1.
Chartres
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Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in France. It is located 96 km southwest of Paris and this city is well known for its cathedral. Chartres was in Gaul one of the towns of the Carnutes. In the Gallo-Roman period, it was called Autricum, name derived from the river Autura, the city was burned by the Normans in 858, and unsuccessfully besieged by them in 911. During the Middle Ages, it was the most important town of the Beauce. It gave its name to a county which was held by the counts of Blois, and the counts of Champagne, and afterwards by the House of Châtillon, a member of which sold it to the Crown in 1286. In 1417, during the Hundred Years War, Chartres fell into the hands of the English, in 1528, it was raised to the rank of a duchy by Francis I. In 1568, during the Wars of Religion, Chartres was unsuccessfully besieged by the Huguenot leader and it was finally taken by the royal troops of Henry IV on 19 April 1591. In 1674, Louis XIV raised Chartres from a duchy to a peerage in favor of his nephew. The title of Duke of Chartres was hereditary in the House of Orléans, in the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War, Chartres was seized by the Germans on 2 October 1870, and continued during the rest of the war to be an important centre of operations. With his driver, Griffith proceeded to the cathedral and, after searching it all the way up its bell tower, the order to destroy the cathedral was withdrawn. Colonel Griffith was killed in later on that day in the town of Lèves,3.5 kilometres north of Chartres. For his heroic action both at Chartres and Lèves, Colonel Griffith received, posthumously, several decorations awarded by the President of the United States, 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions belonging to the XX Corps of the U. S. Third Army commanded by General George S. Patton, Chartres is built on a hill on the left bank of the Eure River. Its renowned medieval cathedral is at the top of the hill, to the southeast stretches the fertile plain of Beauce, the granary of France, of which the town is the commercial centre. Chartres is best known for its cathedral, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres and its historical and cultural importance has been recognized by its inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. It was built on the site of the former Chartres cathedral of Romanesque architecture, begun in 1205, the construction of Notre-Dame de Chartres was completed 66 years later. The stained glass windows of the cathedral were financed by guilds of merchants and craftsmen and it is not known how the famous and unique blue, bleu de Chartres, of the glass was created, and it has been impossible to replicate it
2.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
3.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
4.
French First Republic
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In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. The foreign threat exacerbated Frances political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion, in the violence of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the Kings Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king. A renewed fear of action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the citys prisons. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed and this became known as the September Massacres. The resulting Convention was founded with the purpose of abolishing the monarchy. The Conventions first act, on 10 August 1792, was to establish the French First Republic, the King, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. The Committees laws and policies took the revolution to unprecedented heights, after the arrest and execution of Robespierre in July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III and they reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established, the period known as the French Consulate began with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of the government as the First Consul. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire
5.
Fortress of Mainz
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The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. With the dissolution of the Confederation and the Austro-Prussian War, control of the fortress first passed to Prussia, in 1839 an article on Mainz in The Penny Cyclopædia stated that Mainz was one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, and a chief bulwark of Germany against France. This garrison in time of peace consisted of 6,000 men, the military governor, who retained his post five years, was alternately an Austrian and a Prussian general. A criticism of the fortress was that it was too large, the fortress of Mainz was connected, by a bridge over the Rhine, with the strongly fortified village of Kastel. Among the principal works were the citadel, with the Eichelstein, and that called the Hauptstein, the inner works consisted of 14 principal and 13 smaller bastions. On the land there were four great gates with double drawbridges. The Rhine runs from south to north, and the Main from east to west, about a mile above the junction of the two rivers was the village of Kostheim on the Main, and a little farther up a bridge of boats, defended by a strong tête-de-pont. Karl Baedeker writing in 1864 stated that Mainz was amongst the strongest fortresses of the German Confederation, on the north side of the town stood a vast Military Hospital, facing the Schlossplatz. In time of peace the garrison consisted of 3,000 Prussian, according to Lehnhardts map of Mainz ~1844 many bastions are to be found, Attribution This article incorporates text from a work in the public domain, Mainz. The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
6.
French Revolutionary Wars
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The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts, lasting from 1792 until 1802, resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted the French First Republic against Britain, Austria and several other monarchies and they are divided in two periods, the War of the First Coalition and the War of the Second Coalition. Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension as the political ambitions of the Revolution expanded, French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe. The Revolutionary Wars began from increasing political pressure on King Louis XVI of France to prove his loyalty to the new direction France was taking. In the spring of 1792, France declared war on Prussia and Austria, the victory rejuvenated the French nation and emboldened the National Convention to abolish the monarchy. A series of victories by the new French armies abruptly ended with defeat at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793, by 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and knocked Spain and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. A hitherto unknown general called Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy in April 1796, in less than a year, French armies under Napoleon decimated the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With French forces marching towards Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio, the War of the Second Coalition began with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by Napoleon, in 1798. The Allies took the opportunity presented by the French strategic effort in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for the Allies in Europe, where they pushed the French out of Italy and invaded Switzerland—racking up victories at Magnano, Cassano. However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September 1799, meanwhile, Napoleons forces annihilated a series of Egyptian and Ottoman armies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor, and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleons popularity back in France, however, the Royal Navy had managed to inflict a humiliating defeat on the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean. Napoleons arrival from Egypt led to the fall of the Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon then reorganized the French army and launched a new assault against the Austrians in Italy during the spring of 1800. This latest effort culminated in a decisive French victory at the Battle of Marengo in June 1800, another crushing French triumph at Hohenlinden in Bavaria forced the Austrians to seek peace for a second time, leading to the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. With Austria and Russia out of the war, the United Kingdom found itself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens with Napoleons government in 1802, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. The lingering tensions proved too difficult to contain, however, in 1789–1792, the entire governmental structure of France was transformed to fall into line with the Revolutionary principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. As a result, one of the first major elements of the French state to be restructured was the army, the transformation of the army was best seen in the officer corps. Before the revolution 90% had been nobility, compared to only 3% in 1794, Revolutionary fervour was high, and was closely monitored by the Committee of Public Safety, which assigned Representatives on Mission to keep watch on generals
7.
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe
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The following is the list of the names of the 660 persons inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. Most of them are generals who served during the First French Empire with additional figures from the French Revolution, underlined names signify those killed in action. DU MIDI ARMEES DES PYRENEES ORALES, GRANDE ARMEE Jensen, Nathan D. Appendix, Names on the Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately, some names inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe are ambiguous due to individuals sharing the same last name. While most names are clearly honoring a particular officer, a few remain which are unclear
8.
Minister of the Armed Forces (France)
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The Ministry of Defence is the French cabinet member charged with running the military of France. The minister in charge of the French military has evolved within the epoque, the minister is always attached to a ministry or state secretary bureau, today attached to the Ministry of Defense. The Secretary of State of War was one of the four specialised secretaries of state established in France in 1589 and this State Secretary was responsible for the French Army. In 1791, the secretary of state of war becomes Minister of War, with this function being abolished in 1794. In 1930, the position was referred to as Minister of War. The current Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs is Jean-Yves Le Drian. org
9.
