1.
France
–
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
–
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.
Marseille
–
Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice
4.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
5.
French language
–
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
6.
3rd Algerian Infantry Division
–
The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Army of Africa which participated to World War II. The 3rd Armored Division is an heir to 3rd Algerian Infantry Division, the 3rd Division was recreated in 2016 with the cadre of the reorganization of the French Army. November 1942 to April 1943, Marching Division of Constantine, April 15,1946, dissolution of the division. The motto is « It crescendo », the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division has for origin the marching division of Constantine of général Welvert. Created on May 1,1943, in Constantine, Algeria and placed under the orders of général Goislard de Monsabert, at the corps of the French Expeditionary Corps, commanded by the future maréchal Juin, the 3e DIA apprehended the position of forte du Belvédère on January 25. While attracting the masses, the division allowed the development of the manœuvre of Anzio, military on the promontory of Cassino. In relation to this arm event, the 4e RTT endured the loss of half of the effectifs. In May 1944, the division made way to Monte-Cassino where Allied forces have engaged for several months, and participated to the reinforcing of the Gustav line during the victory of Gariglioni. On August 15,1944, the 3e DIA disembarked in Provence, at Cogolin in the Var, liberated Toulon and Marseille, in September–October 1944, the division arrived at the Vosges. The division, then progressed towards Cornimont, pushing back on October 15 at Tête des Cerfs, at the Piquante Pierre, at Rondfaing, at Chapechatte, in 20 days, the 3e DIA advanced more than 15 km while clearing the sectors of Belfort and Gérardmer. Beginning of November 1944, the division was engaged in Le Haut du Tôt, Forge, countering assaults, the division apprehended le Tholy, Château-Lambert, cols de Bussang, Col de Bramont and Col dOderen. Beginning January 1945, the division was called to mount the defensive of Strasbourg, on March 15,1945, the division pierced through Oberhoffen-sur-Moder, and apprehended Lautrebourg. The division then crossed the Lauter and penetrated first into Germany, on March 31,1945, at the head of the 1st Army, the division crossed the Rhin in the region of Spire. Reinforced by the Moroccan Goumier, the division braked the resistance at Heuchelberg and Stromberg, on April 16, the division led at Enz in the north, infiltrating by Nagold in the south and encircled Pforzheim. The campaigns of Alsace and Germany ended with the 3e DIA in Stuttgart, on May 1, the division paraded in front of général de Lattre de Tassigny. One North-African Tirailleur regiment is composed of a more than 3000 men and 200 vehicles. The portion of Maghrebis reaches 69% for the regiment, 74% for the battalion, 79% for the company fusiliers-voltigeurs, 52% for the ant-tank company, 3rd Algerian Spahi Regiment, colonel Bonjour 7th African Chasseur Regiment, colonel Van Hecke. The two regiments are composed of 900 to 1000 men with 15% Maghrebis and 85% Europeans, 67th African Artillery Regiment 37e group de FTA
7.
3rd Light Armoured Brigade (France)
–
The 3rd Light Armoured Brigade, the previous 3rd Mechanised Brigade, was a unit of the French Army. The brigade was heir to the traditions of the 3rd Armored Division, the 3rd Light Armoured Brigade was dissolved on June 16,2016. The 3rd Division was recreated on June 20,2016 within the cadre of the reorganization of the French Army. The 3rd Mechanised Brigade is heir of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division 3e DIA which illustrated capability during World War II under the orders of général de Monsabert puis du général Guillaume, the 3rd Division was reconstituted in 1951 at the corps of the French Forces in Germany. Three infantry regiments, two tank reigments, two regiments, one engineer regiment, and one command and support regiment. During the transformation of the FFA into FFECSA, the division was redimensioned and dissolved in 1991, in 1999, the 3rd Mechanised Brigade was created within the cadres of reforms of the French Army. The brigade adopted the traditions of the 3rd Armoured Division, the brigade regrouped six tactical regimental formations with a mission to prepare for engagement in an interarm, national and multinational context. The headquarter staff of the Mechanised Brigade garrisoned at Clermont-Ferrand on July 1,2011, on March 18,2014, the brigade became designated as 3rd Light Armoured Brigade. This formation counted at that date 5 regiments with an effectif of 5000 men and it was under the signs of latin traditions that général de Monsabert wanted to place the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division 3e DIA during creation on May 1,1943. She was found within a search at Constantine in the 19th century, the units of the 3rd Mechanised Brigade bore the shoulder insignia of 3 tricolor crescents on champ dazur. The 3 crescents, formed themselves a styled 3, symbolizing the union in 1943 of the Muslim volunteers, the motto of the 3rd Brigade was, Un seul but, La victoire which translated to One purpose, La victoire. Moroccan Division Official site – 3e BM www. defense. gouv. fr
8.
