French Forces Research Articles

A “Forgotten” Massacre: The Battle of Thakhek in Laos, 1946

ABSTRACT Hundreds of combatants and civilians, both Lao and Vietnamese, perished in the small border town of Thakhek in central Laos on March 21, 1946, when French forces launched their biggest military operation in Indochina at the time. The French victory over the revolutionary forces that day paved the way for the colonial reconquest of Laos and energized France’s military campaign for the reoccupation of Indochina, yet it is barely mentioned in the historiography of the First Indochina War (1945-1954). Drawing on French archives, Lao and Vietnamese documents, and interviews with survivors, this article reconstitutes the history of this massacre and suggests that the massacre has not been fully investigated by historians for two reasons. First, the story of the killing of these hundreds of people – mostly ethnic Vietnamese residing in Laos – sits uneasily between studies of the contemporary history of Laos and academic work on the war between France and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, thus falling into a historiographical gap. Second, the battle was marked by compromise and miscalculation, which has prevented it from attaining the status of a great anti-colonial battle in the history of the struggle for Lao and Vietnamese independence.

Fortresses of the Peloponnese, Ottoman Defences and the Greek Revolution (1821–1828)

During the Greek Revolution, the fortresses of the Peloponnese played a crucial role, serving as key defensive positions, sanctuaries for those seeking refuge from violence and sites for negotiations between the Ottoman forces and Greek revolutionaries. By maintaining control over a handful of fortresses in the Morea, the Ottomans were able to monitor the progress of the uprisings. However, their claim to rule persisted until they were eventually compelled to evacuate by French forces in 1828. This article seeks to address the Ottoman presence in the Peloponnese. It explores the whereabouts of Ottoman forces, their defensive strategies against the Greek revolutionaries and the factors that contributed to their successes or failures in confronting the Greek forces. Additionally, it delves into the impact of the physical characteristics of the fortresses, the geography of the region and the weather conditions during the Greek uprising. Focusing primarily on the fortresses of the Peloponnese, the article draws from Ottoman archival documents to shed light on the Ottoman perspective of the Greek revolts.

Posture analysis in predicting fall-related injuries during French Navy Special Forces selection course using machine learning: a proof-of-concept study

IntroductionInjuries induced by falls represent the main cause of failure in the French Navy Special Forces selection course. In the present study, we made the assumption that probing the posture...

War, Women, and Sex Work in Occupied Istanbul, 1918–1923

Abstract The occupation of Istanbul by British, French, and Italian forces and the broader political upheavals between 1918 and 1923 radically altered the lives of women selling sex in the Ottoman capital. Increased demand brought by Allied soldiers and increases in supply as waves of migration brought new and financially precarious women to the city led to an expansion in the scale of the sex trade, which soon became a major concern of Allied and Ottoman authorities, servicemen, and the wider public. British, French, and Italian soldiers not only visited brothels as paying customers, but also enforced new regulations on prostitution, making women sex workers particularly vulnerable to violence perpetrated by them. The end of occupation in 1923 posed further challenges, as shifts in the political and judicial framework and reductions in clientele instigated new outward flows of sex workers from the city, emigrations that were complicated by financial and legal restrictions. The article uses French, British, Turkish, and League of Nations sources to uncover the challenges that women faced while working in Istanbul’s brothels in this period and the ways in which they navigated occupation. In doing so, it hopes to contribute to the investigation of the occupation’s impact on subaltern Istanbulites, something that has been hitherto neglected in research centered on the political contest between imperialist, Ottoman, and Turkish nationalist cadres during these years.

Position: A study protocol for the prevention of fall injuries in french special forces selection courses using a body-centered intervention.

