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118-530: The Agadir Crisis , Agadir Incident , or Second Moroccan Crisis was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in July 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat SMS  Panther to Agadir , a Moroccan Atlantic port. Germany did not object to France's expansion but demanded “territorial compensation” for itself. Berlin threatened warfare, sent

236-512: A Railway Executive Committee in order to rapidly mobilize in the event of a continental war. German world historian Oswald Spengler was inspired by the episode to write his The Decline of the West . "The Agadir crisis of 1911, which suddenly raised the spectre of a general European war and strikingly revealed the danger of Germany's encirclement by the Entente, crystallized Spengler's nascent vision of

354-662: A flying column at the end of April. On 5 June, the Spanish deployed troops to occupy Larache and Ksar el-Kebir , fearing a French annexation of the country. Joseph Caillaux , then minister for Finance, assured German diplomats in May 1911 that 'France would be prepared, if the Germans recognized its vital interest in Morocco, to make concessions elsewhere'. On 20 June, France agreed to start negotiations. After ten days, they still had not responded. It

472-568: A 14,000 man expeditionary force of troops to the Papal State under General Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot to restore him. In late April 1849, it was defeated and pushed back from Rome by Giuseppi Garibaldi 's volunteer corps, but then recovered and recaptured Rome. The French army was among the first in the world to be issued with Minié rifles , just in time for the Crimean War against Russia, allied with Britain. This invention gave line infantry

590-633: A central bank instead of a mere board bringing together the Landeszentralbanken for joint policy decisions. An agreement on that concept was reached among the three Western occupying forces on 30 October 1947, resulting in the establishment on 1 March 1948 of the Bank deutscher Länder . On 21 May 1948, the Soviet occupation authorities replied by establishing a Deutsche Emissions- und Girobank in Potsdam , which

708-461: A corps of five small rapid-intervention divisions formed in 1983, was also disbanded, though several of its divisions were re-subordinated. Opération Sentinelle is a French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed since the aftermath of the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks , with the objective of protecting sensitive "points" of the territory from terrorism . It

826-505: A gunboat and stirred up German nationalists . Negotiations between Berlin and Paris resolved the crisis on 4 November 1911: France took over Morocco as a protectorate in exchange for territorial concessions to German Cameroon from the French Congo . In Britain , David Lloyd George , then Chancellor of the Exchequer , made a dramatic " Mansion House " speech on 21 July 1911 – with

944-668: A majority of the Cabinet). Lloyd George delivered the Mansion House speech on 21 July 1911, bypassing the Liberal non-interventionists in Cabinet. Viscount Morley , secretary of state for India , denounced the speech as an 'unwarranted and unfortunate provocation to Germany'; Lord Loreburn , the Lord Chancellor, entreated Grey to take a non-interventionist stance and disavow the speech. Later in

1062-415: A network of branches, which numbered 206 at its inception in 1876 and expanded to 330 by 1900. A formal distinction was made between main branches ( German : Reichsbankhauptstellen ), whose head was appointed directly by the emperor, and other branches ( German : Reichsbankstellen ), but that difference of status was insubstantial in practice. The bank's employees had the status of civil servants of

1180-536: A peace. In 1812, Napoleon invaded the Russian Empire with a new Grande Armee , seeking to remove their influence from eastern Europe and secure the frontiers of his empire and client states. The campaign initially went well, but the vast distances of the Russian Steppe and its cold winter forced his army into a shambling retreat preyed on by Russian raids and pursuit. This force could not be replaced and with

1298-543: A rebellion broke out in Morocco against Sultan Abd al-Hafid . The French – after forcing the Sultan to request their assistance – prepared to send troops to help put down the rebellion under the pretext of protecting European lives and property in Fèz . Actual danger to European communities was remote: the rebellion broke out deep in the interior. They dispatched

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1416-548: A secret naval agreement by which the Royal Navy promised to protect the northern coast of France from German Navy attack, while France concentrated her fleet in the western Mediterranean and agreed to defend British interests there. France was thus able to guard her communications with her North African colonies , and Britain to concentrate more force in home waters to oppose the German High Seas Fleet. Britain also formed

1534-583: A single day, the public started cashing in currency notes for gold, and there was a run on the banks. The Reichsbank lost a fifth of its gold reserves in one month. It was rumoured that the French finance minister had orchestrated this crisis. Faced with the possibility of being driven off the gold standard , the Kaiser backed down and let the French take over most of Morocco. On 7 July, the German ambassador in Paris informed

1652-569: A supervisory board ( German : Curatorium ). The Curatorium was chaired by the Imperial Chancellor and included four additional members, one appointed by the emperor and the other three by the Bundesrat ; it was to meet every three months. The Direktorium was led by the President ( German : Reichsbankpräsident ) and all its members were appointed for life by the emperor, upon nomination by

1770-587: A wave of revolutions swept Europe and brought an end to the French monarchy. The army was largely uninvolved in the street fighting in Paris which overthrew the King but later in the year troops were used in the suppression of the more radical elements of the new Republic which led to the election of Napoleon's nephew as president. The Pope had been forced out of Rome as part of the Revolutions of 1848, and Louis Napoleon sent

1888-545: A weapon with a much longer range and greater accuracy and lead to new flexible tactics. The French army was more experienced at mass manoeuvre and war fighting than the British and the reputation of the French army was greatly enhanced. A series of colonial expeditions followed and in 1856 France joined the Second Opium War on the British side against China; obtaining concessions. French troops were deployed into Italy against