1st Armored Division (France)
–
The 1st Armored Division is a unit of the French Army formed during World War II. Dissolved for a first time in 1946, the unit was recreated in 1948 and it was again dissolved in 1999 with the cadre of the professionalization of the French Military. The 1st Mechanised Brigade, created on July 1,1999, the 1re BM was again dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated in 2016, the 1st Armored Division was created on May 1,1943. It was dissolved on March 31,1946, the 1st Armored Division was recreated in 1948. On July 1,1999, the 1st Mechanised Brigade inherited the traditions of the division, the 1st Mechanised Brigade was dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated on July 1,2016 part of the Scorpion Force alongside the 3rd Division, the motto of the division, Nomine et Virtute Prima, translates literally to La première par le nom et la valeur in French, The first in designation and worth. The choice of the insignia, the cross of Saint Louis by général Jean Touzet du Vigier, comes from the place of formation of the unit, Tunisia, the division is known and referred to as division Saint-Louis. The division was cited three times at the orders of the forces during the Second World War. In 1943, a French armed force was formed in North Africa, the unit was equipped with modern equipment coming from the United States, and the program anticipated the constitution of several armed divisions. S. American norms, in three tactical groupments, baptized by the Americans as Combat Command, under these designations the three French divisions engaged in operations from 1944 to 1945. Within this context, the 1st Armored Division 1st DB was formed on May 1,1943, the division was heir to the Light Mechanic Brigade which combat engaged in Tunisia. On January 28,1943, général du Vigier took command of this unit in formation and he had left the command of the BLM to général Brossin de Saint-Didier and installed his command post in Mascara where the training center for armored brigades garrisoned. In the coming months of May 1943 joined transmission and services, in August, the train and a squadron group reinforced immediately. Then, the 2nd African Chasseur doubled to form 2nd Tank-Cuirassiers Regiment, the latter had just been promoted to a divisional general on August 25, and all the forces which were under his disposition were grouped around Mascara. The 2nd Zouaves Regiment disappeared and was replaced, as the infantry of the division, the division assumed position within the ranks of the 1st Army then designate as Army B and which would participate to the disembarking of Provence. The first embarking commenced in Oran and Mers-el-Kébir at the end of the month of July 1944, the Naval ships lifted anchors on August 10 and 11. The disembarking should have taken lieu between Saint-Tropez and Saint-Raphaël, at the dawn of August 15, an enormous naval fleet was assembled north-west of Corsica steering and heading north
9.
Latin
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
10.
Cirta
–
Cirta was the capital city of the Berber Kingdom of Numidia in northern Africa. Its strategically important port city was Russicada, although Numidia was a key ally of the ancient Roman Republic during the Punic Wars, Cirta was subject to Roman invasions during the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. Eventually went under Roman dominion during the rule of Julius Caesar, vandals damaged Cirta, but emperor Justinianus I reconquered and improved the Roman city. Arabs finally captured it in 698 AD, pliny calls the city as the first century Roman colonia Cirta Sittianorum, together with Rusicade, Milevum and Chullu in what was an autonomous territory of the new province Africa Nova. Indeed, Rome allowed Publius Sittius and his Italian legionaries from Campania to rule the territory of Cirta, however, under Publius Sittius, Cirta was a special colony with some autonomy from Rome. Under the emperor Augustus, the city obtained full Roman status as colonia with the name Iulia Iuvenalis Honoris et Virtutis Cirta in 27 BC, since then Cirta started to grow enormously as an economic center of Roman Africa. The city by the end of the second century -when Christianity started to be important- had nearly 50,000 inhabitants, according to historian Robin Daniel. Cirtas populace was as diverse as the Roman Republic itself — alongside native Numidians were Carthaginians displaced by the Second and Third Punic Wars, as well as Greeks, Romans, and Italians. It served as a hub for Rome’s African empire, as it was inhabited by Roman and Italian merchants, bankers. Not only was Cirta an important economic site, it was also a key political, during the Second Punic War, the Battle of Cirta marked a decisive Roman victory for Scipio Africanus against Romes most formidable rival in the Mediterranean — Carthage. Moreover, Rome illustrated its willingness to defend its interests in Cirta into the late 2nd century BC following the death of Micipsa, King of Numidia, a power struggle ensued between his adopted son Jugurtha and his natural son Adherbal. Adherbal appealed to Rome to help broker a truce and to help evenly split the kingdom between the two heirs, despite a senatorial commission’s seemingly successful mediation, Jugurtha besieged Cirta, killing Adherbal and Italian elites who defended him. Subsequently, Rome declared war on the kingdom to assert its hegemony in the region, jugurtha’s defeat at Cirta at the hands of the Roman army is commonly referred to as the Jugurthine War. Caesars conquest of Northern Africa officially brought Cirta under direct Roman rule in 46 BC and it was during the rule of Augustus, however, when Cirtas territory expanded and assimilated into the empire. Augustus split Cirta into communities, or pagis, dividing Numidians and this helped facilitate Cirtas assumption into the Roman realm, culturally and economically. These settlers, of course, were augmenting those Romans who had inhabited the city since the earlier periods of the Punic Wars, in the first two centuries AD Christianity began to take root in Cirta. While little remains of African Christianity before 200 AD, records of martyred Christians at Cirta existed by mid-century, civil war in 311 marked the destruction of the city, however, the first Christian emperor Constantine rebuilt it in his own name in 313 AD, calling it Constantine. The town of Cirta had become a Roman colony, probably as early as the time of Sittius, at the beginning of the 2d c. it was the capital of a curious administrative district, one of those anomalies common to the administrative history of Africa
France