The Military Physical and Sports Training program was developed by the French Army in order to train, optimize, and maintain individual readiness. Although the health benefits of sport practice do not need to be demonstrated, such activities can cause acute musculoskeletal injuries that need to be addressed. The prevalence of lower limb injury is rather high in the French military population and, in particular, ranges from 15 to 45% during Special Forces selection courses. Thus, this project aims to investigate the efficiency of a body-centered program designed to enhance body awareness. The program seeks to train the mind to actively pay attention to body information, while the latter is viewed as a protective factor against fall injuries. We assume: (i) that postural control can be improved by enhancing the level of body awareness; and (ii) that greater postural awareness could be beneficial in reducing the risk of fall injuries. The body-centered prevention program is based on the Optimization of the Resources of the Armed Forces (ORAF) intervention, which focuses on mental preparation and recovery, and has been deployed in the French Army for many years. The study focuses on five French Special Forces selection courses (400 soldiers/ participants). It is divided into two stages (year 1, year 2). The first year is dedicated to data collection from the control group (200 participants), while in the second year the ORAF intervention will be deployed. In both year, participants will be subjected to the same enrollment schedule (Fig 3). The main objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ORAF intervention in reducing the rate of fall injuries during military selection, based on a multidisciplinary method that captures demographic, biological, biometric, clinical, and para-clinical measures. Registration number: IDRCB number 2021-A02108-33, Clinical Trial: NCT05451394.

Failure to Plan: The Disease That Cost an American Empire.

In 1802, the deadliest recorded epidemic of yellow fever struck a French expeditionary force, permanently destroying Napoleon Bonaparte's ambition to re-conquer Haiti and secure a North American empire. Toussaint L'Ouverture, Haitian revolutionary, effectively used his medical experience to spread this disease among French troops.

The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World

The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World

PENGARUH BESAR CU CHI TUNNELS DALAM KEMENANGAN PERANG GERILYA BANGSA VIETNAM

The Vietnamese guerrilla war lasted from 1953-1954 culminating in victory at Dien Bien Phu, the end of nearly a century of French colonial rule over Indochina. The Vietnamese people led by Ho Chi Minh launched massive attacks on French outposts using a combination of conventional and guerrilla warfare tactics. Equally important in supporting the Vietnamese army's guerrilla warfare victory were the Cu Chi Tunnels, which served as a base of operations against French forces. The methodology in writing this journal by analysing the making of Cu Chi Tunnels which includes structure, development pattern, room composition using descriptive analysis method supported by literature study, literature, national and international scientific journals. The results and discussion in this research are Cu Chi Tunnels played an important role in the military strategy of the Vietnamese army, as a means of communication and logistics transport, as well as a storage place for weapons and ammunition. The structure of the tunnel has the natural advantage of being near the Saigon River which allows for air penetration, in the form of lateritic clay (iron soil). Meanwhile, the pattern of tunnel construction as a secret passage for fighting and escaping was made zigzagging, not straight "like a snake". For the composition of the tunnel room, three levels were built separately but interconnected, designed to serve various functions as living quarters, weapons and ammunition storage facilities, hospitals, as well as communication and command centres.

War for God or a War for the Godless?

The French Civil Wars, or ‘Wars of Religion,’ were set primarily in the sixteenth century and enveloped France in a religious conflict. The Civil Wars were a series of violent periods between the French Protestant Huguenots and the Roman Catholics, Catholicism being the official religion of the French Kingdom. The ongoing struggle resulted in an escalation of civil violence and polarity between the religious affiliations, creating a divided French populous that carried out many atrocities, such as the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre. The violence subsided in 1598 when King Henry IV enacted the Edict of Nantes, granting substantial conditions and support to the Huguenot population in France. However, this paper argues for the importance of categorizing the wars as ‘civil’ and not ‘religious.’ The dynamic situation involves more than religious differences, including a central reliance on community-based disputes, group association based on mass paranoia, and even political gain for those of the French nobility. It is important to understand the complexity of the Civil Wars. Denoting them as a religious conflict ignores the other civil implications which provoked aggression between French communities and forces.

Neurosurgical Consultation Referral from the Forces: Regarding 328 Patients Referred to the Department of Neurosurgery, Sainte Anne Military Hospital, France.