Koblenz
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Koblenz, also spelled Coblenz or Coblence, is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated. As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the name Koblenz originates from Latin confluentes, confluence or merging of rivers. Subsequently, it was Covelenz and Cobelenz, in the local dialect the name is Kowelenz. After Mainz and Ludwigshafen am Rhein, it is the third largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate, around 1000 BC, early fortifications were erected on the Festung Ehrenbreitstein hill on the opposite side of the Moselle. In 55 BC, Roman troops commanded by Julius Caesar reached the Rhine, about 9 BC, the Castellum apud Confluentes, was one of the military posts established by Drusus. Remains of a bridge built in 49 AD by the Romans are still visible. The Romans built two castles as protection for the bridge, one in 9 AD and another in the 2nd century, north of Koblenz was a temple of Mercury and Rosmerta, which remained in use up to the 5th century. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city was conquered by the Franks, after the division of Charlemagnes empire, it was included in the lands of his son Louis the Pious. In 860 and 922, Koblenz was the scene of ecclesiastical synods, at the first synod, held in the Liebfrauenkirche, the reconciliation of Louis the German with his half-brother Charles the Bald took place. The city was sacked and destroyed by the Norsemen in 882, in 925, it became part of the eastern German Kingdom, later the Holy Roman Empire. In 1018, the city was given by the emperor Henry II to the archbishop-elector of Trier after receiving a charter and it remained in the possession of his successors until the end of the 18th century, having been their main residence since the 17th century. Emperor Conrad II was elected here in 1138, in 1198, the battle between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV took place nearby. In 1216, prince-bishop Theoderich von Wied donated part of the lands of the basilica and the hospital to the Teutonic Knights, the city was a member of the league of the Rhenish cities which rose in the 13th century. The Teutonic Knights founded the Bailiwick of Koblenz in or around 1231, Koblenz attained great prosperity and it continued to advance until the disaster of the Thirty Years War brought about a rapid decline. After Philip Christopher, elector of Trier, surrendered Ehrenbreitstein to the French, however, this force was soon expelled by the Swedes, who in their turn handed the city over again to the French. Imperial forces finally succeeded in retaking it by storm in 1636, the city was the residence of the archbishop-electors of Trier from 1690 to 1801. In 1786, the last archbishop-elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, greatly assisted the extension and improvement of the city, the archbishop-elector approved of this because he was the uncle of the persecuted king of France, Louis XVI. Among the many royalist French refugees who flooded into the city were Louis XVIs two younger brothers, the Comte de Provence and the Comte dArtois
10.
House of Savoy-Carignano
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The Savoy-Carignano family, was a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignano 21 December 1596 -22 January 1656), the Savoy-Carignanos also, briefly, supplied a king each to Spain and to Croatia, as well as queens consort to Bulgaria and Portugal. While still a man, he bore arms in the service of the king of Spain in Italy. Not only did Thomas Francis have older brothers, he was, while only nine of these were legitimate, the others, being the widowed dukes offspring by noble mistresses, appear to have been generously endowed or dowered during their fathers lifetime. He was appointed Grand Maître of the household, briefly replacing the traitorous Grand Condé. He engaged the services of the grammarian and courtier Claude Favre de Vaugelas as tutor for his children. This prevented the substitution of Savoyard for French influence in that region, marie did eventually inherit her brothers main holding in France, the county of Soissons, but this would be established as a secundogeniture for the French branch of the family. After Thomas Francis, the branch of his descendants repatriated to Savoy, alternately marrying French. The first recorded military service of Thomas Francis is as a commander in the Piedmontese army under his father against France during the War of the Mantuan Succession in 1630. Cardinal Mazarin induced him to become, in effect, a French agent at the Piedmontese court between 1630 and 1632, when France launched the, Thomas Francis served under the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, brother of Philip IV in the Spanish Netherlands. Piedmont was reluctantly dragged into the fighting alongside the French, consequently Thomas Francis was, strictly and he was completely defeated and his army entirely killed, captured or scattered - the first in an unbroken career of military defeats. He managed to rally the remnants at Namur, then retreated before the numerically-superior French and Dutch forces, in 1636, Thomas Francis served with the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand who organised a joint Spanish-Imperialist army for a major invasion of France from the Spanish Netherlands. In 1638, Thomas served in Spanish Flanders, helping to defend the fortress-city of Saint-Omer against a French siege and he took Turin by knavery, but the French continued to control its citadel. In 1640, he held the city in the siege of Turin. By late summer, both Thomas Francis and Turenne were seriously ill and Du Plessis Praslin was in temporary command. In 1645, now commanding with Du Plessis Praslin, he took Vigevano, and repulsed a Spanish attempt to block his withdrawal at the River Mora, the nearest he ever came to a success in the field. When he returned to Piedmont, Thomas had no choice but to accept the fait accompli, during the Fronde, Thomas Francis linked himself closely with Cardinal Mazarin, who, although effectively prime minister of France, was like him an Italian outsider at the French court. In the early 1650s, Thomas Francis was seen as an important member of Mazarins party, closely linked to the Cardinal, regularly seen in conference with him, and active in his support
11.
Storming of the Bastille
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The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of abuses by the monarchy, in France, Le quatorze juillet is a public holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced an economic crisis, partially initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July. The commoners had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolour cockades of blue, white and red, formed by combining the red and blue cockade of Paris and the white cockade of the king. These cockades, and soon simply their colour scheme, became the symbol of the revolution and, later, Paris, close to insurrection and, in François Mignets words, intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm, showed wide support for the Assembly. The press published the Assemblys debates, political debate spread beyond the Assembly itself into the public squares, the Palais-Royal and its grounds became the site of an ongoing meeting. The Assembly recommended the imprisoned guardsmen to the clemency of the king, they returned to prison, the rank and file of the regiment, previously considered reliable, now leaned toward the popular cause. News of Neckers dismissal reached Paris in the afternoon of Sunday,12 July, the Parisians generally presumed that the dismissal marked the start of a coup by conservative elements. Crowds gathered throughout Paris, including more than ten thousand at the Palais-Royal and this very night all the Swiss and German battalions will leave the Champ de Mars to massacre us all, one resource is left, to take arms. By early July, approximately half of the 25,000 regular troops in Paris, the crowd clashed with the Royal German Cavalry Regiment between the Place Vendôme and the Tuileries Palace. From atop the Champs-Élysées, the Prince de Lambesc unleashed a cavalry charge that dispersed the protesters at Place Louis XV—now Place de la Concorde. The Royal commander, Baron de Besenval, fearing the results of a blood bath amongst the poorly armed crowds or defections among his own men, then withdrew the cavalry towards Sèvres. Meanwhile, unrest was growing among the people of Paris who expressed their hostility against state authorities by attacking customs posts blamed for causing increased food, the people of Paris started to plunder any place where food, guns and supplies could be hoarded. That night, rumors spread that supplies were being hoarded at Saint-Lazare, a property of the clergy. An angry mob broke in and plundered the property, seizing 52 wagons of wheat and that same day multitudes of people plundered many other places including weapon arsenals. The Royal troops did nothing to stop the spreading of chaos in Paris during those days
12.
