View source for Armée d'Orient (1915–1919)

{{Short description|French Army in WW1}}
The '''Armée d'Orient''' (AO) was a field army of the [[French Army]] during [[World War I]] who fought on the [[Macedonian front]].
The Armée d'Orient was formed in September 1915 during the [[Serbian Campaign of World War I|Conquest of Serbia]] by German-Austrian-Bulgarian forces, and shipped to the Greek port of [[Salonika]] where its first units arrived on 5 October.
Despite several offensives, the front stabilized on the Greek-Serbian border until September 1918, when the Bulgarian army disintegrated after defeat in the [[Battle of Dobro Pole]].
On 11 August 1916, all allied troops on the Salonika front came under a united command, and named [[Allied Army of the Orient]] (AAO). The AAO supreme commander became the French commander of the Armée d'Orient [[Maurice Sarrail]]. He was succeeded as commander of the Armée d'Orient by [[Victor Cordonnier]], and the army itself was renamed the ''Armée française d'Orient'' (AFO).
==Commanders==
* General [[Maurice Sarrail]] (5 October 1915 – 11 August 1916)
* General [[Victor Cordonnier]] (11 August 1916 – 19 October 1916)
* General [[Paul Leblois]] (19 October 1916 – 1 February 1917)
* General [[Paul François Grossetti]] (1 February 1917 – 30 September 1917)
* General {{Interlanguage link|Charles Louis Jacques Régnault|fr}} (30 September 1917 – 31 December 1917)
* General [[Paul Prosper Henrys]] (31 December 1917 – April 1919)
==Units==
* [[156th Infantry Division (France)]] (since October 1915), was formerly part of the [[Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient]]<ref name=GallipoliToSalonika>{{cite web |url= https://forum.pages14-18.com/viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2938&start=10#p537863 |title=De Gallipoli à Salonique |website=Forum pages14-18 |language=fr |access-date=8 September 2020 |quote=transcriptions of primary source documents, listing which units redeployed to Salonika}}</ref><ref name=Legion_Balkans>{{cite web |url= http://foreignlegion.info/foreign-legion-in-the-balkans-1915-1919/ |title=Foreign Legion in the Balkans: 1915-1919 |date= |website=foreignlegion.info |language=en |access-date=22 June 2021 |quote=Here is the detailed history of the French Foreign Legion in the Balkans during the First World War.}}</ref>
* [[57th Infantry Division (France)|57th Infantry Division]] (since October–November 1915)
* [[122nd Infantry Division (France)|122nd Infantry Division]] (since October–November 1915)
* [[17th Colonial Infantry Division (France)]] (since February 1916), was formerly part of the [[Corps Expeditionnaire des Dardanelles]]{{efn|General [[Jean César Graziani]], as [[:fr:Chef d'état-major de l'Armée de terre (France)|Chief of the General Staff of the French Army]], was asked to provide statistical information, in respect of in the Gallipoli and Salonika campaigns, to highlight French participation in these theatres of war to the Russians. As at 17 August 1916, French forces comprised 3,075 officers, 113,000 other ranks, 45,593 horses & mules, 6,954 carriages and 1,110 automobiles.<ref name="GrazianiStats2">Letter from Graziani to Lavergne dated 15 September 1916. '(Enclosure 2) The French war effort in Salonika.' In [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6281532w/f747.item.r=41,000 AFGG 8,1,1 Annexes (1924)] Annexe n° 438, p. 728–734</ref>|group=Note}}
* [[30th Infantry Division (France)]] ([[:fr:30e division d'infanterie (France)]]) (since September–December 1916)
* [[:fr:76e division d'infanterie (France)]] (since September–December 1916)
* [[:fr:11e division d'infanterie coloniale|11th Colonial Infantry Division]] (since September–December 1916)
* [[:fr:16e division d'infanterie coloniale|16th Colonial Infantry Division]] (since September–December 1916)
* Cavalry component
*** A ''Groupe Léger'' of six dismounted light cavalry squadrons, which equated to the strength of an infantry battalion.{{sfn|Lepetit|Tournyol du Clos|Rinieri|Druène|1933|p=43}}{{efn|The ''Groupe Léger'' formation comprised six dismounted cavalry squadrons{{sfn|Goya|2018|p=157}}|group=Note}} (One squadron was from the [[11th Hussar Regiment (France)]], the remainder were from the 3rd, 13th, 17th, 18th and 22nd regiments of [[Chasseur#Chasseurs à cheval|Chasseurs à cheval]].)