.[a] 1st Army Corps was disbanded on 1 July 1990; 2nd Army Corps in August 1993.
Decolonisation
At the end of the
The Army saw maintaining control of Algeria as a high priority. By this time, one million French settlers had established themselves, alongside an indigenous population of nine million. When it decided that politicians were about to sell them out and give independence to Algeria, the Army engineered a military coup that toppled the civilian government and put General de Gaulle back in power in the
The Army repressed the Malagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from a low of 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000.[24]
Recent history (1996–present)
In February 1996, President
During the late 1990s, during the professionalisation process, numbers dropped from the 236,000 (132,000 conscripts) in 1996 to around 140,000.[26] By June 1999, the Army's strength had dropped to 186,000, including around 70,000 conscripts. 38 of 129 regiments were planned to be stood down from 1997 to 1999. The previous structure's nine 'small' divisions and sundry separate combat and combat support brigades were replaced by nine combat and four combat support brigades. The Rapid Action Force, a corps of five small rapid-intervention divisions formed in 1983, was also disbanded, though several of its divisions were re-subordinated.
Organisation
French Army |
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Components |
Administration |
Chief of Army Staff |
Equipment |
Modern Equipment |
Personnel |
History |
Military history of France |
Awards |
The organisation of the army is fixed by Chapter 2 of Title II of Book II of the Third Part of the Code of Defense, notably resulting in the codification of Decree 2000-559 of 21 June 2000.[30]
In terms of Article R.3222-3 of the Code of Defence,[31] the Army comprises:
- The Army Chief of Staff (Chef d'état-major de l'armée de Terre (CEMAT)).
- The army staff (l'état-major de l'armée de Terre or EMAT), which gives general direction and management of all the components;
- The Army Inspectorate (l'inspection de l'armée de Terre);
- The Army Human Resources Directorate (la direction des ressources humaines de l'armée de Terre or DRHAT);
- The forces;
- A territorial organisation (seven regions, see below)
- The services;
- The personnel training and military higher training organisms.
The French Army was reorganized in 2016. The new organisation consists of two combined divisions (carrying the heritage of 1st Armored and 3rd Armored divisions) and given three combat brigades to supervise each. There is also the Franco-German Brigade. The 4th Airmobile Brigade was reformed to direct the three combat helicopter regiments. There are also several division-level (niveau divisionnaire) specialized commands including Intelligence, Information and communication systems, Maintenance, Logistics, Special Forces, Army Light Aviation, Foreign Legion, National Territory, Training.
Arms and Formations
- Special Forces
- Airborne Units
- Infantry (Infanterie)
- Armoured Cavalry (Arme blindée cavalerie)
- Artillery (Artillerie)
- Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère)
- Troupes de Marine
- French Army Light Aviation (Aviation légére de l'armée de terre, ALAT)
- Engineers (Génie)
- Paris Fire Brigade (brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
- Signal Corps (Transmissions)
- Transport and logistics (Train)
- Matériel (Supply)
- Intelligence (Renseignement)
Administrative services
On the administrative side, there are now no more than one Direction and two services.
The Army Human Resources Directorate (DRHAT) manages human resources (military and civilian) of the Army and training.
The two Services are the service of ground equipment, and the integrated structure of operational maintenance of terrestrial materials (SIMMT, former DCMAT). This joint oriented service is responsible for project management support for all land equipment of the French army. The holding-operational equipment the Army is headed by the Service de maintenance industrielle terrestre (SMITer).
Historically there were other services of the Army who were all grouped together with their counterparts in other components to form joint agencies serving the entire French Armed Forces.
After the health service and the fuel service were both replaced respectively by the
- In 2005, the Army historical service (SHAT) became the "Land" department of the Defence Historical Service (Service historique de la défense);
- In September 2005, the Central Engineering Directorate (Direction centrale du génie, DCG) was merged with its counterparts in the air force and the navy to form the Central Directorate of Defense Infrastructure (Direction centrale du service d'infrastructure de la défense);
- On 1 January 2006, the Central Directorate of Telecommunications and Informatics (DCTEI) was incorporated into the Central Directorate of the Joint Directorate of Infrastructure Networks and Information Systems (DIRISI);
The Army Commissariat was dissolved on 31 December 2009 and intégrated into the joint-service Service du commissariat des armées.