2006-405: Is of no account in the cabinet of nations, then I say emphatically that peace at that price would be a humiliation intolerable for a great country like ours to endure." The speech was interpreted by Germany as a warning that she could not impose an unreasonable settlement on France. On 4 November, secret Franco-German negotiations between Caillaux and the Germans led to a convention referred to as

2124-801: Is responsible to the President of France . CEMAT is also directly responsible to the Ministry of the Armed Forces for administration, preparation, and equipment. The French Army, following the French Revolution , has generally been composed of a mixed force of conscripts and professional volunteers. It is now considered a professional force, since the French Parliament suspended the conscription of soldiers. According to British historian Niall Ferguson , out of all recorded conflicts which occurred since

2242-820: Is the principal land warfare force of France , and the largest component of the French Armed Forces ; it is responsible to the Government of France , alongside the French Navy , French Air and Space Force , and the National Gendarmerie . The Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the French Army (CEMAT), who is subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA), who commands active service Army units and in turn

2360-1062: The Länder , with minimal central coordination. After some hesitancy, the French authorities rallied that vision; the British authorities were initially reluctant, but gradually aligned with U.S. views following the establishment of the Bizone on 1 January 1947. Thus, Land central banks ( German : Landeszentralbanken ) were created on 1 January 1947 in American-occupied Munich (for Bavaria ), Stuttgart (for Württemberg-Baden ), and Wiesbaden (for Hesse ), followed in March by French-occupied Tübingen (for Württemberg-Hohenzollern ), Freiburg im Breisgau (for South Baden , and Mainz (for Rhineland-Palatinate ), then American-occupied Bremen on 1 April 1947, and eventually British-occupied Düsseldorf (for North Rhine-Westphalia ), Hanover (for Lower Saxony ), Kiel (for Schleswig-Holstein ) and Hamburg by

2478-531: The Rentenbankscheine only had the status of "legally-admitted medium of exchange" while the Reichsbank's devalued paper notes remained legal tender. No fixed exchange rate was set by law, but the " Rentenmark " became interchangeable with paper Mark at the rate of one to one trillion. The Rentenmark was thus in effect a transitory domestic currency, which was never convertible internationally. The success of

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2596-598: The 2nd Armoured Division left Versailles and was installed at Châlons-en-Champagne in place of the disbanded 10th Armoured Division . On 5 March 1998, in view of the ongoing structural adoptions of the French Army, the Minister of Defence decided to disband III Corps , and the dissolution became effective 1 July 1998. The headquarters transitioned to become Headquarters Commandement de la force d'action terrestre (CFAT) (the Land Forces Action Command). During

2714-620: The Berlin Blockade . Only after the blockade ended was the Berliner Zentralbank established on 20 March 1949, and initially operated under an association agreement with the Bank deutscher Länder. It was eventually converted into a Landezentralbank in 1957. The Reichsbank itself went into a protracted process of liquidation. In 1955, a Federal German Law allowed holders of Reichsbank common stock to exchange it for interim certificates of

2832-930: The Foreign Legion , National Territory , Training. The Army is divided into arms ( armes ). They include the Infantry (which includes the Chasseurs Alpins , specialist mountain infantry, the Troupes de Marine , heirs of colonial troops and specialist amphibious troops), the Armoured Cavalry Arm ( Arme Blindée Cavalerie ), the Artillery, the Engineering Arm ( l'arme du génie ), Matériel , Logistics ( Train ) and Signals ( Transmissions ). Each brigade will have several armes within its units. The French Foreign Legion

2950-769: The Franco-German Accord , under which Germany accepted France's position in Morocco in return for territory in the French Equatorial African colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo ), as outlined in the Morocco-Congo Treaty . This 275,000 km (106,000 sq mi) territory, known as Neukamerun , became part of the German colony of Kamerun . The area is partly marshland (where sleeping sickness

3068-982: The French Empire : more than 220,000 in Africa (including 140,000 in French North Africa ), and forces in Mandate Syria and French Indochina . Free French Forces , under the command of Charles de Gaulle , continued the fight with the Allies until the final defeat of the Axis in 1945. After 1945, despite enormous efforts in the First Indochina War of 1945–54 and the Algerian War of 1954–62, both lands eventually left French control. French units stayed in Germany after 1945, forming

3186-595: The French Forces in Germany . 5th Armored Division stayed on in Germany after 1945, while 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions were established in Germany in 1951. However NATO -assigned formations were withdrawn to fight in Algeria; 5th Armoured Division arrived in Algeria in April 1956. From 1948 to 1966, many French Army units fell under the integrated NATO Military Command Structure . Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe

3304-768: The French National Guard joined the revolt, the loyal Swiss Guards were massacred and the King was deposed. From 1792, the Revolutionary Army fought against a combination of European powers in the French Revolutionary Wars , with the state directing most of its industry and population to war efforts, marking the start of modern conscription in the world, it also allowed more flexible military strategies, setting way for Napoleonic warfare . Moreover, many noble officers were retired, decreasing stratification and increasing military specialism . These, and

3422-732: The Grand Duchy of Baden and Kingdom of Württemberg to create note-issuing banks of their own, respectively the Badische Bank in Mannheim (est. 1870) and the Württembergische Notenbank in Stuttgart (est. 1871), bringing the total number of Notenbanken to 33. The panic of 1873 further stimulated discussions on the creation of an integrated monetary system, which pitted advocates of centralization led by Ludwig Bamberger against