There are little data regarding elective referral to the military specialist, especially considering common pathologies such as spinal diseases, which, in the French forces, involve military neurosurgeons. An overview of the management of the military patient referred to neurosurgery consultation, especially considering spinal diseases that both constitute an operational healthissue in the forces and appear of special interest. The objective was to describe the reasons, demographics, and care pathways, addressed to the neurosurgeon. This retrospective, single-center study focused on all military patients referred for neurosurgery consultation at Sainte Anne Military Hospital in Toulon. Extracted data included demographic characteristics, army, unit, military specialty, the reason for referral, the diagnosis by the neurosurgeon, treatment, and outcome. From January 2018 to December 2019, 352 patients were referred for neurosurgical consultation by the unit general practitioner. Spinal disease (n = 297, 91%) was the most frequent reason. Lumbar degenerative disk disease accounted for 20% of consultations, regardless of the patient's unit or specialty. Most of the patients seen in consultation received nonsurgical management (n = 271, 82.6%). These patients mainly presented with cervical or lumbar degenerative disk disease (n = 99, 36.5%) or cervical or lumbar herniated discs (n = 57, 21.0%). Ninety-eight patients (29.9%) were referred exclusively for medical fitness assessment. Few patients experienced full resolution of their presenting complaint after management (n = 9, 2.8%). This descriptive study demonstrates the predominance of degenerative spinal diseases in military patients referred to neurosurgery. It reflects the importance of the medical and military competence required to maintain operational capability upstream and downstream of war traumatology. The description of the care pathways invites us to define more proactive multidisciplinary pathways for the management of these diseases in the armed forces.

Naval architecture saved the United States at its birth

ABSTRACT Naval architecture was developed by European sailing navies (mostly France and Spain) as a force multiplier against Britain. It became the basis for the design of the combined French-Spanish Bourbon Armada, which fought the British Navy around the globe, outnumbering and overwhelming it during the War of American Independence. Coppering, which reduced resistance, was one of the most important naval technologies developed during the war. The French frigate Concorde, designed with most advanced naval architecture theory of the era and fully coppered, carried the key dispatches that enabled French and American forces to coordinate and converge at Yorktown in 1781. All of these actions, taken together, forced Britain to sue for peace, resulting in an independent United States of America.

Haiti - Harmed at the Hands of Others

On January 1, 1804, Haiti officially proclaimed its Declaration of Independence, roughly two months after its forces led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines expelled the last remaining French forces from their territory. Their revolution had begun in 1791, when enslaved people sought to break free of brutal French colonial rule that originated in the mid-seventeenth century. The subsequent Haitian Constitution, published in 1805, detailed a “free and form sovereign state, independent of all the other powers of the universe,” known as the “Haitian Empire,” where “slavery is abolished forever” and “equality before the law is irrefutably established.” The future appeared bright for this newly independent Black nation in the Caribbean. Unfortunately, for Haiti and the Haitian people, this bright future was not to be. For the past two plus centuries, Haiti has been continuously disadvantaged and subjected to mistreatment by other nations, including France and the United States. The potential for Haiti to emerge as a prosperous nation has thus been quashed due to numerous cases of foreign interference, which are still ongoing today.

Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany: Conquest, Incorporation, and Integration