Drill instructor
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A Drill Instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. For example, in the United States armed forces, they are assigned the duty of training new recruits entering the military, Drill instructors within the U. S. armed forces have different titles in each branch of service. In the United States Air Force, they are known as Military Training Instructors, the United States Navy uses Marine Corps drill instructors at their Officer Candidate School, but only Chief Petty Officers called Recruit Division Commanders, or RDCs at their recruit training. Within the United States Army, drill instructors are given the title of Drill Sergeant, the United States Coast Guard gives the title of Company Commander to their drill instructors. The United States Marine Corps is the branch of the U. S. armed forces where drill instructors are titled as drill instructors. Drill instructors are referred to as sir or maam by recruits within the USAF, USMC, recruits in the United States Army must refer to their drill sergeants as such, drill sergeant. The instruction and indoctrination given by the instructors of the various U. S. In the Australian Army, the responsible for training recruits are known as Recruit Instructors. They teach recruits discipline, fieldcraft, marksmanship, service knowledge, each recruit platoon is commanded by Recruit Instructors usually consisting of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant and up to four instructors of the Corporal or Bombardier rank. Members from all Corps in the Army are eligible to become Recruit Instructors, experience as a Recruit Instructor is often a prerequisite to senior non-commissioned appointments in the military. In the Royal Australian Navy, there are Instructors at HMAS Cerberus, where the Recruit School course is held, and HMAS Creswell, each accredited Drill Instructor wears an AFP pin with the wording DI positioned 5mm above their name plate or citations. Drill Instructors are also issued with a black coloured Hellweg brand leather basket weave Sam Browne belt, the Australian Federal Police College at Barton has a non-commissioned officer of Sergeant Rank holding the position of College Sergeant. The College Sergeant carries a pace stick as a badge of office at ceremonial functions. The New South Wales Police Force has a Drill Sergeant and a Drill Constable attached to the NSW Police College at Goulburn, Drill staff are responsible for training recruits in drill. These personnel wear a cord to signify being a protocol officer. The Senior Protocol officer is responsible for dress, bearing and discipline and also is the guardian of NSWPF history, customs, traditions and symbols at the NSW Police College. The Senior Protocol Officer carries a pace stick with silver fittings. The Western Australian Police Force has a Drill Sergeant of the Rank of Sergeant who trains recruits in drill, discipline and he is also the recruit training manager responsible for overseeing the recruits training, ceremonial graduations, police funerals and other events
13.
Captain (armed forces)
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The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery, in the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion. In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1, the rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field. The rank of captain should not be confused with the rank of captain or with the British-influenced air force rank of group captain. The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning chief, prominent, in Middle English adopted as capitayn in the 14th century, the military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war, is earlier, from the 1550s. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant, the funding to provide for the troops came from the monarch or his government, the captain had to be responsible for it. If he was not, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed, otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire. In most countries, the air force is the junior service, many, such as the United States Air Force, use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of the army. However, the United Kingdoms Royal Air Force, many other Commonwealth air forces, a group captain is OF-5 and was derived from the naval rank of captain. In the unified system of the Canadian Forces, the air force rank titles are pearl grey, a variety of images illustrative of different forces insignia for captain are shown below, Captain Captain Senior captain Staff captain
14.
Eure-et-Loir
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Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22,1789 and it was created mainly from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and Maine, but also parts of Île-de-France. The current department corresponds to the part of the land of the Carnutes who had their capital at Autricum. The Carnutes are known for their commitment, real or imagined, a holy place in the Forest of the Carnutes used to host the annual Druidic assembly. In the north of the department another pre-Roman people, the little-known Durocasses, had their capital at Dreux, the inhabitants of the department are called Euréliens. Its agricultural economy is heavily dependent on economic and regulatory environment of the markets for crops. The Eure-et-Loir region is the first grain producer of France and it is also the national leader in the production of rapeseed and peas. Wheat production is by far the most dominant in the area, nearly 40% of all farmland is devoted to the cultivation of wheat, which has generated an average of 29% of the commercial agricultural production of the department over the last 5 years. The Cosmetic Valley represents 2.5 billion euros of turnover, includes 200 companies, collaborates with the Universities of Orleans and Paris, the pharmaceutical industry, around Dreux and the Polepharma cluster. The cluster represents 50% of drug production in France and 30,000 jobs, the Pharma cluster is also one of the creators of the inter-regional alliance Pharma Valley that has partner networks, Polepharma, CBS and Grepic. This alliance represents 60% of the sites located in France and 2.5 billion euros of turnover. The agri-food industry, promoted by Agrodynamic, with two companies in the sector, Ebly at Chateaudun and an Andros at Auneau. Woodcraft and furniture industry around the association Perchebois, the rubber and plastics industry, through the cluster Elastopole]]. The elevator manufacturer Octé has its office in Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais The department also has the lead in renewable energy. Given in February 2011 by the General Council to the operator, EDF Energies Nouvelles, the President of the General Council is Albéric de Montgolfier of the Union for a Popular Movement. The most important tourist attraction is the cathedral of Chartres, with its magnificent stained-glass windows, british intellectual, friend of Thomas Becket. Bishop of Chartres from 1176 to 1180, bernard of Tiron, founder of the monastic order of Tiron and of the abbey of Thiron-Gardais
15.
National Guard (France)
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The National Guard was originally a French militia which existed from 1789 until 1872, including a period of official disbandment from 1827 to 1830. It was separate from the French Army and existed both for policing and as a military reserve, for most of its history the National Guard, particularly its officers, were widely viewed as loyal to middle-class interests. This had rapidly spread anger and violence throughout Paris, the National Assembly declared the formation of a Bourgeois Militia on 13 July. In the early morning of the day, the search for weapons for this new militia led to the storming of the Hotel des Invalides. Lafayette was elected to the post of commander in chief of the Bourgeois Militia on 15 July, similar bodies were spontaneously created in the towns and rural districts of France in response to widespread fears of chaos or counter-revolution. When the French Guards mutinied and were disbanded during the same month, the officers of the National Guard were elected. Under the law of 14 October 1791, all active citizens and their role was the maintenance of law and order and, if necessary, the defence of the territory. Following a nationwide scheme decided on in September 1791, the National Guard was organised on the basis of district or canton companies, five of these neighbourhood units made up a battalion. Eight to ten battalions comprised a legion, districts might also provide companies of veterans and young citizens, respectively drawn from volunteers of over 60 or under 18. Where possible, there was provision for mounted detachments and artillerymen, the citizens kept their weapons and their uniforms at home, and set forth with them when required. This combination of colours matched those of the revolutionary tricolour, the former Guet royal had held responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in Paris from 1254 to 1791, when the National Guard took over this role. In fact, the last commander of the Guet royal, de La Rothière, was elected to head the National Guard in 1791, in the summer of 1792, the fundamental character of the guard changed. After 9 Thermidor, year II, the new government of the Thermidorian Reaction placed the National Guard under the control of conservative leadership. The Paris National Guard thereafter ceased to play a significant political role, napoleon did not believe that the middle-class National Guard would be able to maintain order and suppress riots. Therefore, he created a Municipal Guard of Paris, a full-time gendarmerie which was strongly militarised, however, he did not abolish the National Guard, but was content to partially disarm it. He kept the force in reserve and mobilised it for the defence of French territory in 1809 and 1814, between 1811 and 1812 the National Guard, was organized in cohorts to distinguish it from the regular army, and for home defence only. By a skilful appeal to patriotism, and judicious pressure applied through the prefects, with the invasion of France by allied Austrian, Prussian, Russian and British armies in 1814, the National Guard was suddenly called on to provide support for regular Imperial forces. Existing National Guard units, such as those of Paris, were deployed as defence corps in their areas of recruitment, mass conscription was extended to age groups previously exempt from military service, to provide more manpower for the expanded National Guard
16.