<ref name=WarDiary_13thChassACheval>{{cite web |url= https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527d3fc81a611/527d3fc850618 |title=13e régiment de chasseurs à cheval: J.M.O. 24 février 1915-22 février 1916: 26 N 890/16 |work=Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) |publisher=Ministere De la Defense |at=image 19 of 31 |language=fr |format=JPG |access-date=29 June 2021 |quote=17 October 1915: The dismounted squadrons of the light brigade are withdrawn ...to form part of the Serbian Expeditionary Force}}</ref> This formation arrived in 1915 and was disbanded on 15 June 1917, its personnel being transferred to the depot of the 4th Regiment of [[Chasseurs d'Afrique]].<ref name=13thChasseursDismountedInSalonika>{{cite web |url= https://forum.pages14-18.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=53683&p=409498&hilit=Groupe+L%C3%A9ger#p409498 |title=recherches infos sur 13 RCC |website=Forum pages14-18 |language=fr |access-date=29 June 2021 |quote=Extract from the war diary, stating the six squadrons, the disbandment date and the fate of the troopers}}</ref><ref name=WarDiary_17thChassDismountedSqn>{{cite web |url= https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00528fd91933f39/528fd9194bd69 |title=17e régiment de chasseurs à cheval: Escadron à pied J.M.O. 18 octobre 1915-16 juin 1917: 26 N 892/10 |work=Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) |publisher=Ministere De la Defense |at= |language=fr |format=JPG |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref>
*** 4 squadrons of [[Chasseurs d'Afrique]], redeployed from [[Gallipoli]]. Disembarked at Salonika on 13 October 1915, the unit was disbanded on 10 December 1917. Its men were absorbed into the three cavalry regiments of the Jouinot-Gambetta brigade.{{sfn|Historique du 8e RMCA 1915–1919|1920}}
** A cavalry brigade formed in 1917. {{sfn|Lepetit|Tournyol du Clos|Rinieri|Druène|1933|p=476}} The brigade was commanded by [[François Léon Jouinot-Gambetta]]
*** [[:fr:4e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique]] disembarked in November 1915.{{sfn|Historique du 4e RCA 1839–1919|1920}}
*** [[:fr:1er régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique]] disembarked in February 1916.{{sfn|Historique du 1er RCA 1914–1919|1920}}
*** [[:fr:1er régiment de spahis marocains|régiment de marche de spahis marocains (RMSM)]] disembarked in March 1917.<ref name=WarDiary_RMSM>{{cite web |url= https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e0052b1ecf6e62aa/52b1ecf6e7fa2 |title=Régiment de marche de spahis marocains: J.M.O. 1er janvier-8 décembre 1917: 26 N 75/10 |work=Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) |publisher=Ministere De la Defense |at= |language=fr |format=JPG |access-date=29 June 2021 |quote=Embarked the British troopships [[SS Cestrian|Cestrian]] & Nitonian for passage to Salonika}}</ref>
** A provisional regiment of [[Zouaves]] attached to the cavalry, with the ''division provisoire Venel''{{sfn|Lepetit|Tournyol du Clos|Rinieri|Druène|1933|p=486}}<ref name="2e bis RMZ">{{Cite web |url=http://vinny03.perso.neuf.fr/gg/leshistos/2ebisrmz.htm |title=Historique du 2e Régiment Bis de Marche de Zouaves |access-date=16 March 2014 |archive-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315171900/http://vinny03.perso.neuf.fr/gg/leshistos/2ebisrmz.htm }}</ref> They were subsequently in the 11th Colonial Division (November 1916 to May 1917), but never fought as a part of that Division.{{sfn|Pompé|1924|pp=972&ndash;973}}
* ''Escadrille N.391''<ref>''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 221</ref>
==After World War I==
After the victory against Bulgaria in the autumn of 1918, the AFO is divided in 3 parts :
===Army of the Danube===
* Army of the Danube (AD), created on 28 October 1918, operated in Romania and the Crimea. Commanded by :
** [[Henri Mathias Berthelot]] (until 5 May 1919)
** [[Jean César Graziani]] (until January 1920)
***Under the orders of [[Philippe Henri Joseph d'Anselme|General d'Anselme]], French and allied elements were transported to [[Odessa]] at the end of December as part of the [[Southern Russia intervention]]. In April 1919, they were evacuated from Odessa and [[Sevastopol]], and redeployed to occupy a sector next to the [[Dnieper]].
***It was primarily composed of the 30th, 76th and 156th Infantry Divisions, along with the 16th Colonial Infantry Division. It was supported by [[26th Division (United Kingdom)]]<ref name=trail>{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Chris |title=26th Division |url=http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/26th-division/ |website=The Long, Long Trail |access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref> until 15 December 1918 and the Greek Archipelago Division.
