French Army

The French Army, is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, was established under Charles VII of France. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997 and effective as of 2001.

French Army in Southern Victory
The French Army had been defeated during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, causing the loss of Alsace-Lorraine and the creation of a united German Empire.

When war broke out in 1914, the French Army —with England— managed to hold the Western front. However, the French bore the brunt of the war, and combined with the infective tactics of their general’s led to many soldiers revolting, and by 1917, the French Army could no longer fight the war, forcing France to seek an armistice.

The terms of the peace treaty where hard on the French, and left the Army as nothing more than a glorified police force.

After King Charles the XI came to power, he began to rearm the army, but the the small size of their country made it difficult for them to hide equipment and weapons that were banned from the German's. After the death of the Kaiser Wilhelm II, the new kaiser refused all demands for a plebiscites, forcing the French to declare war on Germany.

The French Army scored their first major victory over the German's when they successfully recaptured Alsace-Lorraine, but where unable to cross the Rhine River. They were more successful in their combined thrust up through the Low Countries into Germany, but the British overshadowed their efforts in that campaign.

After mid 1943, the tide turned against the French Army as the German's pushed both them and the British back through the Low Countries, and into Belgium. The French Army was still proudly defiant after the destruction of Paris, but was forced to seek an armistice after the collapse of England.

French Army in The War That Came Early
The French Army was the largest army in the Allied powers when war erupted in 1938. Despite this, the French Army barely moved against Germany when they invaded Czechoslovakia, and abandoned their conquest after the countries collapse.

Although the French army had the most powerful tanks on the battle field, they lacked the radio equipment found in their German counterparts as well as the tactics to use them, though Colonel de Gaulle handled his tanks well enough. The infantry were also crippled by no modern equipment, lacking a light portable machine and a sub machine gun.

Despite this, the French were able to mount a successful counter attack north of Paris, using tank tactics copied from the German's to spearhead their thrust.