French Revolutionary Army
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The French Revolutionary Army was the French force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment, leading generals included Jourdan, Bonaparte, Masséna and Moreau. As a general description of French military forces during this period, reactionary Europe stood opposed, especially after the French king was executed. As a result, one of the first major elements of the French state to be restructured was the army, almost all of the ancien regime officer class had been drawn from the aristocracy. During the period preceding the overthrow of the Monarchy, large numbers of officers left their regiments. Between 15 September and 1 December 1791 alone 2,160 officers of the army fled France eventually to join the émigré army of Louis Joseph. Of those who stayed numbers were either imprisoned or killed during the Reign of Terror, the small remaining cadre of officers were promoted swiftly, this meant that the majority of the Revolutionary officers were far younger than their Monarchist counterparts. Revolutionary fervour, along with calls to save the new regime, the desperate situation meant that these men were quickly inducted into the army. The transformation of the Army was best seen in the officer corps, before the revolution 90% had been aristocrats, compared to only 3% in 1794. Revolutionary fervor was high, and was monitored by the Committee of Public Safety. Indeed, some generals deserted, others were removed or executed, the government demanded that soldiers be loyal to the government in Paris, not to their generals. Officially, the Revolutionary Armies were operating along the set down in the 1791 Reglement. The 1791 Reglement laid down several complex maneuvers, maneuvers which demanded well trained soldiers, officers. The Revolutionary Army was lacking in all three of these areas, and as a result the early efforts to conform to the 1791 Reglement were met with disaster, the untrained troops could not perform the complex maneuvers required, unit cohesion was lost and defeat was ensured. Realizing that the army was not capable of conforming with the 1791 Reglement, many eminent French military thinkers had been clamoring for change decades before. In the period following the performance of the French Army during the Seven Years War. In the 1770s, some commanders, among them the brilliant duc de Broglie performed exercises testing these tactics, de Broglie decided that lordre profond worked best when it was supported by artillery and large numbers of skirmishers. Despite these exercises, lordre mince had strong and powerful supporters in the Royal Armée Française, the French struck first, with an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands proposed by foreign minister Charles François Dumouriez
17.
Battalion
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A battalion is a military unit. The use of the term varies by nationality and branch of service. Typically a battalion consists of 300 to 800 soldiers and is divided into a number of companies, a battalion is typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In some countries the word battalion is associated with the infantry, the term was first used in Italian as battaglione no later than the 16th century. It derived from the Italian word for battle, battaglia, the first use of battalion in English was in the 1580s, and the first use to mean part of a regiment is from 1708. The battalion must, of course, have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days, the battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalions companies are often homogeneous with respect to type, a battalion includes a headquarters company and some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers, and was used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Other corps usually use the term regiment instead, an infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment. It normally has a company, support company, and three rifle companies. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding, the HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer, mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men in it, and, as of 2012, with successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion. A battalion group or battlegroup consists of a battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100–200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece, the nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels, though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors, with the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling. Combat companies consist of infantry, combat engineers, or tanks, in the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to squadron
18.
Verdun
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Verdun is a small city in the Meuse department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department, Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc. Verdun was founded by the Gauls and it has been the seat of the bishop of Verdun since the 4th century, with interruptions. The 843 Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagnes empire into three parts, the city has been famous for dragées or sugared almonds from 1200 onwards, they were distributed at the baptism of French princes. Verdun was part of the kingdom of Lotharingia, and in 1374 it became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull and Metz the Three Bishoprics, from 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. In 1670, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban visited Verdun and drew up a scheme to fortify the whole city. Although much of his plan was built in the following decades, despite the extensive fortifications, Verdun was captured by the Prussians in 1792 during the War of the First Coalition, but abandoned by them after the Battle of Valmy. During the Napoleonic War, the citadel was used to hold British prisoners of war, in the Franco-Prussian War, Verdun was the last French fortress to surrender in 1870. Shortly afterwards, a new system of fortification was begun and this consisted of a mutually supporting ring of 22 polygonal forts up to 8 kilometres from the city, and an inner ring of 6 forts. The Battle of Verdun was fought on August 20,1792 between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army and this therefore opened the path to Paris. Norwich Duff visited Verdun in 1819, shortly after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars and he writes, Verdun is prettily situated in a valley surrounded by hills. The River Meuse runs through the town and forms several canals and ditches round the town which is fortified and, I believe, the citadel and are a good deal out of repair and were at work on them. Though there is little to see at Verdun, every part of it felt interesting from the number of our countrymen confined here during the war, Verdun is famous for its sweetmeats, sugar plums, confits etc. which are said to be the best in France. They made us show our passports it being a fortified town, Verdun was the site of a major battle, and the longest-lasting, of the First World War. One of the costliest battles in history, Verdun exemplified the policy of a war of attrition pursued by both sides, which led to an enormous loss of life and very large casualty lists. Following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914 and the solidifying of the Western Front, once the French army had bled to death, Britain could be brought down by Germanys submarine blockade and superior military strength. Recent scholarship by Holger Afflerbach and others, however, has questioned the veracity of the Christmas memo, no copy has ever surfaced and the only account of it appeared in Falkenhayns post-war memoir
19.
Prussia
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Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centred on the region of Prussia. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised, Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, shaped the history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the German Empire under Prussian leadership, in November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the German Revolution of 1918–19. The Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the Free State of Prussia, from 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the Prussian coup, when the Nazi regime was successfully establishing its Gleichschaltung laws in pursuit of a unitary state. Prussia existed de jure until its liquidation by the Allied Control Council Enactment No.46 of 25 February 1947. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, in the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights—an organized Catholic medieval military order of German crusaders—conquered the lands inhabited by them. In 1308, the Teutonic Knights conquered the region of Pomerelia with Gdańsk and their monastic state was mostly Germanised through immigration from central and western Germany and in the south, it was Polonised by settlers from Masovia. The Second Peace of Thorn split Prussia into the western Royal Prussia, a province of Poland, and the part, from 1525 called the Duchy of Prussia. The union of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Prussia entered the ranks of the great powers shortly after becoming a kingdom, and exercised most influence in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century it had a say in many international affairs under the reign of Frederick the Great. During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck united the German principalities into a Lesser Germany which excluded the Austrian Empire. At the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe following Napoleons defeat, Prussia acquired a section of north western Germany. The country then grew rapidly in influence economically and politically, and became the core of the North German Confederation in 1867, and then of the German Empire in 1871. The Kingdom of Prussia was now so large and so dominant in the new Germany that Junkers and other Prussian élites identified more and more as Germans and less as Prussians. In the Weimar Republic, the state of Prussia lost nearly all of its legal and political importance following the 1932 coup led by Franz von Papen. East Prussia lost all of its German population after 1945, as Poland, the main coat of arms of Prussia, as well as the flag of Prussia, depicted a black eagle on a white background. The black and white colours were already used by the Teutonic Knights. The Teutonic Order wore a white coat embroidered with a cross with gold insert
20.