===Army of Hungary===
* Army of Hungary (AH), created on 1 March 1919 and dissolved on 31 August 1919. Commanded by
** [[Paul-Joseph de Lobit]]
===Corps for the Occupation of Constantinople===
* Expeditionary corps for the [[Occupation of Constantinople]] (COC). Commanded by
** [[Louis Franchet d'Esperey]] (November 1918 – January 1919)
** [[Albert Defrance]] (February 1919 – December 1920)
** [[Maurice Pellé]] (1921 – 22 October 1923)
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:M149 1 patrouille sur le Vardar.jpg|A patrol on the [[Vardar]] in September 1916
File:Au camp des tirailleurs malgaches, octobre 1917, Salonique.jpg|[[Tirailleurs malgaches|French colonial troops from Madagascar]] resting outside tents in their camp, October 1917, Salonika front.
File:Combats dans le secteur de Cugunci (mai - juillet 1916) - Cugunci (anciennement) ; Megali Sterna (actuellement) - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APOR058741.jpg|Zouaves of the 156th Division<ref name="WarDiary156DI-2">{{cite web |url=https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527e484614240/527e48462e9e9 |title=156e division d'infanterie: J.M.O. 25 septembre 1915–26 novembre 1916 – 26 N 447/1 |work=Mémoire des hommes: Journaux des Unites (1914–1918) | publisher=Ministere De la Defense |at=images 113 to 122 of 235 |language=fr |format=JPG |access-date=4 July 2021}}</ref> in the ravine of Hill 420 in the [[Megali Sterna|Cugunci]] sector, July 1916.
File:French_soldiers-salonika-1915.jpg|Soldiers of the 175th Infantry Regiment at Salonika in 1915
File:A l'ouest du Vardar (décembre 1916 - janvier 1917) - Livadi (anciennement) ; Megala Livadia (actuellement) - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APOR094658.jpg|Fanfare of the band of the 84th Infantry, in from of Livadia, to the west of the Vardar  on 20 January 1917.
File:Visite du général Guillaumat dans la région des lacs Prespa et Okrida (5-7 mars 1918) - Bresnitsa (anciennement) ; Vatokhorion (actuellement) - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APOR146269.jpg|Review of [[Senegalese Tirailleurs]] by General Guillaumat. Photo taken at the village of Vatokhorion, in the [[Florina (regional unit)|municipality of Florina]] in Greece, on 7 March 1918.
File:Koritza_1917_tirailleurs_indochinois_05346.jpg|[[Tirailleurs indochinois]] in January 1917 in the [[Autonomous Province of Korçë]] in [[Albania]].
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[List of French armies in WWI]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Norman Franks|Franks, Norman]]; Bailey, Frank (1993). ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918''. London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-948817-54-0}}.
* {{cite book |last=Goya |first=Michel |translator-last1=Uffindell |translator-first1=Andrew |title=La chair et l'acier |trans-title=Flesh and Steel during the Great War - The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |orig-date=2004 |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4738-8696-4}}
* {{Cite book
|editor1-last=Lepetit
|editor1-first=Vincent
|editor2-last=Tournyol du Clos
|editor2-first=Alain
|editor3-last=Rinieri
|editor3-first=Ilario
|title=Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Tome VIII. La campagne d'Orient (Dardanelles et Salonique) Premier Volume. (février 1915-août 1916) [8,1]
| series=Ministère De la Guerre, Etat-Major de l'Armée - Service Historique
| publisher =Imprimerie Nationale
| location =Paris
| date=1923
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6374254b/f9.image
| oclc=491775878}}
* {{Cite book
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title=Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Tome VIII. Premier volume. La campagne d'Orient jusqu'à l'intervention de la Roumanie (février 1915-août 1916). Annexes - 1er Volume [8,1,1]
| series=Ministère De la Guerre, Etat-Major de l'Armée - Service Historique
| publisher =Imprimerie Nationale
| location =Paris
| date=1924
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6281532w/f19.item.r=table
| oclc=163166542}}
* {{Cite book
|editor1-last=Lepetit
|editor1-first=Vincent
|editor2-last=Tournyol du Clos
|editor2-first=Alain
|editor3-last=Rinieri
|editor3-first=Ilario
|editor4-last=Druène
|editor4-first=Bernard
| title=Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Tome VIII. La campagne d'Orient (Dardanelles et Salonique) Deuxième Volume. (août 1916 jusqu'en avril 1918) [8,2]
| series=Ministère De la Guerre, Etat-Major de l'Armée - Service Historique
| publisher =Imprimerie Nationale
| location =Paris
| date=1933
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6278886c.texteImage
