Charles Huntziger
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Charles Huntziger | |
|---|---|
 General Charles Huntziger in 1941 | |
| Born | 25 June 1880 Lesneven, France |
| Died | 11 November 1941 (aged 61) Bréau-et-Salagosse, Vichy France |
| Allegiance |  French Third Republic Vichy France |
| Service |  French Army Armistice Army |
| Years of service | 1898–1941 |
| Rank | Général d'armée |
| Battles / wars | World War I World War II |
Charles Huntziger (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl œ̃tsiʒe]; 25 June 1880 – 11 November 1941) was a French Army general during World War I and World War II. He was born at Lesneven (Finistère), in Brittany of a family which settled in the region, after the Prussian invasion of Alsace during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.[1] He graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1900 and joined the colonial infantry. During World War I, he served in the Middle Eastern theatre. He was chief of staff of operations of the Allied Expeditionary Force. In 1918, he participated in the development of General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey's Vardar Offensive against German and Bulgarian forces which would lead to Allied victory and the signing of the Armistice of Mudros in October 1918.
In 1924, during the interwar period, he was assigned to the French concession in Tianjin.
In 1933, Huntziger was named commander-in-chief of the troops in the French Mandate of Syria. He participated in the negotiations for the cession of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, then part of French Syria, to Turkey. He joined the Superior Council of War in 1938.
At the outbreak of World War II, he initially commanded the Second French Army, then the Fourth Army Group in the Ardennes. He fought in the Battle of France with the Second Army. On 16 June 1940, Premier Philippe Pétain's new Cabinet decided upon an armistice. The armistice negotiations were led, on the French side, by Huntziger, who without success attempted to lessen the harsh terms of the armistice.[2]
After the 25 June armistice, Huntziger became the Vichy government's commander-in-chief of land forces. He became Minister of War on 6 September 1940, serving until 11 August 1941. He was one of the signatories of the anti-Semitic law on the status of Jews of 3 October 1940 (excluding nine Jewish generals from the army) together with Philippe Pétain, Pierre Laval, Raphaël Alibert, Marcel Peyrouton, Paul Baudouin, Yves Bouthillier, and François Darlan.
He died on 11 November 1941, when his aircraft crashed near Le Vigan, Gard.[3] He had been on an inspection tour in North Africa and tried to land at Vichy Airport in bad visibility, and with obsolete radio equipment.[4] His funeral was held on 15 November 1941 at the cathedral of Vichy. Huntziger is buried in Passy Cemetery, Paris.
His widow was the first recipient of the Vichy regime's Order of the Francisque.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Huntziger (Charles Léon Clément) | 1913 - 1919 Nos Ans Criés - COMITE DE L'HISTOIRE DU LYCEE CLEMENCEAU DE NANTES nosanscries.fr nosanscries". www.nosanscries.fr.
- ^ Williams, Charles, Pétain, Little Brown (Time Warner), London, 2005, p.332-6, ISBN 0-316-86127-8
- ^ "Location of crash site with photos of monument". Retrieved 9 September 2011.
- ^ Williams, 2005, p.397.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Charles Huntziger at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1880 births
- 1941 deaths
- 19th-century French military personnel
- People from Lesneven
- Ministers of war and national defence of France
- Government ministers of Vichy France
- High commissioners of the Levant
- Generalissimos
- Jewish French history
- Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni
- École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni
- Members of the Académie Française
- French collaborators with Nazi Germany
- French fascists
- French military personnel of World War I
- French Army generals of World War II
- French Army personnel killed in World War II
- Order of the Francisque recipients
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
- Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
- Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures
- Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
- Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class
- Recipients of the Virtuti Militari
- Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
- Honorary companions of the Order of the Bath
- Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in France
- Burials at Passy Cemetery
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1941