3540-648: The Hundred Years' War , though the Army was not disbanded because it saw continued use by the Kings of France following the conflict. Upon the outbreak of a conflict, an ordonnance would be issued to govern the length of service, composition and payment of units. The Compagnies d'ordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme well into the 16th century, and were stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There

3658-441: The Kingdom of Saxony , one in the Kingdom of Bavaria , and the other 14 in various duchies, principalities and free cities . On 27 March 1870, a law was passed that forbade the formation of further Notenbanken in the North German Confederation . Following the promulgation of the German Empire that law was extended to all German lands, with entry into force on 1 January 1872. These Prussian initiatives precipitated action by

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3776-538: The Malagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from a low of 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000. In February 1996, President Jacques Chirac began the transition of the Army to a professional force, and as part of the resulting changes, ten regiments were dissolved in 1997. On 1 July 1997, the specialized support brigades were transferred to various communes ; Lunéville for signals, Haguenau for artillery and Strasbourg for engineers. On 1 September 1997,

3894-476: The Royal Navy must convert its power source from coal to oil , to preserve its supremacy. Until then, the locally abundant coal was favoured over imported oil (mostly from Persia ), but the speed and efficiency offered by oil convinced him that "Mastery itself was the prize of the venture." Subsequently, Churchill was asked by Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to become First Lord of the Admiralty , which he accepted. The crisis led Britain and France to conclude

4012-410: The Socialist Unity Party of Germany in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In Prussia, the Reichsbank kept the branches it inherited from the Bank of Prussia , including buildings it had purchased from others (e.g. the palace erected by David Schindelmeißer  [ de ] in Königsberg , acquired in 1843) and those it had built for itself (e.g. in Bromberg in 1864). Elsewhere, it did not take over

4130-437: The Swiss Guards , French Guards and the Regiments of Musketeers being the most famous. The white/grey coated French Infantry of the line Les Blancs with their Charleville muskets were a feared foe on the battlefields of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fighting in the Nine Years' War , the Wars of Spanish and Austrian Succession , the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution . The French Revolution caused

4248-466: The Treaty of Fes (30 March 1912), France established a full protectorate over Morocco , ending what remained of that country's formal independence. British backing of France during the crisis reinforced the Entente between the two countries (and with Russia as well), increasing Anglo-German estrangement, deepening the divisions which would culminate in the First World War . This incident led Britain's Home Secretary Winston Churchill to conclude

4366-428: The United States ) initially continued to issue Reichsmarks and Allied military marks . In Austria , the Oesterreichische Nationalbank was re-established by the Central Bank Transition Act of 3 July 1945 of the Second Austrian Republic . In line with the Morgenthau Plan , the American authorities in November 1945 proposed a radically decentralized plan that would have organized a separate financial system in each of

4484-420: The "Réserves 2000" plan, the brigades de zone were finally disbanded by mid-1993. 1st Army Corps was disbanded on 1 July 1990; 2nd Army Corps in August 1993. At the end of the Second World War , France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the decolonisation movement. The French army, which had employed indigenous North African spahis and tirailleurs in almost all of its campaigns since 1830,

4602-411: The "ulcer" of the ongoing war in the Spanish peninsular against Britain and Portugal, the French Army was badly short of trained troops and French manpower was almost exhausted. After Napoleon's abdication and return, halted by an Anglo-Dutch and Prussian alliance at Waterloo, the French army was placed back under the restored Bourbon Monarchy. The structure remained largely unchanged and many officers of

4720-416: The 1880s to the early 1900s, Havestadt & Contag  [ de ] in the 1890s and early 1900s, Curjel and Moser in the 1900s, Julius Habicht  [ de ] and Hermann Stiller in the 1900s and 1910s, Philipp Nitze  [ de ] in the 1910s and 1920s, and Heinrich Wolff  [ de ] in the 1920s and 1930s. Due to Germany's territorial losses following World War I ,

4838-420: The Abwehr cash reserves were hidden nearby in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Shortly after the American forces overran the area, the reserves and money disappeared. Funk would be tried and convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials , not least for receiving money and goods stolen from Jewish and other victims of the Nazi concentration camps . Gold teeth extracted from the mouths of victims were found in 1945 in

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4956-459: The Army and training. The two Services are the service of ground equipment, and the integrated structure of operational maintenance of terrestrial materials (SIMMT, former DCMAT). This joint oriented service is responsible for project management support for all land equipment of the French army. The holding-operational equipment the Army is headed by the Service de maintenance industrielle terrestre (SMITer). Historically there were other services of

5074-583: The Army comprises: The French Army was reorganized in 2016. The new organisation consists of two combined divisions (carrying the heritage of 1st Armored and 3rd Armored divisions) and given three combat brigades to supervise each. There is also the Franco-German Brigade . The 4th Airmobile Brigade was reformed to direct the three combat helicopter regiments. There are also several division-level ( niveau divisionnaire ) specialized commands including Intelligence, Information and communication systems, Maintenance, Logistics, Special Forces, Army Light Aviation ,

5192-597: The Army engineered a military coup that toppled the civilian government and put General de Gaulle back in power in the May 1958 crisis . De Gaulle, however, recognized that Algeria was a dead weight and had to be cut free. Four retired generals then launched the Algiers putsch of 1961 against de Gaulle himself, but it failed. After 400,000 deaths, Algeria finally became independent. Hundreds of thousands of Harkis , Muslims loyal to Paris, went into exile in France, where they and their children and grandchildren remain in poorly assimilated " banlieue " suburbs. The Army repressed