At its height, the continental European possessions of Napoleonic France consisted of 130 departments. Among the last additions to the collection were the thirteen carved out of the Netherlands and north-west Germany and integrated, at least on paper, in 1810/11. Rule from Paris was short-lived: most of these departments were overrun by coalition troops in the course of 1813, though French forces clung on to Hamburg into the spring of 1814, when they finally surrendered after a devastating siege. Martijn van der Burg’s new book examines these departments, and thereby adds to a growing corpus of regional studies of Napoleon’s empire in recent decades. The territorial frame adopted by this book is its greatest strength. It allows for a comparison of integration policies in areas of vastly diverse histories and traditions. A similar methodology of cutting across multiple borders is adopted by Pierre Horn, in his book Le défi de l’enracinement napoléonien entre Rhin et Meuse, 1810–1814: L’opinion publique dans les départements de la Roër, de l’Ourthe, des Forêts et de la Moselle (published by Oldenbourg in 2016). With the Dutch departments examined by Van der Burg, the French confronted inhabitants already used to living together under a substantial territorial administration. The preceding phases under the Batavian Republic (1795–1806) and Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) provided introductions to French-style governance. In contrast, the jumble of polities from which the north-west German departments were cobbled together were denied passage through any intervening decompression chamber. What made the whole area, Dutch and German, worth annexing from Napoleon’s perspective was his conflict with Britain. This was fought out economically, and the strategy of blockade and counter-blockade demanded direct control of the North Sea coast. The issue was how to best manage the annexation process.

France’s strategy in the Baltic region: military and political aspects

This article examines the current military-political strategy of France in the Baltic region. This area has not traditionally been among the main priorities of French diplomacy. However, under President Emmanuel Macron, France pays closer attention to the Baltic Sea due to the growing tension between Russia and the West. According to France’s key strategic documents, the government assesses the present-day situation mainly in a negative way, considering Russian actions as the main reason for the militarization of the region and expressing its readiness to show solidarity with NATO allies. On this basis, Paris is gradually increasing its military presence in the Baltic region, which now exceeds its contingents in the Middle East and the Sahel. For example, French forces still participate in the NATO air policing programme as well as in naval exercises, keeping the troops in Estonia within the Lynx mission. France’s further activity in the region includes enhanced cooperation with Sweden and Finland after they accede to NATO, an already planned increase in military contingent in the Baltic States in 2023, and the development of the European Political Community project. The author concludes that even if France’s presence in the Baltic does not yet pose a critical threat to Russian security, Paris’s policy is becoming more pro-Atlantic to the detriment of previous statements about ‘European sovereignty’ and dialogue with Russia.

Tsetse fly ecology and risk of transmission of African trypanosomes related to a protected forest area at a military base in the city of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

African trypanosomoses, whose pathogens are transmitted by tsetse flies, are a threat to animal and human health. Tsetse flies observed at the military base of the French Forces in Côte d'Ivoire (FFCI base) were probably involved in the infection and death of military working dogs. Entomological and parasitological surveys were carried out during the rainy and dry seasons using "Vavoua" traps to identify tsetse fly species, their distribution, favorable biotopes and food sources, as well as the trypanosomes they harbor. A total of 1185 Glossina palpalis palpalis tsetse flies were caught, corresponding to a high average apparent density of 2.26 tsetse/trap/day. The results showed a heterogeneous distribution of tsetse at the FFCI base, linked to more or less favorable biotopes. No significant variation in tsetse densities was observed according to the season. The overall trypanosomes infection rate according to microscopic observation was 13.5%. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses confirmed the presence of Trypanosoma vivax and T. congolense forest type, responsible for African animal trypanosomosis. Our findings suggest that there is a risk of introduction and transmission of T. brucei gambiense, responsible for human African trypanosomiasis, on the study site. This risk of transmission of African trypanosomes concerns not only the FFCI base, but also inhabited peripheral areas. Our study confirmed the need for vector control adapted to the eco-epidemiological context of the FFCI base.

The Ritual Solidarity of Masked Processions in Calabar, Cameroon, and Cuba

The Ritual Solidarity of Masked Processions in Calabar, Cameroon, and Cuba

Plamy na honorze

HONOR DISGRACED: PRE-WORLD WAR II DESERTIONS OF POLISH ARMY OFFICERS
 During the Interwar period, desertions plagued the Polish Army. Many officers were counted among the thousands of rank-and-file soldiers who deserted prior to 1939. The desertion of officers was the most shocking of all peacetime abandonments, as they were supposed to be patriotic leaders of the men under their command. Officers deserted for myriad reasons, including fear of prosecution for illicit behavior, such as theft, and the discovery of cooperation or collusion with foreign agents. Of all the officer desertions during this period, the most spectacular took place in 1930 when Major Stanisław Krauss defected to Belgium and France. In 1934, a French court sentenced him to 5 years in prison for spying on French forces for Germany. The trial hit press headlines worldwide.

