| French Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 15th century – present |
| Country | France |
| Allegiance | France |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 144,486 civilian and military personnel |
| Part of | French Armed Forces |
| Nickname | La grande muette "The great mute one" |
| Motto | Honneur et Fidélité "Honour and Fidelity" |
| Engagements | Hundred Years' War Italian Wars Thirty Years' War War of the League of Augsburg War of the Spanish Succession War of the Polish Succession War of the Austrian Succession Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars Crimean War Franco-Austrian War Franco-Prussian War World War I World War II Colonial Wars Gulf War Kosovo War War in Afghanistan |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
General Bertrand Ract-Madoux |
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (English: Land Army), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Just like the Armée de l'Air, the Marine Nationale and the Gendarmerie Nationale it is placed under the responsibility of the French government. The current Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT) is general Bertrand Ract-Madoux.
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The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, was established under Charles VII of France. From 1792, the French Revolutionary Army fought the allies. Under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. In August 1914, the French Armed Forces numbered 1,300,000 soldiers. During the First World War the French Armed Forces reached a size of 8,300,000 soldiers, of which about 300,000 came from the colonies. During the war around 1,400,000 soldiers were killed. It was the most deadly conflict in French history. The main generals were: Joseph Joffre, Foch, Mangin, Degoutte, Philippe Pétain, Nivelle, Franchet d'Esperey, Raspail and Maurice Sarrail (See French Army in World War I).
At the beginning of the war, the French Army was wearing the uniform of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, but the uniform was maladopted to the trenches, and so in 1915 the Army replaced the uniform, with the Adrian helmet replacing the képi. A uniform with a capote, of bleu-horizon colour adopted to the trenches, was adopted, and the uniform for colonial soldiers coloured khaki.
At the beginning of the Second World War the Army deployed 2,240,000 combatants grouped into 94 divisions (of which 20 were active and 74 were reservists) from the Swiss border to the North Sea. These numbers were limited to 12% of the Wehrmacht forces, however, the Army of the Alps facing Italy and 600,000 men dispersed through the French colonial empire are not included in this figure. After 1945, despite enormous efforts in the First Indochina War of 1945–1954 and the Algerian War of 1954–62, both lands eventually left French control.
During the Cold War, the French Army, though not part of NATO's military command structure, planned for the defence of Western Europe.[1] In 1977 The French Army switched from multi-brigade divisions to smaller divisions of about four to five battalions/regiments each. After 1977, II Corps (France) was stationed in South Germany, and effectively formed a reserve for NATO's Central Army Group. In the 1980s, III Corps headquarters was moved to Lille and planning started for its use in support of NATO's Northern Army Group. The Rapid Action Force of five light divisions was also intended as a NATO reinforcement force. 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, was too ambitious. 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.[2] The plan was put into action from 1985, and brigades de zone, such as the 107th Brigade de Zone, were created. But with the putting-in-place of the "Réserves 2000" plan, the brigades de zone were finally disbanded by mid-1993.[3]
In February 1996 the President of the Republic decided on a transition to a professional service force, and as part of the resulting changes, ten regiments were dissolved in 1997.[4] The specialist brigades were transferred on 1 July 1997 to Lunéville for the engineers, Haguenau (the artillery brigade) and Strasbourg (engineers). The 2nd Armoured Division left Versailles on 1 September 1997 and was installed at Châlons-en-Champagne in place of the disbanding 10th Armoured Division. On 5 March 1998, in view of the ongoing structural adoptions of the French Army, the Minister of Defence decided to disband III Corps, and the dissolution became effective 1 July 1998. The headquarters transitioned to become Headquarters Commandement de la force d'action terrestre (CFAT) (the Land Forces Action Command).
During the late 1990s, during the professionalisation process, numbers dropped from the 1996 236,000 (132,000 conscripts) to around 140,000.[5] 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 1997–99. 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.
In 1999 the Army issued the Code of the French Soldier, which includes the injunctions:
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| “ | (...) 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. (...)[6] | ” |
The French Army employs 125,141 military and 19,345 civilian personnel for a combined component strength of 144,486 personnel in 2010 (this figure excludes French Foreign Legion).[7] All soldiers are considered professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997 and effective as of 2001.
Some major components of the French Army are the Armoured Cavalry Branch, Troupes de marine (Marines), and the elite force of Chasseurs Alpins.
The French Army Light Aviation was established on 22 November 1954 for observation, reconnaissance, assault and supply duties. It operates numerous helicopters in support of the French Army, its primary attack helicopter is the Eurocopter Tiger, of which 80 were ordered. For a complete list of aircraft see French Army Light Aviation.
The French Foreign Legion was established in 1831 for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is commanded by French officers. It is an elite military unit numbering around 7,000 troops. The Legion has gained world wide recognition for its service, most recently in operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2001.
Troupes de marine, also known simply as French Marines are the Marine Infantry of the French Army. They work closely with the Marine Nationale (French Navy) and as such are often deployed around the world, especially to Africa where the French Armed Forces maintain standing deployments.
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.[8]
In terms of Article R.3222-3 of the Code of Defence,[9] the Army comprises:
The Army is divided into Corps or armes. They include the Troupes de Marine, composed of Marine Infantry (Infanterie de Marine), which includes parachute regiments such as 1er RPIMa and light cavalry such as the RICM, Marine Artillery (Artillerie de Marine), the French Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère), the Armoured Cavalry Branch (Arme Blindée Cavalerie), the Artillery, the Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre (ALAT, which translates as Light Aviation of the Land Army), including combat helicopters; Military engineers (Génie Militaire); the Infantry, which includes the Chasseurs Alpins, specialist mountain infantry, Maintenance Matériel; Logistics (Train); Signals (Transmissions); and Commissariat (Commissariat de l'armée de terre).
The operational organisation of the Army combines units from various Corps in 17 Brigades under the Commandement des Forces Terrestres. In 2011 CFT directs the Corps de réaction rapide France, two Etat-Major des Forces (division-level headquarters), the 1st Mechanised Brigade, the 2nd Armoured Brigade, the 3rd Mechanised Brigade, the 6th Light Armoured Brigade, the 7th Armoured Brigade, the 9th Light Armoured Marine Brigade, the 11th Parachute Brigade and the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade.
For a complete list of equiptment of the French Army see Modern equipment and uniform of the French Army. Figures are provided by the French Ministry of Defense for September 2011.[11]
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