5310-400: The Army to lose most of its officers to aristocratic flight or the guillotine , and thus it became demoralised and ineffective. The revolutionary militias of Sans-culottes , and the bourgeoise National Guard formed the nucleus of the French Revolutionary Army alongside the remnants of the dissolved Royal French Army ; it was created following the storming of the Tuileries palace , where

5428-420: The Army who were all grouped together with their counterparts in other components to form joint agencies serving the entire French Armed Forces. After the health service and the fuel service were both replaced respectively by the French Defence Health service and Military Fuel Service , other services have disappeared in recent years: The Army Commissariat was dissolved on 31 December 2009 and intégrated into

5546-399: The Austrians, the first use of railways for mass movement. The French army was now considered to be an example to others and military missions to Japan and the emulation of French Zouaves in other militaries added to this prestige. However, an expedition to Mexico failed to create a stable puppet régime. France was humiliated following its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War , and while

5664-508: The Bank Deutscher Länder. The Bank of Prussia had commissioned a new head office in the late 1860s, which replaced its previous building dating from the late 17th century. The structure designed by architect Friedrich Hitzig was completed in 1876 as the Reichsbank started activity. In 1892-1894, the Reichsbank erected a palatial southward extension on an adjacent lot facing Hausvogteiplatz, designed by its architects Max Hasak  [ de ] and Julius Emmerich  [ de ] . In

5782-423: The Bank of Prussia assumed all the assets and liabilities of the Hamburger Bank , which was a major monetary anchor in Northern Germany. The Reichsbank was technically a private-sector company with individual shareholders, albeit not in joint-stock form, and operated from the start under the close control of the Reich government. The bank was managed by a management board ( German : Direktorium ) reporting to

5900-407: The Banking Act of 1875 made the Rischsbank's notes legal tender and redeemable at the rate of 2790 Marks per kilogram of gold . In the period immediately before the war erupted, the Reichsbank greatly increased its gold reserves, as also did the Bank of France , Bank of Russia and Austro-Hungarian Bank , from an equivalent US$ 184 million on 31 December 1912 to $ 336 million on 30 June 1914. At

6018-402: The Banking Law, the General Council was abolished and the Direktorium, including the President, were henceforth to be directly appointed and dismissed by the Führer. On 30 January 1937, Hitler publicly proclaimed the unlimited sovereignty of the Reich over the Reichsbank, and a lew of 18 February 1937 formally abolished the Reichsbank's autonomous status. Another law of 15 June 1939 stipulated that

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6136-459: The Bundesrat. The law specified that the Direktorium must obey the Chancellor's orders at all times. The shareholders were represented in a central committee ( German : Zentralausschuss ) of 15 members, which met at least every month under the chairmanship of the Reichsbank's president and could scrutinize the management but not change it or influence policy decision. Three deputies of the Zentralausschuss were allowed to attend all meetings of

6254-413: The Direktorium and to examine the books of the Reichsbank. The initial shareholders included the former shareholders of the Bank of Prussia (except a few who opted for selling their shares) and new subscribers. The bank was exempted from all income and trade taxes, but also had to act as the Reich's fiscal agent without compensation. The Reichsbank operated throughout the Reich's territory through

6372-441: The Empire retained their positions. The Bourbon restoration was a time of political instability with the country constantly on the verge of political violence. The army was committed to the restoration of Spanish monarchial absolutism in 1824. It achieved its aims in six months, but did not fully withdraw until 1828. By comparison with the earlier Napoleonic invasion, this expedition was rapid and successful. Taking advantage of

6490-400: The First World War. The news of the fall of Algiers had barely reached Paris in 1830 when the Bourbon Monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the constitutional Orleans Monarchy . During the July 1830 revolution , the Paris mobs proved too much for the troops of the Maison du Roi and the main body of the French Army, sympathetic to the crowds, did not become heavily involved. In 1848

6608-407: The French Army and standardised their equipment and tactics. The army of the Sun King tended to wear grey-white coats with coloured linings . There were exceptions and the foreign troops, recruited from outside France, wore red (Swiss, Irish etc.) or blue (Germans, Scots etc.) while the French Guards wore blue. In addition to the regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units,

6726-451: The French Army deployed 2,240,000 combatants grouped into 94 divisions (of which 20 were active and 74 were reservists ) from the Swiss border to the North Sea .These numbers did not include the Army of the Alps facing Italy or the 600,000 men dispersed through the French colonial empire . After defeat in 1940 , the Vichy French regime was allowed to retain 100–120,000 Armistice Army personnel in unoccupied France, and larger forces in

6844-404: The French Army reserve consisted of 22 military divisions, administering all reserve units in a certain area, seven brigades de zone de défense , 22 régiments interarmées divisionnaires , and the 152nd Infantry Division, defending the ICBM launch sites. The plan was put into action from 1985, and brigades de zone , such as the 107th Brigade de Zone, were created. But with the putting-in-place of

6962-446: The French contemplate doing is not wise, but we cannot under our agreement interfere". When Cabinet authorised Grey to inform the French that Britain might accept a German presence in Morocco on 19 July, the French government replied angrily that any such acceptance would breach the 1904 Anglo-French Agreement . The prospect of a German naval port on the Atlantic, however, allowed Grey to secure Cabinet's approval on 21 July to inform

