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The SiPo

Mai 1944, des maisons en feu lors d'une opération militaro-policière allemande contre la Résistance. Copyright Archives allemandes

The militia of the collaborationist movements

Palais de Chaillot, 26 septembre 1943. Rassemblement de miliciens, de miliciennes et de membres du RNP et des JNP.

The Wehrmacht, an instrument of repression of the Resistance in France

Chasseur parachutiste allemand au combat en Normandie, juin 1944. Copyright Archives allemandes

The institutions of Combatant France

General de Gaulle and other members of the French National Committee (CNF) in London. Photograph taken during the nationwide five minutes’ silence ordered by de Gaulle in honour of French soldiers executed by firing squad, in October 1941. Around General

The institutional challenges for Free France

Inaugural session of the Provisional Consultative Assembly (3 November 1943). Copyright Musée de la Résistance nationale (Champigny-sur-Marne)

The Italians in France, 1914-18

General Albricci’s Italian units cross the village of Lhuître, in the Aube, on their way to the front, 23 April 1918.

Operation Léopard

The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment on parade in Lubumbashi © ECPAD

Under the defence, cooperation and assistance agreements signed with foreign countries, France has a commitment to intervene outside its borders. In 1978, it had a 20 000-strong intervention force comprised of the 11th Parachute Division, the 9th Marine Infantry Division and naval and air forces. The professional regiments of the 11th Parachute Division were alternately put on standby, codenamed ”Guépard”, so that they could be deployed without warning as required.

Desert Storm and Operation Daguet, twenty years on

AMX-10RCs of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment on the shooting range, Hafr Al-Batin, October to November 1990. ECPAD/Yann Le Jamtel

The last conflict of the Cold War or the first postmodern war, the operations that led to the liberation of Kuwait, in February 1991, were the result of a long and complex diplomatic process which culminated in a rapid air then land campaign. For France, who contributed a mixed force of nearly 20 000 troops - two-thirds of them from the army - the Gulf War raised the issue of how suitable its defence structure was to the conditions and realities of a changing world.

The Daguet Division

Aerial view of King Khalid Military City (KKMC), Saudi Arabia, November 1990.

From August 1990, as part of the mission assigned by the UN, the French navy deployed over thirty ships - aircraft carriers, cruisers and helicopter carriers - nearly 7 000 marines and three marine commandos, with the missions of enforcing the embargo and transporting troops and equipment.

Sabotage

Sabotaging a railway line: plastic being placed on the rail. Date unknown. Copyright private collection

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