There is the
Military regions
On 24 July 1873, the French Parliament passed a law which created 18 military regions in metropolitan France.[32] A 19th Army Corps was created in Algeria in September 1873 (see Région militaire [fr]). In 1905, the strength of the Troupes coloniales stationed in the 19 military districts of metropolitan France was reported at 2,123 officers and 26,581 other ranks.[33] In 1946, following the Second World War ten military regions were created or recreated, in accordance with a decree of 18 February 1946. They included the 1st (Paris); 2e (Lille); 3e (Rennes); 4e (Bordeaux); 5e (Toulouse); 6e (Metz); 7e (Dijon); 8th (Lyon); the 9th (Marseille), and the 10th in Algeria. The 10th Military Region (France) supervised French Algeria during the Algerian War.[34]
The Défense opérationnelle du territoire supervised reserve and home defence activities from 1959[35] to the 1970s.[36] However, by the 1980s the number had been reduced to six: the 1st Military Region (France) with its headquarters in Paris, the 2nd Military Region (France) at Lille, the 3rd Military Region (France) at Rennes, the 4th Military Region (France) at Bordeaux, the 5th at Lyons and 6th at Metz.[37] Each supervised up to five division militaire territoriale – military administrative sub-divisions, in 1984 sometimes supervising up to three reserve regiments each. Today, under the latest thorough reform of the French security and defence sector, there are seven Zone de défense et de sécurité [fr] each with a territorial ground army region: Paris (or Île-de-France, HQ in Paris), Nord (HQ in Lille), Ouest (HQ in Rennes), Sud-Ouest (HQ in Bordeaux), Sud (HQ in Marseille), Sud-Est (HQ in Lyon), Est (HQ in Strasbourg).[38]
Personnel
Strength
Personnel strength of the French Army 2022 | ||
Category | Strength | |
---|---|---|
Commissioned officers | 14,155 | |
Non-commissioned officers | 38,684 | |
EVAT | 61,372 | |
VDAT | 466 | |
Civilian employees | 8,119 | |
Source:[39] |
As of 2020[update], the French Army employed 118,600 personnel; this includes the French Foreign Legion and Paris Fire Brigade. In addition, the reserves of the French Army consist of 22,750 personnel.[1]
Contracts
Enlistment contracts for French army soldiers can range from a one to a five-year contract, which are all renewable. Meanwhile,
All Career officers serve on permanent contracts, with direct entry cadets with two years of
Contract officers serve on renewable contracts for a maximum of 20 years service. A bachelor's degree is required. There are two different programs, combat officers and specialist officers. Officers in both programs graduate as
Women
Civilian women were hired by the French army in the First World War, thereby opening new opportunities for them, forcing a redefinition of military identity, and revealing the strength of anti-Republicanism within the Army. Officers by the 1920s accepted women as part of their institution.[40]
Code
In 1999, the Army issued the Code of the French Soldier, which includes the injunctions:
Mastering his own strength, he respects his opponent and is careful to spare civilians. He obeys orders while respecting laws, customs of war and international conventions. (...) He is aware of global societies and respects their differences.[b]
Equipment
Uniforms
In the 1970s, France adopted a light beige dress uniform which is worn with coloured kepis, sashes, fringed epaulettes, fourragères and other traditional items on appropriate occasions. The most commonly worn parade dress, however, consists of camouflage uniforms worn with the dress items noted above. The camouflage pattern, officially called Camouflage Centre Europe (CE), draws heavily on the colouration incorporated into the US M81 woodland pattern, but with a thicker and heavier striping. A desert version called the Camouflage Daguet has been worn since the Gulf War which consists of large irregular areas of chestnut brown and light grey on a sand khaki base.
The legionnaires of the Foreign Legion wear white kepis, blue sashes, and green and red epaulettes as dress uniform, while the Troupes de marine wear blue and red kepis and yellow epaulettes. The pioneers of the Foreign Legion wear the basic legionnaire uniform but with leather aprons and gloves. The Chasseurs Alpins wear a large beret, known as the "tarte" (the pie) with dark blue or white mountain outfits. The Spahis retain the long white cloak or "burnous" of the regiment's origin as North African cavalry.
The military cadets of
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Ceremonial parade for the commemoration of 8 May 1945
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Members of 21e RIMA in parade formation
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Officers during military parade on the Champs-Élysées, Paris
See also
- Grand Quartier Général
- National Office for Veterans and Victims of War
- List of military weapons of France
References
Notes
- ^ In 1986, the 109th Infantry Division was restructured into the 109th Brigade de Zone. In 1992, as part of the " Armée 2000 " plan, the brigade became the 109th brigade régionale de défense (109th Regional Defence Brigade).
- ^ Original French: Maître de sa force, il respecte l'adversaire et veille à épargner les populations. Il obéit aux ordres, dans le respect des lois, des coutumes de la guerre et des conventions internationales. (...) Il est ouvert sur le monde et la société, et en respecte les différences. : "Le code du soldat". Archived from the original on 22 June 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
Citations
- ^ a b "Armée de terre – Ministère de Armées". www.defense.gouv.fr. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Peacekeeping in between the Blue Line
- ^ "www.defense.gouv". www.defense.gouv.fr. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Armée de terre". www.defense.gouv.fr. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ Ferguson 2001, pp. 25–27.
- ^ Dupuy 1993.