Adapting State's Last Resort Tool, the Consequences of Climate Change on Military Strategy and Tactics, the Case of French Forces

Adapting State's Last Resort Tool, the Consequences of Climate Change on Military Strategy and Tactics, the Case of French Forces

Csanád vármegye idegen megszállásának diplomáciai háttere

In connection with the study of the military and political collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the end of the First World War, several authors have recently discussed in detail the issues raised by the status of the Banat, related Serbian and Romanian aspirations, and the movements of the French forces that occupied and held military control over the region, as well as analysing the French diplomatic steps behind these movements. The future fate of the Banat proved to be a serious source of conflict, with the possibility of armed clashes between the Serbs and the Romanians. The French wanted to prevent armed conflict between their allies with a north-south demarcation line separating the opposing parties and by occupying strategic points, such as Szeged and Arad, until the peace conference decided on the final status of the area. In theory, the line between Szeged and Arad, practically the route of the River Mureş, marked the northern border of the area in question. However, it is not widely known that the Serbs, in competition with the Romanians, claimed not only the area to the south of the Mureş, but also the areas of southern Csanád to the north of the river, right up to Mezőhegyes, and to this end, military action was taken and diplomatic efforts were made at the Paris Peace Conference in March 1919. All this inevitably concealed the possibility of a Serbian-Romanian armed conflict over the possession of this territory, which required the repeated intervention of the French and which was embodied by the French military occupation of Makó, the seat of Csanád county, for almost two months from 27 April to 16 June 1919. This was followed by the Romanian military occupation, which lasted for a good nine months. Our study seeks to review the background and steps of this process, which have not been sufficiently elucidated in the historical literature to date.

Africans Had No Business Fighting in Either the 1914–1918 War or the 1939–1945 War

The wars of 1914–1918 and 1939–1945 are without parallel in the expansive stretch of decades of the pan-European conquest and occupation of Africa in creating such profound opportunity to study the very entrenched desire by the European conqueror-states in Africa to perpetuate their control on the continent and its peoples indefinitely. The two principal protagonists in each conflict, Britain and Germany, were the lead powers of these conqueror-states that had formally occupied Africa since 1885. Against this cataclysmic background of history, Africans found themselves conscripted by both sides of the confrontation line in 1914–1918 to at once fight wars for and against their aggressors during which 1 million Africans were killed. Clearly, this was a case of double-jeopardy of conquered and occupied peoples fighting for their enemy-occupiers. In the follow-up 1939–1945 war, when Germany indeed no longer occupied any African land (having been defeated in the 1914–1918 encounter), Britain and allies France and Belgium (all continuing occupying powers in Africa) conscripted Africans, yet again, to fight for these powers in their new confrontation against Germany, and Japan, a country that was in no way an aggressor force in Africa. Hundreds of thousands of Africans were killed in this second war. In neither of these conflicts, as this study demonstrates, do the leaders of these warring countries who occupied (or hitherto occupied) Africa ever view their enforced presence in Africa as precisely the scenario or outcome they wished their own homeland was not subjected to by their enemies. On the contrary, just as it was their position in the aftermath of the 1914–1918 war, Britain, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal in 1945 each envisaged the continuing occupation of the states and peoples of Africa they had seized by force prior to these conflicts. Winston Churchill, the British prime minster at the time, was adamant: ‘I had not become the king’s first minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire’. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the anti-German ‘free French forces’, was no less categorical on this score: ‘Self-government [in French-occupied Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific and elsewhere in the world] must be rejected – even in the more distant future’.