7080-401: The French government that Germany had no territorial aspirations in Morocco, and would negotiate for a French protectorate on the basis of "compensation" for Germany in the French Congo region and the safeguarding of her economic interests in Morocco. The German terms, as presented on 15 July, while containing an offer to cede the northern part of Kamerun and Togoland , demanded from France

7198-418: The German ambassador that Britain would respond forcefully to defend its interests. Britain sent battleships to Morocco, in case war broke out. As in the First Moroccan Crisis , British support of France showed the strength of the Entente Cordiale . Divisions, however, became clear between the supporters of the entente (Grey, Lloyd George , and Asquith especially) and the non-interventionists (who made up

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7316-424: The German economy, which it chose to ration (maintaining a discount rate of no more than 10 percent) rather than lending to high market-determined rates. The Reichsbank's credit rationing only ended in early 1926, after which the discount rate could be gradually lowered, reaching 56 percent in January 1927. In 1930, legislative amendments in line with the Young Plan brought an end to the involvement of foreigners in

7434-458: The President and Direktorium should directly receive their instructions from the Führer, and renamed the bank as Deutsche Reichsbank . During most of the Nazi period the same individual was President of the Reichsbank and Minister of the Economy, namely Hjalmar Schacht from August 1934 to November 1937 and Walther Funk from January 1939 to May 1945. On 31 December 1935, the Reichsbank's note issuing privilege became exclusive, bringing an end to

7552-436: The Reich, even though they were paid by the Reichsbank. The Reichsbank also sponsored the establishment of clearing houses which were established in the 1880s and 1890s in Berlin , Frankfurt , Stuttgart , Cologne , Leipzig ( Petersstrasse ), Dresden , Hamburg , Breslau , Bremen , and Elberfeld . 15 of the 32 Notenbanken (other than the Bank of Prussia) relinquished issuing their own banknotes shortly after

7670-484: The Reichsbank and made it, for the first time, an explicitly independent central bank. Its Kuratorium was replaced by a General Council ( German : Generalrat ) consisting of 7 German and 7 foreign members, which was to elect the bank's president subject to approval of the President of Germany . The General Council also elected one of its foreign members to serve as Currency Commissioner ( German : Komissar für die Notenausgabe ) supervising note issuance. The ability of

7788-400: The Reichsbank for monetary financing . Combined with its reaction to the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium, this triggered a dramatic episode of hyperinflation that rendered the Mark practically worthless. The Reichsbank only started raising its discount rate in July 1922, reaching 40 percent per day at the hyperinflationary peak in November 1923. By decree of 15 October 1923 on

7906-427: The Reichsbank's creation; four more did so in the 1880s, six in the 1890s, and three in the early 1900s, leaving only the Bayerische Notenbank , Bank of Baden , Bank of Saxony and Württembergische Notenbank as residual note-issuing institutions by 1906. Until World War I , the Reichsbank produced a very stable currency, fully convertible into gold and thus known as the German gold mark . In 1909, an amendment to

8024-447: The Reichsbank's governance. The General Council was reduced to 10 members, all German, and the role of Currency Commissioner went to the President of the Rechnungshof des Deutschen Reiches  [ de ] . The Nazi regime promptly put an end to the independence of the Reichsbank and made it an instrument of their policy of directing Germany's resources towards rearmament and military expansion. By amendment of 27 October 1933 to

8142-437: The Rentenmark, followed by the Dawes Plan on war reparations, paved the way for a restoration of monetary order. The Banking Law of 30 August 1924 was inspired by the stabilization loans orchestrated by the Economic and Financial Organization of the League of Nations that had entailed the creation of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank in January 1923 and of the Hungarian National Bank in June 1924. It comprehensively reformed

8260-561: The Spring of 1948. In the Soviet occupation zone , ostensibly similar entities dubbed Emissions- und Girobanken were established in May 1947 in each of the zone's five Provinces, namely in Potsdam for Brandenburg , Rostock for Mecklenburg , Dresden for Saxony , Halle for Saxony-Anhalt , and Erfurt for Thuringia . Each of these was fully owned and controlled by the respective provincial authorities. In 1947, newly appointed U.S. Military Governor Lucius D. Clay decided, against directives from Washington, that Germany needed

8378-481: The aim to simplify and rationalize the German monetary system, e.g. in Vienna on 24 January 1857, but to no avail. Instead, the number of Notenbanken kept growing, reaching 31 (in the territories that would become the German Reich ) in 1870. They were typically private-sector entities, albeit often under hands-on government oversight, except the Bank of Bremen and Frankfurter Bank which were comparatively independent. Twelve of these were in Prussia, four in

8496-408: The allied armies repeatedly until 1812. Napoleon introduced the concept of all arms Corps , each one a traditional army 'in miniature', permitting the field force to be split across several lines of march and rejoin or to operate independently. The Grande Armée operated by seeking a decisive battle with each enemy army and then destroying them in detail before rapidly occupying territory and forcing

8614-509: The army had far superior infantry weapons in the form of the Chassepot and Mitrailleuse , its tactics and artillery were inferior, and by allowing the Prussian Army to take the initiative, the French Army was rapidly bottled up into its fortress towns and defeated. The loss of prestige within the army lead to a great emphasis on aggression and close quarter tactics. In August 1914, following

