Reservoirs of men -- Race and the deployment of troupes indigènes -- Hierarchies of rank, hierarchies of race -- Race and language in the army -- Religion and the "problem" of Islam in the French army -- Race, sex, and imperial anxieties -- Between subjects and citizens.
'Why,' the Kaiser enquired of Czar Nicholas in 1913, did he wish to ally himself with France when 'the Frenchman is no longer capable of being a soldier?' Indeed, during World War I (1914-1918) the French Army was in a state of disarray, plagued by indiscipline, mutinies and desertion. The ordinary French citizens that were called upon to defend their motherland, the Poilu, were disrespected and demoralized, and the infamous mutinies of 1917 by the Poilu were not protests against the war itself, but against how the war was conducted. The rebellions sent a stark warning, forcing a reform in the management of the war. Consequently, the performance of many French regiments improved and the Poilu went on to become the only European troops to fight the entire war within their own borders. Ian Sumner expertly charts the history of the Poilu, from the conscription of hundreds of thousands of men, through their training, to the horrors of the trenches and the fear of no-man's land, providing a fascinating insight into the events that led to the 1917 revolts. New artwork and diagrams illustrate the experiences of the soldiers as the comforts of civilian life were stripped away from them and the trenches became their homes.
A world-famous expert on the French military provides a major contribution to our understanding of World War I. He reveals why and how the French army fought as it did, with profiles of the senior commanders--Joffre, Ptain, Nivelle, and Foch--and analyzes the major campaigns on the Western Front, the Near East and Africa. There are details on the trenches, the makeup and performance of colonial armies, the mutinies of 1917, and how, ultimately, the wartime experience helped shape the nation.
Concluding his bestselling series on the French Foreign Legion, Martin Windrow explores the formation and development of the Legion during its 'first generation'. Raised in 1831, the Legion's formative years would see it fight continuous and savage campaigns in Algeria, aid the Spanish government in the Carlist War, join the British in the Crimean campaign and fight alongside the Swiss in the bloody battles of Magenta and Solferino. With the ever-changing combat environments they found themselves in, the Legion had to constantly adapt in order to survive. Taking advantage of the latest research, this lavishly illustrated study explores the evolution of the uniforms and kit of the French Foreign Legion, from their early campaigns in Algeria through to their iconic Battle of Camerone in Mexico and their role in the Franco-Prussian war.
This historical analysis of the ill-fated Franco-British operation reveals how it nearly spelled defeat for the Triple Entente in WWI. In December of 1916, General Robert Nivelle was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French armies fighting the Germans on the Western Front. A national hero, he had enjoyed a meteoric rise to high command and public acclaim since the beginning of the Great War. In return, he proclaimed he 'had the formula' that would ensure victory and end the conflict in 1917. But his offensive was a bloody and humiliating failure for France, one that could have opened the way for French defeat. Historian David Murphy presents a penetrating, in-depth analysis of The Nivelle Offensive, demonstrating why it failed and underscoring its importance in the course of the First World War. Murphy describes how the charismatic officer used his charm and intelligence to win the support of French and British politicians, but also how his vanity and braggadocio displayed no sense of operational security. By the opening of the campaign, his plan was an open secret and he had lost the ability to critically assess the operation as it developed. The result was disaster.
This work is a detailed account of the composition, structure and organization of the World War I German army. It contains over 150 pages of detailed orders-of-battle and extensive lists of regiments and brigades, and all arms-of-service from infantry to sanitary troops.
For many years serious students of the First World War have lacked a detailed English-language guide to the French Army. Apart from the British guide to the French army that was published in 1914, no such guide has been produced. In this, the first of two volumes, the authors seek to fill this gap through the provision of detailed information on the infantry and cavalry divisions of the French Army. The French Army expanded from 43 active infantry divisions, and 10 cavalry divisions, in 1914 to a total of 140 divisions of infantry, and to 12 of either mounted or dismounted cavalry. The vast majority of these formations served on the Western Front in defense of France itself. Coverage includes a listing of those divisions of the Allied armies, British, American and Italian, serving under French command at various times. For each division, the authors provide a full listing of all the constituent components, whether they were infantry, artillery, cavalry or engineers. This will enable readers to reconstruct the composition of each division on any given date. In addition to a list of commanders, a detailed narrative of its operational history is provided. This full treatment of the divisions is complemented by a series of detailed lists of all the metropolitan and colonial regiments from which the divisions drew their manpower. These lists cover infantry, artillery, cavalry and engineers. The large number of regiments raised and employed operationally precludes coverage as detailed as that provided for the divisions, nevertheless, a much useful data is provided.
The noted military historian presents an illuminating study of trench warfare during WWI—and how it influenced the French Army’s evolution. Michel Goya’s Flesh and Steel during the Great War is a major contribution to our understanding of the French Army’s experience on the Western Front, and how that experience impacted the future of its military theory and practice. Goya explores the way in which the senior commanders and ordinary soldiers responded to the extraordinary challenges posed by the mass industrial warfare of the early twentieth century. In 1914 the French army went to war with a flawed doctrine, brightly-colored uniforms and a dire shortage of modern, heavy artillery. How then, over four years of relentless, attritional warfare, did it become the great, industrialized army that emerged victorious in 1918? To show how this change occurred, the author examines the pre-war ethos and organization of the army. He describes in telling detail how, through a process of analysis and innovation, the French army underwent the deepest and fastest transformation in its history.
By 16 June 1940, De Gaulle, with the decisive support of Churchill, had come to the conclusion that, whatever happened, France could not stand to one side in the struggle against Nazi Germany. And so, Free France was born. In this companion volume to MAA 315: The French Army 1939-45 (I) , Ian Sumner and François Vauvillier examine the history, uniforms and insignia of the Free French, Fighting French and the Army of Liberation.