Charles Huntziger
Charles Léon Clément Huntziger (born June 25, 1880 in Lesneven , Finistère department , † November 12, 1941 at Le Vigan , Gard department ) was a French général d'armée and politician .
Life
He attended the Saint-Cyr Military School in 1900 and entered the colonial infantry. During the First World War he was used in the Middle East. He was chief of staff of the expeditionary forces. In 1918 he was involved with General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey in the offensive against German and Bulgarian troops. The Allied victory was followed by the Mudros armistice in October 1918.
In 1933 Huntziger became commander in chief of the troops in the French mandate of Syria. He took part in negotiations about the fate of the sanjak of Alexandretta . He was on the Supreme War Council from 1938. In the Second World War , between 1939 and 1940, he commanded the 2nd Army , then the 4th Army Group in the Ardennes .
Marshal Philippe Pétain entrusted him with the armistice negotiations and ultimately the signing of the agreement with Germany and Italy . This de facto surrender took place on June 22, 1940 between Generals Wilhelm Keitel and Huntziger in the historic car from 1918 in the forest of Compiègne and on June 24, 1940 in Rome to the Italian armed forces. He then became head of the French representation at the German Armistice Commission in Wiesbaden .
In the same year he became Minister of War under Pétain (from September 6, 1940 to August 11, 1941); Predecessors were Paul Reynaud until May 18, 1940, Maxime Weygand (National Defense) and Louis Colson (successor was François Darlan ).
On August 29, 1941, he was appointed Commander in Chief in North Africa , as the armed forces in the overseas territories remained with the French Vichy government after the armistice . Huntziger's plane crashed on the way back from an inspection of the French North African colonies.
His grave is in the Passy cemetery in Paris.
His widow was the first holder of the Order of Francisque , which was supposed to express a special appreciation for Marshal Pétain, as she looked after French prisoners of war in Germany. She spent every late summer in Berlin.
On June 30, 1937, he was named “Grand Officier” of the Legion of Honor
Military commands
- December 7, 1928 General de brigade with colonial troops
- March 20, 1933 General de division with colonial troops
- March 17, 1935 Rank of corps commander (Appellation de général de corps d'armée des troupes coloniales)
media
- Film document (excerpt) in: Hitler - a career . Directed by Joachim C. Fest , Christian Herrendoerfer . Documentary, 2004, length 155 min.
literature
- Pierre Porthault: L'armée du Sacrifice 1939-1940 . Ed. Guy Victor, 1965.
- François Broche: L'Armée française sous l'occupation . Part 1: La dispersion , Presse de la Cité, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-258-05471-0 .
Web links
- Western offensive ("Fall Gelb") , at LeMO , Lebendiges Museum Online
- Franco-German Armistice Commission, urban history sub-area, chronology sub-area: 1940
- WP French
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles Huntziger. In: Find A Grave. Retrieved February 25, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Huntziger, Charles |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Huntziger, Charles Léon Clément (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French general and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1880 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lesneven , Finistère |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 12, 1941 |
| Place of death | at Le Vigan , Gard |