Saumur
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Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. Its skyline has often compared with that of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Early settlement of the region goes back thousands of years. The Dolmen de Bagneux on the south of the town, is 23 meters long and is built from 15 large slabs of the local stone and it is the largest in France. The Château de Saumur was constructed in the 10th century to protect the Loire river crossing from Norman attacks after the settlement of Saumur was sacked in 845. The castle, destroyed in 1067 and inherited by the House of Plantagenet, was rebuilt by Henry II of England in the later 12th century and it changed hands several times between Anjou and France until 1589. Houses in Saumur are constructed almost exclusively of the beautiful, but fragile, the caves dug to excavate the stone have become tunnels and have been used by the local vineyards as locations to store their wines. Amyraldism, or the School of Saumur, is the used to denote a distinctive form of Reformed theology taught by Moses Amyraut at the University of Saumur in the 17th century. Saumur is also the scene for Balzacs novel Eugénie Grandet, written by the French author in 1833, prior to the French Revolution Saumur was the capital of the Sénéchaussée de Saumur, a bailiwick, which existed until 1793. Saumur was then the location of the Battle of Saumur during the Revolt in the Vendée, becoming a state prison under Napoleon Bonaparte. The town was a centre with both the military cavalry school from 1783 and later the Cadre Noir based there. In 1944 it was the target of Tallboy and Azon bombing raids by Allied planes, the first raid, on 8/9 June 1944, was against a railway tunnel near Saumur, seeing the first use of the 12,000 lb Tallboy earthquake bombs. The hastily organized night raid was to stop a planned German Panzer Division, the panzers were expected to use the railway to cross the Loire. No.83 Squadron RAF illuminated the area with flares by four Avro Lancasters,25 Lancasters of No.617 Squadron RAF, the Dambusters then dropped their Tallboys from 18,000 ft with great accuracy. The damaged tunnel was dug out to make a deeper cutting, resulting in the need for a second attack. On 22 June, nine Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the United States Army Air Forces used the new Azon 1,000 lb glide bombs against the Saumur rail bridge and they failed to destroy the bridge. During the morning of 24 June,38 American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses with conventional bombs attacked the bridge, the town of Saumur was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm for its resistance and display of French patriotism during the war. Saumur is home to the Cadre Noir, the École Nationale dÉquitation, known for its horse shows, as well as the Armoured Branch and Cavalry Training School
21.
National Convention
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The National Convention was the third government of the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the one-year Legislative Assembly. Created after the insurrection of 10 August 1792, it was the first French government organized as a republic. The Convention sat as an assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795. The National Convention was therefore the first French assembly elected by a suffrage without distinctions of class, although the Convention lasted until 1795, power was effectively stripped from the elected deputies and concentrated in the small Committee of Public Safety from April 1793. After the fall of Robespierre, the Convention lasted for year until a new constitution was written. The election took place from 2 to 6 September 1792 after the election of the colleges by primary assemblies on 26 August. Therefore, the increased suffrage had very little impact, the electorate returned the same sort of men that the active citizens had chosen in 1791. In the whole of France, only eleven primary assemblies wanted to retain the monarchy, of the electoral assemblies, all tacitly voted for a republic – though only Paris used the word. None of the deputies stood as a royalist for elections, out of the five million Frenchmen able to vote, only a million showed up at the polls. The Salle des Machines had galleries for the public who often influenced the debates with interruptions or applause, the members of the Convention came from all classes of society, but the most numerous were lawyers. 75 members had sat in the National Constituent Assembly,183 in the Legislative Assembly, the full number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the French colonies, of whom only some arrived in Paris in time. Besides these, however, the newly formed départements annexed to France from 1792 to 1795 were allowed to send deputations, according to its own ruling, the Convention elected its President every fortnight, and the outgoing President was eligible for re-election after the lapse of a fortnight. Ordinarily the sessions were held in the morning, but evening sessions also occurred frequently, sometimes in exceptional circumstances the Convention declared itself in permanent session and sat for several days without interruption. For both legislative and administrative the Convention used committees, with more or less widely extended and regulated by successive laws. The most famous of these included the Committee of Public Safety. The Convention held legislative and executive powers during the first years of the French First Republic and had three periods, Girondin, Montagnard or Jacobin, and Thermidorian. The abolition of the royalty is a matter you cannot put off till tomorrow, the first session was held on 20 September 1792. The following day, amidst profound silence, the proposition was put to the assembly, on the 22nd came the news of the Battle of Valmy
22.
Brigadier general
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Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general, when appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops. In some countries a brigadier general is designated as a one-star general. The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a general, or simply a brigadier. An alternative rank of general was first used in the French revolutionary armies. Some countries, such as Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan, some of these countries then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks. The naval equivalent is usually commodore and this gallery displays Air Force brigadier general insignia if they are different from the Army brigadier general insignia. Note that in many Commonwealth countries, the equivalent air force rank is Air Commodore, the rank of brigadier general is used in the Argentine Air Force. Unlike other armed forces of the World, the rank of general is actually the highest rank in the Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force, brigadier, brigadier-major, and brigadier-general. The rank of general is reserved for the Chief General Staff of the Air Force. The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using brigade general which in turn is the lowest general officer before Divisional General, see also Argentine Army officer rank insignia. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed and this policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders. Brigadier general was used as an honorary rank on retirement. The rank insignia was like that of the current major general, as in the United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by brigadier. Prior to 2001, the Bangladesh Army rank was known as brigadier, in 2001 the Bangladesh Army introduced the rank of brigadier general, however the grade stayed equivalent to brigadier. It is the lowest ranking general officer, between the ranks of Colonel and Major General, Brigadier General is equivalent to commodore of the Bangladesh Navy and air commodore of the Bangladesh Air Force. It is still popularly called brigadier
23.
