Episode 134: France's Elite Units
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What question does Episode 134 ask about military elites?
What turns a unit into an elite? Selection, reputation, or simply being thrown into the worst fighting and surviving? From the Blue Devils, the Vosges, to the most decorated regiment in French history, we go looking for the answer in today's episode.
Welcome to Not So Quiet on the Western Front, the podcast where we lift the lid, bust the myths, and explore the incredible history of the First World War. I'm Dan Hill, a military historian and battlefield guide specialising in the history of the war on the Western Front.
And I'm Dr Spencer Jones, author and senior lecturer in war studies at the University of Wolverhampton. Well, hi, Jim. Always a pleasure to be joining you on the podcast. It's just you and I today for another deep dive into a fascinating aspect of the French Army. Dan is away on his travels at this time. Again, he's struggling a little bit to coordinate. Either I'm not available or he's not available. But fortunately, we've got a fantastic regular guest in the form of yourself, James. Always a pleasure to have you on for a topic which, in some ways, we've brushed against in the past because we've recorded episodes with you where we've discussed... the French colonial forces. That's episode 95 and episode 96, if you're interested, listeners, on colonials and the Army of Africa.
Dan and I have recorded an episode, episode 90, about elite British divisions. And I'm sure in due course, we'll probably dive into elite German formations with Matthias as well. But today, the subject is all about the French army. And in some ways, James, and we were talking about this just before we came on air, it's grappling with the concept of what makes an elite unit. And listeners, if you're interested in this concept, we discussed it way back in episode 90, but it's worth getting back to this because, James, when we talk about elites in war, what are we really talking about here?
What is the essence of an elite unit? Yeah, I think before we jump into this definition, I'm going to throw it there and it might kill this whole episode, but there's no such thing as an elite unit in the French army. And, you know, the criteria that historians, academics, military history buffs, really your everyday person might have for, oh, this is a crack unit, winning battles, taking ground. Sometimes, interestingly, in some conflicts like the First World War, the American Civil War, it's, oh, well, they suffered a lot of casualties. They must have been in really heavy fighting. Therefore, they're elite. That's applicable across the French army. Having strong espirit de corps, strong unit identities also help define elite units.
But as I said at the beginning here, within the French army, it goes against the values of the Third Republic to have a unit that is specifically elite. We'll see why that develops, but it does come back to... French history going all the way even before the French Revolution, where you have distinct units that are loyal to a specific monarch, say the Maison du Roi, the household troops of the French kings. Both the First and Second Empire had their imperial guards. Many units in the French army then and now still claim lineage to the imperial guards of Napoleon I and Napoleon III. So the Republican values of all equal experience, all equal suffering, everyone able to do the same thing really convolutes the French mind as to what an Anglo-American or even German idea of an elite unit would be.
And that's interesting because it speaks very similar to the British experience, which we covered back in episode 90. And the British Army's official view is that all the units, all the line regiments are going to be of the same standard. And this applies up to divisions as well. The British Army... deliberately really tries to steer away from the concept of elite divisions. Probably the closest you get in the First World War for the British Army is the Guards Division. In fact, when the Guards Division is formed in 1915, there is concern. An argument is raised against it.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What question does Episode 134 ask about military elites?
0:00–10:59
2
How does France’s republican tradition shape attitudes toward 'elite' units?
10:59–45:59
3
Which French formations gained reputations through repeated combat?
45:59–50:56
4
Why were North African troops and the Moroccan Division seen as elite?
50:56–51:53
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front!
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