8732-536: The bank under the false-name Max Heiliger accounts, and melted down as bullion . In April and May 1945, the remaining reserves of the Reichsbank – gold (730 bars), cash (6 large sacks), and precious stones and metals such as platinum (25 sealed boxes) – were dispatched by Walther Funk to be buried on the Klausenhof Mountain at Einsiedl in Bavaria, where the final German resistance was to be concentrated. Similarly,

8850-587: The command of General Jacques Massu and the 25th Parachute Division under the command of General Sauvagnac. After the Algiers putsch , the two divisions, with the 11th Infantry Division, were merged into a new light intervention division, the 11th Light Intervention Division, on 1 May 1961. During the Cold War , the French Army, though leaving the NATO Military Command Structure in 1966, planned for

8968-530: The conclusion that Berlin would only understand a forceful response. Kissinger labels the risk-taking in this crisis used to appease the nationalism-inclined journalists and agitated public while disregarding the true interests at stake elsewhere as " strategic frivolity ". American historian Raymond James Sontag argued in 1933 that it was a comedy of errors that became a tragic prelude to the First World War : With Abd al-Hafid 's capitulation and signing of

9086-456: The consent of prime minister H. H. Asquith and Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey , bypassing the non-interventionist majority in the Cabinet  – that denounced the German move as an intolerable humiliation. There was talk of war and Germany backed down; relations between Berlin and London worsened and the British moved closer to France. Berlin felt humiliated and began to dimly realize that it

9204-558: The defence of Western Europe. In 1977 the French Army switched from multi-brigade divisions to smaller divisions of about four to five battalions/regiments each. From the early 1970s, 2nd Army Corps was stationed in South Germany, and effectively formed a reserve for NATO's Central Army Group . In the 1980s, 3rd Army Corps headquarters was moved to Lille and planning started for its use in support of NATO's Northern Army Group . The Rapid Action Force of five light divisions, including

9322-839: The disappearance of the Reichsbank in 1945, a number of its former branches were taken over by its successor entities, namely the Deutsche Bundesbank in West Germany , the Staatsbank der DDR in East Germany , and the National Bank of Poland in Poland ; some in East Germany were demolished later on, such as the Chemnitz branch in 1964. Many other branches have been repurposed for other uses over

9440-517: The early 1930s, the Reichsbank erected a large new facility on the other side of Kurstrasse, designed by its architect Heinrich Wolff  [ de ] . While the main building was heavily damaged during World War II and eventually demolished in 1960, the 1930s extension survives as the Haus am Werderschen Markt , hosting the German Federal Foreign Office after having been the home of

9558-601: The extreme investments into war efforts allowed France to begin a steady advance into Europe . Under Napoleon I , the French Imperial Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars . Professionalising again from the Revolutionary forces and using columns of attack with heavy artillery support and swarms of pursuit cavalry the French army under Napoleon and his marshals was able to outmanoeuvre and destroy

9676-597: The former Reichsbank branches in what became the Second Polish Republic were taken over by Bank Polski , and the one in the Free City of Danzig became the Bank of Danzig . During World War II , a number of branches were destroyed and not subsequently rebuilt. The one in Munich , whose construction had started in 1938 on the site of the former Herzog-Max-Palais demolished that year, was only completed in 1951. Following

9794-575: The future international political transformation of the West." During the First World War , in 1916, Neukamerun returned to France. The territory today forms part of Chad , Central African Republic , the Republic of the Congo , and Gabon . Established in 1912, the French protectorate in Morocco lasted until 1956. French army The French Army , officially known as the Land Army ( French : Armée de terre , lit.   ' Army of Land ' ),

9912-465: The gunboat. A German civilian, Hermann Wilberg , 110 kilometres (70 mi) to the north, was sent south to Agadir to provide a pretext for the arrival of the Panther , but he only reached Agadir three days after the ship had arrived. There was an immediate reaction from the French and the British. In the midst of this crisis, Germany was hit by financial turmoil. The stock market plunged by 30 per cent in

10030-499: The incumbent local banks of issue and defenders of state rights, led by Ludolf Camphausen . The political compromise was to allow the latter to keep issuance activity but under such restrictions that they rapidly fell into monetary irrelevance. The Reichsbank was established by legislation of the Reichstag of 14 March 1875, and assumed its new role on 1 January 1876 when it succeeded the Bank of Prussia. Meanwhile, between 1873 and 1875

10148-614: The infantry and the engineering arm. The Troupes de marine are the former Colonial Troops. They are the first choice units for overseas deployment and recruit on this basis. They are composed of Marine Infantry ( Infanterie de Marine ) (which includes parachute regiments such as 1er RPIMa and a tank unit, the Régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine ) and the Marine Artillery ( Artillerie de Marine ). The Aviation légère de l'armée de Terre (ALAT, which translates as Army Light Aviation ),

10266-592: The initiative of finance minister Hans Luther , the government created a separate bank, the Deutsche Rentenbank , endowed with the right to issue notes ( German : Rentenbankscheine ) redeemable in a kind of non-interest-bearing mortgage bond, the Rentenbrief , denominated in gold Mark and theoretically backed by a collective mortgage debt imposed upon German agriculture and industry. That confidence-building initiative succeeded against all expectations, even though