Battle of Cholet
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The Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Jean Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Louis dElbée. The battle was fought in the town of Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, d’Elbée was wounded and captured, he was later executed by Republican troops in Noirmoutier. The Royalist insurgent, Charles Melchior Artus de Bonchamps, was wounded in the battle. On the morning of 16 October 1793, the Vendéen army, beaten at the Battle of La Tremblaye, the republican avant-garde, commanded by Beaupuy, entered in the town square by the south and moved through the town to settle on the high grounds north of the town. Kléber informed Jean Léchelle of the situation, who was the general of the Army of the West. The military competencies of Léchelle were known to be null, most of the representatives had agreed to unofficially entrust the commandment to Kléber. The republican forces waited again for a reinforcement of 10,000 men of the general Alexis Chalbos before pushing further to the north and towards Beaupréau, the republican generals met in a war counsel early on 17 October. Kléber offered to divide the army in three columns and to march to Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Gesté and Beaupréau in order to surround the Vendéen army and cut it from the Loire and the road to Nantes. The strategy was approved by the generals from Mayenne, by Marceau and by Merlin de Thionville, however a few other representatives and officers, Chalbos thought the troops were too tired and the other officers were against dividing the army. Klébers plan was rejected and the counsel opted for a march to Beaupréau. At Beaupréau, the Vendéen officers were as divided as the former during the war held at noon on 16 October. Bonchamps offered to have his Breton soldiers pass the Loire to start an uprising in Brittany, Talmont, dAutichamp and Donissan wanted the whole army to go. On the other hand, dElbée, La Rochejaquelein and Stofflet refused to leave Vendée, as for Royrand, he wished to try to breach enemy lines by the west in order to meet with Charettes army. Finally, an attack on Cholet was decided and the army started its march, nonetheless, Talmont was allowed to leave for Saint-Florent-le-Vieil with 4,000 men to take Varades. In early afternoon of 17 October, the Vendéen army regrouped, rapidly it managed to push back Beaupuys first lines to the Papinière moorlands. The Vendéens then burnt down the brooms, creating a huge amount of smoke which prevented the artillery from aiming correctly. The Vendéens advanced in formation like regular troops, in three lines, which contrasted with their regular tactic. La Rochejaquelein and Royrand commanded the right flank, dElbée and Bonchamps the middle, Stofflet, marceaus troops which were bombarded by the 22 Vendéen cannons and were clearly inferior in numbers were ready to fall
24.
Divisional general
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Divisional general is a rank of general in command of a division. Examples would include the Spanish general de división, the French général de division, for convenience such ranks are often translated into English as major-general, the equivalent rank used by most English-speaking nations. The corresponding NATO code is OF-7, or a two-star rank, some countries of Latin America such as Brazil and Chile use divisional general as the equivalent of lieutenant-general. This corresponding NATO code is OF-8, or a rank for these countries. In Japan and Taiwan the rank of lieutenant-general is equivalent to divisional general, the rank is mostly used in countries where it is used as a modern alternative to a previous older rank of major-general. The rank is almost always above a rank corresponding to command of a brigade, a French Army général de division translates as a general of division. The French Air Force equivalent is général de division aérienne, rank insignia is that of 3 white stars on the epaulette, sleeve mark or shoulder board. As well as commanding a division, a général de division may be appointed as général de corps darmée commanding a corps, or as a général darmée. These are not ranks, but appointments of the same rank, the insignia of a général de corps darmée is four stars in a diamond formation, and that of a général darmée is five stars in a cross-shaped arrangement. The arrangement for the air force is the same, but the ranks are called général de corps darmée aérien, the Italian army and Carabineer rank of generale di divisione translates as divisional general. The air force equivalent is generale di divisione aerea, the Polish equivalent is generał dywizji. The symbols of rank are the generals wavy line and two stars, featured both on the rogatywka, on the sleeves of the uniform and above the breast pocket of a field uniform. The Brazilian rank general-de-divisão translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army and this rank is equivalent to lieutenant-general. The air force equivalent is major-brigadeiro. The Spanish rank general de división translates literally as general of division, and is used by the army, the air force, the Swiss military use 4 languages, German, French, Romansh and Italian. The names of the OF-7 rank are divisionär, divisionnaire, divisiunari, in all cases, these are abbreviated as Div, and in all cases represent the head of a division, and hence can be translated as divisional general
25.
Commander-in-chief
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A commander-in-chief is the person or body that exercises supreme operational command and control of a nations military forces or significant elements of those forces. In the latter case, the element is those forces within a particular region. Often, a given countrys commander-in-chief need not be or have been an officer or even a veteran. This follows the principle of civilian control of the military, the role of commander-in-chief derives from the Latin, imperator. Imperatores of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire possessed imperium powers, in its modern use, the term first applied to King Charles I of England in 1639. It continued to be used during the English Civil War, a nations head of state usually holds the nominal position of commander-in-chief, even if effective executive power is held by a separate head of government. Governors-general and colonial governors are also often appointed commander-in-chief of the forces within their territory. A commander-in-chief is sometimes referred to as commander, which is sometimes used as a specific term. The term is used for military officers who hold such power and authority, not always through dictatorship. The term is used for officers who hold authority over an individual military branch. According to the Constitution of Albania, The President of the Republic of Albania is the Commander-in-chief of Albanian Armed Forces, the incumbent Commander-in-chief is President Bujar Nishani. The Ministry of Defense is the government department that assists and serves the President in the management of the armed forces, the Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers exercise this control through the Australian Defence Organisation. The Constitution states, in Article 80, that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces. e, the cabinet under the chairmanship of the Federal Chancellor, as defined in Article 69. The commander-in-chief is the president, although executive power and responsibility for national defense resides with the prime minister and he retired on 7 April 1972 and relinquished all authority and duties to the President of Bangladesh. Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 states that the Brazilian Armed Forces is under the command of the President of the Republic. The Sultan of Brunei is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, the powers of command-in-chief over the Canadian Armed Forces are vested in the Canadian monarch, and are delegated to the Governor General of Canada, who also uses the title Commander-in-Chief. In this capacity, the general is entitled to the uniform of a general/flag officer, with the crest of the office. According to the National Defence Act, the Minister of National Defence is responsible and accountable to parliament for all related to national defence
26.
Ad interim
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The Latin phrase ad interim means in the meantime or temporarily. A diplomatic officer who acts in place of an ambassador is called chargé daffaires ad interim, examples from classic literature, The abbreviation a. i. is used in job titles
27.