| oclc=491775909}}
* {{Cite book
|editor1-last=Tournyol du Clos
|editor1-first=Alain
|editor2-last=Rinieri
|editor2-first=Ilario
|editor3-last=Druène
|editor3-first=Bernard
| title=Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Tome VIII. La campagne d'Orient (Dardanelles et Salonique) Troisième Volume. (avril 1918 à décembre 1918) [8,3]
| series=Ministère De la Guerre, Etat-Major de l'Armée - Service Historique
| publisher =Imprimerie Nationale
| location =Paris
| date=1934
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62759483.texteImage
| oclc=493568247}}
* {{Cite book
|editor1-last=Pompé
|editor1-first=Daniel
|display-editors=etal
| title=Les armées françaises dans la Grande guerre. Tome X. 2e Volume. Ordres de bataille des grandes unités - Divisions d'Infanterie, Divisions de Cavalerie [10,2]
| series=Ministère De la Guerre, Etat-Major de l'Armée - Service Historique
| publisher =Imprimerie Nationale
| location =Paris
| edition=1st
| date=1924
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63495098?rk=493564;4
| access-date=6 September 2020 }}
* {{Cite book
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title=En campagne européenne 1914–1919: 1er régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique
| publisher =Charles-Lavauzelle
| location =Paris
| date=1920
| ref={{sfnref|Historique du 1er RCA 1914–1919|1920}}
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6327256q/f3.image
| id=FRBNF30895930}}
* {{Cite book
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title=Historique du 4me régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique depuis sa formation 1839 jusqu'à la fin de la Grande Guerre 1919
| publisher =Imprimerie française
| location =Bizerte
| date=1920
| ref={{sfnref|Historique du 4e RCA 1839–1919|1920}}
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6358325n/f109.item
| id=FRBNF42717877}}
* {{Cite book
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| title=Historique succinct du 8e régiment de marche de chasseurs d'Afrique: campagne 1915–1919
| publisher =Imprimerie française
| location =Bizerte
| date=1920
| ref={{sfnref|Historique du 8e RMCA 1915–1919|1920}}
| language=fr
| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6413459c/f8.item
| id=FRBNF42718263}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
|date=	2005
|title= Dardanelles, Orient, Levant: 1915–1921 Ce que les combattants ont écrit
|trans-title= Dardanelles, Orient, Levant: 1915–1921 A compendium of veterans' eyewitness accounts
|institution= Association nationale pour le souvenir des Dardanelles et fronts d'Orient
|language= fr
|others= Preface written by [[Michèle Alliot-Marie]]
|location= Paris
|isbn=	2-7475-7905-0
}}
* Général Bernachot, ''Les armées françaises en Orient après l’armistice de 1918'', Imprimerie nationale, 1970, 3 volumes :
** 1. L’armée française d’Orient, l’armée de Hongrie (11 novembre 1918 - 10 septembre 1919).
** 2. L’armée du Danube, l’armée française d’Orient (28 octobre 1918 - 25 janvier 1920).
** 3. Le corps d’occupation de Constantinople (6 novembre 1920 - 2 octobre 1923).
* {{cite book |last=Schiavon |first=Max |title=Le Front d’Orient. Du désastre des Dardanelles à la victoire finale. 1915-1918 |language=fr |publisher=Tallandier |date=2014 |isbn=979-1-02-104699-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Saint-Ramond |first=Francine |title=Les Désorientés: Expériences des soldats français aux Dardanelles et en Macédoine, 1915-1919 |language=fr |publisher=Presses de l’Inalco |date=2019 |isbn=978-2-85-831299-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Nigel|last2=Babac|first2=Dusan|title=Armies in the Balkans 1914–18 |series=Men-at-Arms 356|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84176-194-X}}
* {{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Le poilu de l'Armée d'Orient |journal=Militaria Magazine |language=fr |publisher=Histoire & Collections |location=Paris |date=November 2018 |issue=398 }}
{{Greece during World War I|state=collapsed}}
==External links==
* Chanoir, Yohann: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/army_of_the_orient/ Army of the Orient], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home.html/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armee d'Orient (1914)}}
[[Category:1915 establishments in France]]
[[Category:1919 disestablishments in France]]
[[Category:Field armies of France in World War I]]
[[Category:Greece in World War I]]
[[Category:Macedonian front]]
[[Category:Hungarian–Romanian War]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1915]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919]]