Buy The Battles of the Ardennes 1870, 1914, 1940 The Unexpected Destiny of the French Army

On the eve of the three major European conflicts of 1870, 1914 and 1940, the French army enjoyed an undisputed reputation for excellence. The geopolitical context, the interplay of alliances, the motivations and intentions of the German adversary were certainly very different from one era to another, but the fact remains that French military power was taken very seriously. The comparative study of military campaigns taking place in the geographical sector of the Belgian and French Ardennes illustrates the fate of a French army that rose to the height of its reputation at the end of the Second Empire and was annihilated 70 years later in the ruins of the Third Republic. At a time when the European continent is once again the scene of a high-intensity war, it seems appropriate to analyze what in the past led our armies to the disasters of August 1870, August 1914 and May 1940. Is the French army condemned to not knowing, or not being able to prepare and conduct an entry into the campaign, whatever the period considered? Far from being a scathing indictment, this essay, in the form of a triangular analysis of these three decisive military operations, aims to decipher the root causes of the intrinsic vulnerabilities of an army whose vast majority of officers, non-commissioned officers, rank-and-file soldiers and civilian personnel have always shown exceptional courage in the most tragic ordeals.