10384-821: The joint-service Service du commissariat des armées. Reichsbank The monetary institutions in Germany had been unsuited for its economic development for several decades before unification. In the Kingdom of Prussia , the Bank of Prussia had been established in 1847 and, in the aftermath of the revolution of 1848 , five additional banks had been granted a note-issuance privilege (the Berliner Kassenverein  [ de ] , Kölnische Privatbank , Magdeburger Privatbank , Ritterschaftliche Privatbank in Pommern at Stettin , and Städtische Bank in Breslau ), but that

10502-522: The late 15th century, Swiss instructors were recruited, and some of the 'Bandes' (Militia) were combined to form temporary 'Legions' of up to 9000 men. The men would be paid, contracted to fight and receive military training. Henry II further regularised the French Army by forming standing infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure. The first of them (Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne) were called Les Vieux Corps (The Old Corps). It

10620-610: The nationalist press – for giving Germany too little. The initial reaction in London was cautious: the Liberal government in Cabinet felt that France was largely responsible for triggering the crisis and ought therefore be urged to give ground. The British government attempted to restrain France from adopting hasty measures and to dissuade her from sending troops. In April, the Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey wrote: "what

10738-502: The new 4th Airmobile and 6th Light Armoured Divisions , was also intended as a NATO reinforcement force. In addition, the 152nd Infantry Division was maintained to guard the S3 intercontinental ballistic missile base on the Plateau d'Albion. In the 1970s–1980s, two light armoured divisions were planned to be formed from school staffs (the 12th and 14th). The 12th Light Armoured Division (12 DLB)

10856-483: The outbreak of World War I , however, the link between the mark and gold was abandoned, resulting in the Papiermark . The expenses of the war caused inflationary pressure and the mark started to decrease in value. . Following Germany's defeat and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , the German government was unable to meet its expenditures and commitments by taxation and borrowing from external sources, and instead turned to

10974-620: The outbreak of the Great War , the French Armed Forces numbered some 1,300,000 soldiers, and by the end of the war the French Army had called up 8,817,000 men, including 900,000 colonial troops; of these around 1,397,000 French soldiers were killed in action, mostly on the Western Front . French soldiers, at the beginning of the war, still wore the colourful uniforms of the Franco-Prussian War , with this conspicuous dress proving unsuited to

11092-459: The professionalisation process, numbers decreased from the 236,000 (132,000 conscripts) in 1996 to around 140,000. By June 1999, the Army's strength was 186,000, including around 70,000 conscripts. 38 of 129 regiments were planned to be stood down from 1997 to 1999. The previous structure's nine 'small' divisions and sundry separate combat and combat support brigades were replaced by nine combat and four combat support brigades. The Rapid Action Force,

11210-473: The properties of banks whose monetary role it replaced, and erected new branch buildings instead. By the end of the 19th century, it had newly built branches in most of Germany's significant cities. In some cases, these branches were replaced by more modern ones in the interwar period. The Reichsbank employed a number of specialized architects for branch design, including the prolific Max Hasak  [ de ] and Julius Emmerich  [ de ] from

11328-523: The reformed Reichsbank to extend credit to the Reich government was strictly limited. The new currency, the Reichsmark (RM), was set at one trillion paper Mark, restoring the prewar parity of 2790 RM for one kilogram of fine gold; the pre-reform notes ceased to be legal tender on 5 June 1925. In the subsequent period of deflation , the Reichsbank became practically the only source of short-term banking credit in

11446-608: The regiments in existence, leaving only the Vieux and a handful of others, which became known as the Petite Vieux and also gained the privilege of not being disbanded after a war. In 1684, there was a major reorganisation of the French infantry and another in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIV 's plans and the War of the Spanish Succession . The reshuffle created many of the modern regiments of

11564-613: The residual central banking roles of the Bank of Baden, Bayerische Notenbank, Bank of Saxony, and Württembergische Notenbank. The Reichsbank benefited from the theft of the property of numerous governments invaded by the Germans, especially their gold reserves and much personal property of the Third Reich's many victims, especially the Jews . Personal possessions such as gold wedding rings were confiscated from prisoners, and gold teeth torn from dead bodies, and after cleaning, were deposited in

11682-418: The sultan to sign a new treaty wherein he promised not to sign any other treaties without French approval, arguably violating the earlier made agreements. Germany's move was aimed at testing the relationship between Britain and France , and possibly intimidating Britain into an alliance with Germany. Germany was also enforcing compensation claims for acceptance of effective French control of Morocco. In 1911,

11800-498: The trenches and, accordingly, by 1915 the mostly blue and red peacetime uniforms had been replaced by bleu-horizon (light blue-grey), with the Adrian helmet in place of the kepi . The traditional capote of the French infantry continued to be worn in the trenches but in bleu-horizon . Colonial and North African soldiers adopted khaki uniforms. At the beginning of the Battle of France

11918-632: The vaults of the bank in Berlin. The explanation of the disappearance of the Reichsbank reserves in 1945 was uncovered by Bill Stanley Moss and Andrew Kennedy , in post-war Germany. In line with decisions made at the Potsdam Conference , the Reichsbank was placed under joint Allied custodianship pending its liquidation. The four occupying powers ( France , the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom and

12036-523: The weakness of the local bey , the French invasion of Algiers in 1830 again rapidly overcame initial resistance. The French government formally annexed Algeria but it took nearly 45 years to fully pacify the country. This period of French history saw the creation of the Armée d’Afrique , which included the Légion étrangère . The Army was now uniformed in dark blue coats and red trousers, which it would retain until