- ^ a b c de la Gorce 1963.
- ^ "Levee en masse | Definition, Significance, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Pichichero 2018.
- ^ Quid, ed. 2001, p.690, see also 'France, Soldiers, and Africa.'
- ^ Jacques Marseille, " L'Empire ", dans La France des années noires, tome 1, Éd. du Seuil, rééd coll. " Points-Histoire ", 2000, p.282.
- ^ Clayton 1988, p. 189.
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 106.
- ^ Clayton 1988, p. 190.
- ^ Collectif, Histoire des parachutistes français, Société de Production Littéraire, 1975, 544.
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 105-108.
- ^ Colonel Lamontagne G, CD Archived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 2013.
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 111, 162.
- ^ "Les brigades de zone".
- ^ Alistair Horne, The French Army and Politics, 1870–1970 (1984).
- ^ J.F.V. Keiger, France and the World since 1870 (Arnold, 2001) p 207.
- ^ Horne, Alistair (1977). A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. New York: The Viking Press. p. 26.
- ^ Martin Evans, "From colonialism to post-colonialism: the French empire since Napoleon." in Martin S. Alexander, ed., French History since Napoleon (1999) pp 410–11
- ^ Clayton 1994, p. 85.
- III Corps (France)article for reference.
- ^ Jane's Defence Weekly 31 July 1996 and 13 March 1996, International Defence Review July 1998
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- ^ "Suspect in hit-and-run on French soldiers unknown to spy agencies: source". Business Insider. Reuters. 10 August 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ Patel-Carstairs, Sunita (9 August 2017). "Man held after terror attack on French soldiers". Sky News. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ "Version du décret avant abrogation" (in French). Legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ^ CDEF(R), no. R3222-3 Code de la défense, art. R.3222-3
- ^ Musee du Genie, "Le redressement militaire de la France 1871–1914 Cette évocation s’appuie sur les collections du musée du Génie."
- ^ "L'Armée Coloniale Française.". Les armées du XXe Siècle, supplement illustré (in French). Paris: Le Petit Journal Militaire, Maritime, Colonial. 1905. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - ^ Charles R. Shrader, The First Helicopter War: Logistics and Mobility in Algeria, 1954–1962, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, 28–31.
- ^ Bizard, Alain. "La Défense opérationnelle du Territoire (DOT" (PDF).
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 162.
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 131–133.
- ^ Code de la défense – Article R1211-4 legifrance.gouv.fr
- ^ "www.defense.gouv.fr". www.defense.gouv.fr. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Andrew Orr, "'Trop nombreuses à surveiller': Les femmes, le professionnalisme et l'antirépublicanisme dans l'armée française, 1914–1928" French Historical Studies (2016) 39#2 pp 287–313.
- ^ Galliac 2012, p. 44.
- ^ Galliac 2012, pp. 92–93.
Bibliography
- Clayton, Anthony (1988). France, Soldiers, and Africa. Brassey's Defence Publishers.
- Clayton, Anthony (1994). The Wars of French Decolonization.
- de la Gorce, Paul-Marie (1963). The French Army: A Military-Political History.
- Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). Harper Encyclopaedia of Military History.
- Ferguson, Niall (2001). The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700–2000. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- Galliac, Paul (2012). L' Armee Francaise. Histoire & Collections. ISBN 978-2-35250-195-4.
- IISS (2020). The Military Balance 2020. Routledge. ISBN 978-0367466398.
- Isby, David C.; Kamps, Charles T. (1985). Armies of NATO's Central Front. London: ISBN 0-7106-0341-X.
- Pichichero, Christy (2018). The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon.
Further reading
- Blaufarb, Rafe (2021). The French army 1750–1820: Careers, talent, merit. Manchester University Press.
- Clayton, Anthony (2013). Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914.
- Elting, John R. (1988). Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grande Armée.
- Horne, Alistair (1984). The French Army and Politics: 1870–1970.
- Lewis, J. A. C. (19 June 2002). "Going Pro: Special Report French Army". Jane's Information Group. pp. 54–59.
- Lynn, John A. (1997). Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610–1715.
- Lynn, John A. (1999). The Wars of Louis XIV.
- Nolan, Cathal (2008). Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) - Nolan, Cathal (2006). The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000–1650.
- Pengelley, Rupert. "French Army transforms to meet challenges of multirole future", Jane's International Defence Review, June 2006, 44–53
- Pichichero, Christy. The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon (2018) online review
- Porch, Douglas. The March to the Marne: The French Army 1871–1914 (2003)
- Vernet, Jacques. Le réarmement et la réorganisation de l'armée de Terre française, 1943–1946 (Service historique de l'armée de Terre, 1980).
External links
- (In French) Official website
- French Military Reform: Lessons for America's Army?, George A. Bloch (includes explanations of the structure of command)
- The French Army: Royal, Revolutionary and Imperial
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