2 e armée (France)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2 e armée ( German  2nd Army ) was a large formation of the French Army ( armée de terre française ), which existed in the First and Second World War .

First World War

The 2nd Army was one of the five French armies that were formed according to Plan XVII during the mobilization for the First World War in August 1914 . Its first in command was General Noël de Castelnau , who had been one of General Joseph Joffre's key collaborators during preparation for war. The army, to which Plan XVII assigned an essential role, initially comprised five active army corps (the 9th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 20th and one cavalry corps), three reserve infantry divisions, and one colonial Infantry Brigade and two cavalry divisions. Their original task was to liberate Lorraine and advance further into Germany. For this purpose she was deployed in the Nancy area ; the left in the direction of Nomeny (near Toul ); the headquarters were in Neufchâteau , about 60 km southwest of Nancy. The plan failed in the battle of Lorraine .

In 1915 the army was used in the autumn battle in Champagne , and in 1916 in the battle of Verdun .

Commander in Chief 1914-1919

Second World War

At the beginning of the invasion of Poland declared France and Great Britain the German Reich on September 3, 1939 the war , but did not intervene militarily effective one. This “ seated war ” ended in early April 1940 when a British-German race to occupy Norway broke out.

The strategy of the Allies (then Great Britain and France) was determined by the French. They planned not to undertake any cross-border operations before the early summer of 1941. Possible German attacks should at the border to Switzerland to Sedan reaching Line Maginot be repelled in which the army groups were 2 (General Prételat) and 3 (General Besson) used. A possible attack over Belgium wanted to stop in the Dyle Breda position . Army Group 1 (General Billotte ) was to be deployed in it together with the British Expeditionary Corps (9 divisions) and parts of the Belgian and Dutch armies. The 2nd Army, belonging to Army Group 1, was to remain defensive to the north adjacent to the Maginot Line.

In a kind of " sickle cut " - beginning on May 10, 1940 - German tank units, some acting unauthorized, penetrated within a few days "like a lightning war " through the Ardennes to the Channel coast and cut off the British-French troops, some of which had advanced to Belgium. During the Battle of Sedan , which mainly affected the French 9th Army , parts of the 2nd Army carried out an unsuccessful counterattack near Stonne .

While Army Group 1 withdrew to Dunkirk , the 2nd Army occupied the "Weygand Line". The campaign was decided with the occupation of Paris on June 14th. The armistice , which came into force on June 25, 1940, divided France into the Vichy regime in the south and a German zone of occupation along the coasts to the west and north. The French armed forces were limited to 100,000 men and demobilized.

Commander in Chief 1939–1940

literature

  • Les Armées françaises dans la Grande guerre ( AFGG ) , Tome X / Vol. 1: Ordre de bataille des grandes unités. , Paris 1923, pp. 87–155, digitized on Gallica .

Web links