12154-620: The whole of the French Congo from the Sangha River to the sea, to which was later added the transfer of France's right to the preemption of the Belgian Congo . On 21 July, David Lloyd George delivered a speech at the Mansion House, London in which he declared that national honour was more precious than peace: "If Britain is treated badly where her interests are vitally affected, as if she

12272-485: The year 387 BC, France has fought in 168 of them, won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10; this makes France the most successful military power in European history in terms of number of fought and won. The first permanent army of France , which was paid with regular wages instead of being supplied by feudal levies , was established in the early 15th century under Charles VII . It was formed due to the need for reliable troops during

12390-433: The year, there was a backbench revolt against Grey, which was unsuccessful. One consequence of the crisis was that the French viewed German policy as motivated by bluff: Raymond Poincaré , the premier succeeding Caillaux in early 1912, observed that 'whenever we have adopted a conciliatory approach to Germany... she has abused it; on the other hand, on each occasion when we have shown firmness, she has yielded', drawing

12508-566: Was a French Army officer, and many key NATO staff positions were filled by Frenchmen. While an upper limit of 14 French divisions committed to NATO had been set by the Treaty of Paris, the total did not exceed six divisions during the Indochina War, and during the Algerian War the total fell as low as two divisions. The Army created two parachute divisions in 1956, the 10th Parachute Division under

12626-418: Was also provisions made for francs-archers , which was a militia of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes, but the units were disbanded once war ended. Meanwhile, the bulk of infantry was still provided by urban or provincial militias, which were raised from an area or city to fight locally and that were named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually, the units became more permanent, and in

12744-623: Was established in 1831 for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is commanded by French officers. It is an elite military unit numbering around 9,000 troops. The Legion has gained worldwide recognition for its service, most recently in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2001. It is not strictly an Arme but a commandement particulier , whose regiments belong to several arms, notably

12862-540: Was established on 22 November 1954 for observation, reconnaissance, assault and supply duties. It operates numerous helicopters in support of the French Army, its primary attack helicopter is the Eurocopter Tiger , of which 80 were ordered. It is an Arme with a commandement particulier . On the administrative side, there are now no more than one Direction and two services. The Army Human Resources Directorate (DRHAT) manages human resources (military and civilian) of

12980-517: Was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost-saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the French Royal Guard being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so be called after the region in which they were raised or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. When Louis XIII came to the throne, he disbanded most of

13098-474: Was operating with few allies and antagonizing multiple potential adversaries. France's pre-eminence in Morocco had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference , following the First Moroccan Crisis of 1905–06. France and Germany agreed on 9 February 1909 that while France would have exclusive political control, the two nations would uphold each other's economic interests in Morocco. In 1911 they forced

13216-551: Was reinforced during the November 2015 Paris attacks , and was part of a state of emergency in France due to continued terror threats and attacks. The organisation of the army is fixed by Chapter 2 of Title II of Book II of the Third Part of the Code of Defense, notably resulting in the codification of Decree 2000-559 of 21 June 2000. In terms of Article R.3222-3 of the Code of Defence,

13334-421: Was renamed Deutsche Notenbank in July, later relocated to East Berlin , and in 1968 was rebranded the Staatsbank der DDR . Given Berlin's special situation, no Landezentralbank was initially established there. Plans for a separate currency for all of Berlin were considered up until June 1948, when the situation came to a head and the introduction of Western German marks into West Berlin precipitated

13452-506: Was still insufficient to sustain adequate monetary conditions. By 1851, 9 banks in the whole of Germany (not including Austria) were chartered to issue banknotes, known as Notenbanken . In addition, most German states - with the only exceptions of Lippe and the Hanseatic cities of Bremen , Hamburg and Lübeck - issued government paper money without the intermediation of an issuing bank. Several pan-German conventions were held with

13570-606: Was the leading force in opposition to decolonization, which was perceived as a humiliation. In Algeria the Army repressed an extensive rising in and around Sétif in May 1945 with heavy fire: figures for Algerian deaths vary between 45,000 as claimed by Radio Cairo at the time and the official French figure of 1,020. The Army saw maintaining control of Algeria as a high priority. By this time, one million French settlers had established themselves, alongside an indigenous population of nine million. When it decided that politicians were about to sell them out and give independence to Algeria,

13688-528: Was then that Kiderlen-Waechter , the German Foreign Minister, asked Kaiser Wilhelm II for permission to send a gunboat, having rejected the need to send two ships out of belief that the French would be quickly willing to negotiate. On 1 July, the German gunboat SMS  Panther arrived at the port of Agadir , under the pretext of protecting German trade interests. The larger Bremen -class cruiser SMS  Berlin came days later, replacing

13806-511: Was to have its headquarters to be formed on the basis of the staff of the Armoured and Cavalry Branch Training School at Saumur . In the late 1970s an attempt was made to form 14 reserve light infantry divisions, but this plan, which included the recreation of the 109th Infantry Division , was too ambitious. The planned divisions included the 102nd, 104e, 107e, 108e, 109e, 110e, 111e, 112e, 114e, 115th, and 127th Infantry Divisions. From June 1984,

13924-532: Was widespread) but gave Germany an outlet on the Congo River . Germany ceded to the French colony of Tchad a small area of territory to the southeast of Fort Lamy (now part of Chad ). French premier Caillaux's negotiations with the Germans were leaked, causing him to fall from office on 21 January 1912, after a term of only seven months. In Germany, the Franco-German accord was also criticised – especially by

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