Battle of Le Mans (1793)
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See Battle of Le Mans for the battle here in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. The Battle of Le Mans was a battle during the Virée de Galerne and it resulted in the rout of the Vendéen forces by Republican troops. Their numbers were reduced, the Catholic and Royal Army now numbered less than 20,000 men. Of the 80,000 the Vendéens had at the start of the Virée de Galerne, suffering of famine and the cold, ravaged by gangrenous dysentery, typhus and putrid fever, they mostly tried to obtain supplies. They then spread out through the city and managed to find provisions, on 12 December the first Republican troops under François-Joseph Westermann and François Muller appeared at the gates of the city. Henri de La Rochejaquelein and Talmont assembled 3,000 men, especially Chouans and they managed to set a trap in the woods near Le Mans. Westermanns surprised cavalry had to pull back whereas Mullers division panicked and fled after the first shots fired, the Republican army was on the verge of being annihilated when Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tillys Army of the Coasts of Cherbourg arrived as reinforcements on the battle field. This time it was the Vendéens who panicked and fled and hid in the city, La Rochejaquelein thus re-entered the city, but his forces were dispersed, most of the Vendéens not even realizing the Republicans were so close, and some soldiers were even drunk. Some time later, General François-Séverin Marceau arrived in turn at the battle and he was followed by Jean Baptiste Kléber and his troops of the Army of Mainz. Marceau wished to wait for Klébers troops to arrive before attacking but Westermann insisted and launched an attack, the Republican army entered Le Mans by nightfall, overwhelmed all the Vendéen defences. The Vendéens were completely disorganized, chaos resulted in the city where all night long street skirmishes were taking place, La Rochejaquelein, seeing that all was lost, sought only to protect the retreat towards Laval for the survivors. The Vendéens deployed 14 cannons at the gates of the city, managing to cover their retreat, yet thousands of Vendéens, most of them non-combatants, were stuck inside the town, having taken refuge in the houses. Groups of resisting Vendéen soldiers were spread across the city and they resisted for a long while, standing their ground until the end of the day. Nonetheless, they were destroyed by the Republican artillery under General François Carpentier. The battle then turned into a massacre, with the wounded, women and children who had taken refuge in the houses being forced out, Kléber and Marceau tried to save the prisoners, but could not hold back their troops. Westermann assembled his hussars and pursued the Vendéens and those who were slow and fell behind were massacred, but the larger part of the Vendéen army, reduced to half on its strength, managed to reach Laval on 14 December. The Republican cavalry, not daring to enter the faubourgs, decided to head back. According to the Committee of Public Safety,2,000 to 5,000 Vendéens, both combatants and non-combatants, died in Le Mans, while Republican losses totaled only 30 dead and approximately 100 wounded
28.
Battle of Savenay
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The Battle of Savenay took place on 23 December 1793, and marks the end of the Virée de Galerne operational phase of the first war in the Vendée after the French Revolution. A Republican force of approximately 18,000 decisively defeated the Armée Catholique et Royale force of 6,000 at Savenay. After a crushing defeat at the battle of Le Mans on 12 December 1793, without boats, crossing the river was impossible. Hence the Vendéens built small boats and approximately 4,000 people, including Henri de La Rochejaquelein and Jean-Nicolas Stofflet, the Vendéen rear guard was stranded to the north of the Loire, and tried another way around. They went to Blain,35 km north of Nantes, but had to go back towards Savenay,30 km west of Nantes, Savenay was taken by the Vendéens early morning of 22 December, with practically no fighting. The 150 republican soldiers quickly pulled back after a skirmish with the Vendéen first line. At 9,00, the royalists prepared the defenses of the town, the republicans under Westermann were the first to arrive, at 11,00. They attacked but were pushed back after a small skirmish, at noon, Kléber and Marceau arrived with the greater part of the Republican army. Another skirmish was fought for the control of the Touchelais woods, to the north-east of Savenay and those were the last skirmishes of the day because a fog rose during the afternoon, the Republicans kept their positions. At nightfall some représentants en mission, Pierre-Louis Prieur, Louis Marie Turreau, surprised at the troops inaction, they ordered military engagement so as to not allow the enemy to rest, Westermann agreed. A war council was held at which Kléber insisted they had to wait for sunrise before attacking, Marceau sided with Kléber, the Republicans took advantage of the night to deploy. At 2,00 in the morning, Tillys division, which came from Vannes, simon Canuel commanded the left flank, Kléber the middle-left, Marceau the middle-right and Tilly the right. Apart from a few passages to the south of the town, at sunrise the battle started, but surprisingly it was the Vendéens and Chouans who launched it in order to take the Touchelais woods and not be surrounded. The attack was commanded by Lyrot and saw success, they captured two cannons and 40 prisoners, soon after, Kléber launched a counter-attack with his Gendarmes regiment, charging with bayonets and forcing the Vendéens to pull back to the gates of Savenay. In the center, Marceau, commanding the légion des Francs and Chasseurs de Kastel, on their respective fronts, Canuel, Tilly and Westermann also launched attacks, putting pressure on the royalists on all sides. Soon, the Republicans entered the town despite the resistance of Marignys artillery, street combat took place amid great confusion, house by house, numerous Vendéen families participated in the fighting. The Vendéen artillery deployed in front of the church and managed to hold their ground for a while, fleuriot tried an ultimate counter-attack, he picked 200 to 300 cavalrymen, commanded by Cadoudal, with Pierre-Mathurin Mercier and a few infantrymen. They attacked and pierced Tillys lines and tried to attack Republican lines along their flank, during that time, on the church square, the Republicans took control of the cannon and turned it against the Vendéens
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House of Bourbon
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The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, by the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs, the royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, a cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years, until it too was overthrown. The Princes de Condé were a branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain. The Spanish House of Bourbon has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, all legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV. The term House of Bourbon is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, the remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, all future Bourbons would descend from James IIs younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mothers inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme and his son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoines younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon, Louis male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and he was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre
30.
Guillotine
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A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade is raised to the top, the condemned person is secured with stocks at the bottom of the frame, positioning the neck directly below the blade. The blade is released, to fall swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single pass so that the head falls into a basket below. The name dates from period, but similar devices had been used elsewhere in Europe over several centuries. The guillotine continued to be used long after the revolution and remained Frances standard method of execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981. The last person to be executed in France was Hamida Djandoubi, the use of beheading machines in Europe long predates such use in the French revolution in 1792. An early example of the principle is found in the High History of the Holy Grail, although the device is imaginary, its function is clear. The text says, Within these three openings are the set for them. And behold what I would do to them if their three heads were therein, even thus will I cut off their heads when they shall set them into those three openings thinking to adore the hallows that are beyond. The Halifax Gibbet was a structure of two wooden uprights, capped by a horizontal beam, of a total height of 4.5 metres. The blade was an axe head weighing 3.5 kg, attached to the bottom of a wooden block that slid up. This device was mounted on a square platform 1.25 metres high. It is not known when the Halifax Gibbet was first used, the first recorded execution in Halifax dates from 1280, the machine remained in use until Oliver Cromwell forbade capital punishment for petty theft. It was used for the last time, for the execution of two criminals on a day, on 30 April 1650. Holinsheds Chronicles of 1577 included a picture of The execution of Murcod Ballagh near to Merton in Ireland 1307 showing a similar execution machine, the Maiden was constructed in 1564 for the Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, and was in use from April 1565 to 1710. One of those executed was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, in 1581, Schmidt recommended using an angled blade as opposed to a round one. On 10 October 1789, physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed to the National Assembly that capital punishment always take the form of decapitation by means of a simple mechanism, sensing the growing discontent, Louis XVI banned the use of the breaking wheel. A committee was formed under Antoine Louis, physician to the King, Guillotin was also on the committee
31.
