1.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
2.
French Army
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The French Army, officially the Land Army is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army is General Jean-Pierre Bosser, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997, as of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel. In addition, the element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years War and these units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies dordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century, stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also made for Francs-archers units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes. The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in 1480s Swiss instructors were recruited and these men would be paid and contracted and receive training. Henry II further regularised the French army by forming standing Infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure, the first of these the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne were called the Les Vieux Corps. It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the Kings own Household Troops the Maison du Roi being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so called after the region in which they were raised, or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. In 1684 there was a reorganisation of the French infantry and again in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIVs plans. This reshuffle created many of the regiments of the French Army and standardised their equipment. The army of the Sun King tended to wear coats with coloured linings. There were exceptions and the troops, recruited from outside France. In addition to these regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units, the Swiss Guards, French Guards, the revolution split the army with the main mass losing most of its officers to aristocratic flight or guillotine and becoming demoralised and ineffective. The French Guard joined the revolt and the Swiss Guards were massacred during the storming of the Tuileries palace, under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars
3.
Suez Crisis
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The Suez Crisis, also named the Tripartite Aggression and the Kadesh Operation or Sinai War, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal, after the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated Great Britain and France and strengthened Nasser, on October 29, Israel invaded the Egyptian Sinai. Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to cease fire, which was ignored, on November 5, Britain and France landed paratroopers along the Suez Canal. The Egyptian forces were defeated, but they did block the canal to all shipping and it later became clear that the Israeli invasion and the subsequent Anglo-French attack had been planned beforehand by the three countries. The three allies had attained a number of their objectives, but the Canal was now useless and heavy political pressure from the United States. U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had strongly warned Britain not to invade, historians conclude the crisis signified the end of Great Britains role as one of the worlds major powers. The Suez Canal was closed from October 1956 until March 1957, Israel fulfilled some of its objectives, such as attaining freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran. The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, after ten years of work financed by the French, the canal instantly became strategically important, as it provided the shortest ocean link between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. The canal eased commerce for trading nations and particularly helped European colonial powers to gain, in 1875, as a result of debt and financial crisis, the Egyptian ruler was forced to sell his shares in the canal operating company to the British government of Benjamin Disraeli. They were willing buyers and obtained a 44 percent share in the operations for less than £4 million. With the 1882 invasion and occupation of Egypt, the United Kingdom took de facto control of the country as well as the canal proper, the 1888 Convention of Constantinople declared the canal a neutral zone under British protection. In ratifying it, the Ottoman Empire agreed to international shipping to pass freely through the canal, in time of war. The Convention came into force in 1904, the year as the Entente cordiale between Britain and France. Following the Japanese surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet based at Port Arthur, the British denied the Russian fleet use of the canal and forced it to steam around Africa, giving the Japanese forces time to consolidate their position in East Asia. The importance of the canal as an intersection was again apparent during the First World War. The attempt by German and Ottoman forces to storm the canal in February 1915 led the British to commit 100,000 troops to the defense of Egypt for the rest of the war. The canal continued to be strategically important after the Second World War as a conduit for the shipment of oil, petroleum business historian Daniel Yergin wrote of the period, In 1948, the canal abruptly lost its traditional rationale
4.
Algerian War
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An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, and the use of torture by both sides. The conflict also became a war between loyalist Algerians supporting a French Algeria and their Algerian nationalist counterparts. A referendum took place on 8 April 1962 and the French electorate approved the Évian Accords, the planned French withdrawal led to a state crisis, to various assassination attempts on de Gaulle, and to some attempts at military coups. Upon independence, in 1962,900,000 European-Algerians fled to France, in fear of the FLNs revenge, the French government was totally unprepared for the vast number of refugees, which caused turmoil in France. On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830, in 1834, Algeria became a French military colony and was subsequently declared by the constitution of 1848 to be an integral part of France and divided into three departments. Many French and other Europeans later settled in Algeria, under the Second Empire, the Code de lindigénat was implemented by the Sénatus-consulte of July 14,1865. Its first article stipulated, The indigenous Muslim is French, however and he may be admitted to serve in the army and the navy. He may be called to functions and civil employment in Algeria and he may, on his demand, be admitted to enjoy the rights of a French citizen, in this case, he is subjected to the political and civil laws of France. However, prior to 1870, fewer than 200 demands were registered by Muslims and 152 by Jewish Algerians, the 1865 decree was then modified by the 1870 Crémieux decrees, which granted French nationality to Jews living in one of the three Algerian departments. In 1881, the Code de lIndigénat made the official by creating specific penalties for indigènes. The Law of September 20,1947, granted French citizenship to all Algerian subjects, Algeria was unique to France because, unlike all other overseas possessions acquired by France during the 19th century, only Algeria was considered and legally classified an integral part of France. Both Muslim and European Algerians took part in World War I, Algerian Muslims served as tirailleurs and spahis, and French settlers as Zouaves or Chasseurs dAfrique. Within this context, a grandson of Abd el-Kadir spearheaded the resistance against the French in the first half of the 20th century and he was a member of the directing committee of the French Communist Party. The North African Star broke from the PCF in 1928, before being dissolved in 1929 at Pariss demand, the pieds-noirs violently demonstrated against it and the North African Party opposed it, leading to the projects abandonment. This new party was dissolved in 1939, under Vichy, the French state attempted to abrogate the Crémieux decree in order to suppress the Jews French citizenship, but the measure was never implemented. On the other hand, nationalist leader Ferhat Abbas founded the Algerian Popular Union in 1938, in 1943 Abbas wrote the Algerian Peoples Manifesto. In the early morning hours of November 1,1954, FLN maquisards attacked military and he declared in the National Assembly, One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic and they have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French
5.
French Foreign Legion
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The French Foreign Legion is a military service branch of the French Army established in 1831, unique because it was created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. Commanded by French officers, it is open to French citizens. This is a way to strengthen them enough to work as a team, although it is part of the French Military, it is the only unit of the military that does not swear allegiance to France, but to the Foreign Legion itself. Consequently, training is described as not only physically challenging. French citizenship may be applied for three years service. Additionally, any soldier who becomes injured during a battle for France immediately becomes a French citizen under a known as Français par le sang versé. As of 2008, members come from 140 countries, the French Foreign Legion was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the 19th century. The Foreign Legion was initially stationed only in Algeria, where it took part in the pacification, in World War I, the Foreign Legion fought in many critical battles on the Western Front. It played a role in World War II than in World War I, though having a part in the Norwegian, Syrian. During the First Indochina War, the Foreign Legion saw its numbers swell, the FFL lost a large number of men in the catastrophic Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Notable operations during this period included the Suez Crisis, the Battle of Algiers and various offensives launched by General Maurice Challe including Operations Oranie, in 1990, the Foreign Legion was sent to the Persian Gulf as a part of Opération Daguet. In the 1990s, the Foreign Legion helped with the evacuation of French citizens and foreigners in Rwanda, Gabon, the Foreign Legion was also deployed in Cambodia, Somalia, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the mid- to late-1990s, the Foreign Legion was deployed in the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, many other countries have tried to emulate the French Foreign Legion model. There have been composed of foreign recruits in China, Israel, the Netherlands, Rhodesia, Russia. The French Foreign Legion was created by Louis Philippe, the King of the French, recruits included soldiers from the recently disbanded Swiss and German foreign regiments of the Bourbon monarchy. The Royal Ordinance for the establishment of the new regiment specified that the foreigners recruited could only serve outside France, the French expeditionary force that had occupied Algiers in 1830 was in need of reinforcements and the Legion was accordingly transferred by sea in detachments from Toulon to Algeria. The Foreign Legion was initially divided into six national battalions, smaller national groups, such as the ten Englishmen recorded in December 1832, appear to have been placed randomly. In late 1831, the first legionnaires landed in Algeria, the country that would be the Foreign Legions homeland for 130 years, the Foreign Legions first service in Algeria came to an end after only four years, as it was needed elsewhere
6.
French Army Light Aviation
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The French Army Light Aviation is the Army aviation service of the French Army. ALAT was established on 22 November 1954 for observation, reconnaissance, assault, there can be no question of a serious attack to Paris. The hope was reborn in the French camp, reinforced by consistent reports of the British Expeditionary Force aircraft, in the hours following, airmen meticulously locate the different Imperial German Army corps. A gap formed between the First Army and Second Army, reports were submitted to Joffre, who decides to take without further delay of this possibility. On 6 September 1914, the First Battle of the Marne began, the use of armed helicopters coupled with helicopter transport during the Algerian War can drop troops into enemy territory gave birth to the tactics of airmobile warfare continues today. Acquiring these machines lay in the hands of the licensee Piasecki given France’s urgent need to have them on account of the circumstances. Usually, the H-21 could carry up to 18 troops, yet local operating conditions decreed that the French army examples could carry only up to around 12 troops each. In two years, GH2 received the vast majority of the H-21s acquired by ALAT, which consisted of five squadrons by the end of 1958. A sixth squadron from the French naval air arm, the Aéronautique navale, had operated with GH2 for little more than a year. From 1955 to 1962, GH2 took part in the major battles, by the time the war in Algeria had ended, eight officers and 23 non-commissioned officers from ALAT had given their lives in the course of their duties. In 1975, ALAT had 500 officer s,2500 NCOs and 3500 other ranks, qualitatively, after delivery of orders, there are 360 light helicopters including 170 Gazelle reconnaissance helicopters 180 anti-tank which 110 Gazelle HOT and 140 utility helicopters Puma. ALAT flew 170,000 flying hours, including 11,000 at night, ALAT is currently suffering from aging equipment and inadequate training of its crews, which has caused various incidents. According to a report of the National Assembly of 2007 the potential of the aircraft has in fact decreased sharply since 2004. Delivery of 80 aircraft is expected to be completed in 2020, on April 15,2011,30 helicopters were delivered to the ALAT, including 16 combat capable. The 4th Airmobile Brigade had most of the ALATs strength until it was disestablished in 2010, the three line regiments now report directly to Land Forces Command
France
