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This powerful force was tasked with what the French referred to as "pacification." Starting July 27, 1914, the French Resident-General in Morocco , General Lyautey , received orders from War Minister Messimy to send some of his troops to Europe, particularly the best infantry units ( Zouaves , Foreign Legion , colonial infantry , etc.), leaving ...
French infantry pushing through enemy barbed wire, 1915. During World War I, France was one of the Triple Entente powers allied against the Central Powers.Although fighting occurred worldwide, the bulk of the French Army's operations occurred in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Alsace-Lorraine along what came to be known as the Western Front, which consisted mainly of trench warfare.
The precise meaning of the terms "colonial troops", "colonial army", marine troops or "troops of the French colonies" has changed several times since the 18th century: During the 18th and early 19th centuries "marine infantry" was the title used to identify French troops stationed permanently in France's various overseas territories.
The French Eighth and Tenth Armies originally constituted the French forces involved in the occupation. The Eighth Army was commanded by General Augustin Gérard and occupied the Palatinate . The Tenth Army was commanded by General Charles Mangin and was responsible for the rest of the French zone from its headquarters in Mainz .
Les Armées françaises dans la Grande guerre [French Armies in the Great War] (in French). Vol. X-2 : Ordres de bataille des grandes unités : divisions d'infanterie, divisions de cavalerie. Paris: Impr. nationale. 1924.
Map of the first (green) and second (blue) French colonial empires. The history of French colonial imperialism can be divided in two major eras: the first from the early 17th century to the middle of the 18th century, and the second from the early 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonies throughout its history, the second most colonies in the world behind only the British Empire. [1]
Following the Vietnamese victory at Điện Biên Phủ and the signing of the 1954 Geneva Accords, France agreed to withdraw its forces from all its colonies in French Indochina, while stipulating that Vietnam would be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel, with control of the north given to the Soviet-backed Viet Minh as the Democratic ...