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
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Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan, enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804, after 1815, he became reconciled to the Bourbon Restoration. He was one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary Army, born at Limoges, France into a surgeons family, he enlisted in the French royal army in early 1778 when he was not quite sixteen. Assigned to the Regiment of Auxerrois, he participated in the assault at the Siege of Savannah on 9 October 1779 during the American War of Independence. After service in the West Indies, he returned home in 1782 sick with a fever, bouts of illness troubled him for the rest of his life. In 1784 he was discharged from the army and set up a business in Limoges. He married a dressmaker in 1788 and the couple had five daughters, when the National Assembly asked for volunteers, Jourdan was elected Chef de bataillon of the 2nd Haute-Vienne Battalion. He led his troops in the French victory at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November 1792, Jourdans leadership skills were noticed and led to his promotion to general of brigade on 27 May 1793 and to general of division two months later. On 8 September, he led his division at the Battle of Hondschoote, on 22 September he was named to lead the Army of the North. Three of his predecessors, Nicolas Luckner, Adam Philippe, comte de Custine and his first assignment was to relieve Jacques Ferrands 20, 000-man garrison of Maubeuge which was besieged by an Austrian-Dutch army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg. The Committee of Public Safety felt that this mission was so important that it dispatched Lazare Carnot to oversee the operation, Jourdan defeated Coburg on 15–16 October at the Battle of Wattignies and broke the siege. Carnot claimed that it was his own intervention that won the victory, historian Michael Glover writes that the first days attack was a failure because of Carnots interference, while the second days success resulted from Jourdan using his own tactical judgment. In any case, only Carnots account reached Paris, on 10 January 1794, after refusing to carry out an impossible order, Jourdan was brought before the Committee of Public Safety. Carnot presented Jourdans arrest warrant, which was signed by Maximilien de Robespierre, Bertrand Barère, Jourdan was saved from certain execution when an eyewitness, Representative-on-mission Ernest Joseph Duquesnoy rose and contradicted Carnots version of events at Wattignies. Spared from arrest, Jourdan was nevertheless dismissed from the army, the government soon recalled Jourdan to lead the Army of the Moselle. In May, he was ordered north with the wing of the Army of the Moselle. This force was combined with the Army of the Ardennes and the wing of the Army of the North to form an army which did not officially become the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse until 29 June 1794. With 70,000 soldiers of the new army, Jourdan laid siege to Charleroi on 12 June, an 41, 000-man Austrian-Dutch army under William V, Prince of Orange defeated the French at the Battle of Lambusart on 16 June and drove them south of the Sambre River
32.
Charleroi
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Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By January 1,2008, the population of Charleroi was 201,593. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos, the municipality of Charleroi straddles both banks of the river Sambre in an area marked by industrial activities, which has been nicknamed the Pays Noir, part of the larger sillon industriel. Even though most of the factories have closed since the 1950s, Charleroi lies around 50 kilometres south of Brussels. Several public buildings, temples and villas were built in the area in the Roman period, burial places, with jewels and weapons, have been found. The first written mention of a place called Charnoy dates from a 9th-century offering in the Lobbes abbey, during the Middle Ages, Charnoy was one of the many small hamlets in the area, with no more than about 50 inhabitants, part of the County of Namur. The history of the city of Charleroi began in 1666, in September of that same year, the name Charnoy was officially replaced by that of the newly founded city of Charles-Roi, so named in honor of Charles II. The chronogram FVNDATVR CAROLOREGIVM can be found in the register of the parish of Charnoy for the year 1666, a year later, Louis XIV’s armies, under the command of the Vicomte de Turenne, besieged the unfinished fortress. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban completed the work, the future city was granted its privileges, a bridge was built over the river. The French Prince of Conti took the city again in 1745, glass, steel and coal industries, which had already sprung up a century earlier, could now flourish. Trouble began again in 1790, the year of the uprising that eventually led to the United States of Belgium. The Austrians occupied the city, were forced out by the French after the Battle of Jemappes on November 6,1792, and took it back again four months later. On June 12,1794, the French revolutionary Army of Sambre-et-Meuse under the command of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, invested Charleroi, the city took the revolutionary name of Libre-sur-Sambre until 1800. After Frances defeat in 1814, the area was annexed to the Netherlands. Napoleon stayed in Charleroi for a couple of days in June 1815, after the Industrial Revolution, Charleroi benefited from the increased use of coke in the metallurgical industry. People from across Europe were attracted by the opportunities. Following the Industrial revolution in Wallonia, Charleroi from the 1850s–1860s became one of the most important places where labor strikes broke out, in 1886,12 strikers were killed by the Belgian army in Roux. In the 1880s, miners in Hainaut were recruited by the Dominion Coal Company in Glace Bay and these miners were anxious to flee the repression following bloody strikes and riots in Liège and Charleroi during the Walloon Jacquerie of 1886
33.
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
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Both sides had forces in the area of around 80,000 men but the French were able to concentrate their troops and defeat the First Coalition. The Allied defeat led to the permanent loss of the Austrian Netherlands, the battle marked a turning point for the French army, which remained ascendant for the rest of the War of the First Coalition. The French use of the reconnaissance balloon lEntreprenant was the first military use of an aircraft that influenced the result of a battle. After the Battle of Tourcoing on 17–18 May 1794, Jourdan was given the command of the Army of the Ardennes and four divisions of the Army of the North and this new group was then named the Army of the Sambre-et-Meuse. The new army was given the task of capturing Charleroi. On 12 June, the French army, accompanied and supervised by a member of the Committee of Public Safety, on 16 June at Lambusart, an Austrian-Dutch force of about 43,000 men counterattacked in heavy mist. The Allies managed to inflict some 3,000 casualties on the French, on 18 June, however, Jourdan attacked again and managed to retake Charleroi. The city surrendered on 26 June, just as a force under the Prince of Coburg arrived to raise the siege. See Fleurus 1794 Order of Battle, on 26 June, Feldmarschall Coburg manœuvred around Charleroi with a force of 52,000 Austrian and Dutch soldiers. Too late to save the city, which had surrendered, the Austrian commander split his army into five columns, a French reconnaissance balloon, lEntreprenant, operated by the Aerostatic Corps, continuously informed General of Division Jean-Baptiste Jourdan about Austrian movements. The Austrians managed to break through both French wings, pushing back MG François Marceau on the wing and MG Montaigu on the left wing. The French center under MG François Lefebvre held and then counterattacked, colonel Nicolas Soult, then serving as Lefebvres Chief of staff, wrote that it was, fifteen hours of the most desperate fighting I ever saw in my life. Coburg neglected to press on and uncertain of the outcome, the Austrian commander lost his nerve and fell back to Braine-lAlleud and Waterloo and this was the final straw that caused the allies to retire over the Rhine, leaving the French free rein in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is generally agreed that the battle was a one for the French. The Allied losses have always been in dispute, the French claimed significantly higher losses than their own, traditional estimates attribute considerable casualties to Coburgs army, and hover near five thousand Allied killed and wounded. However, according to historian Digby Smith, Austrian-Dutch losses numbered 208 killed,1,017 wounded, in addition, the French captured one mortar, three caissons, and one standard, while the Austrians captured one cannon and one standard. Despite any tactical imbalance, the value of Fleurus was immense for the French. The victory precipitated a full Allied withdrawal from Belgium and allowed French forces to push north into the Netherlands, by the end of 1795, the Dutch Republic was extinguished
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French Republic
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marceau-Desgraviers, François Séverin". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 683–684. The 1911 Britannica, in turn, gives the following references:
