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Char 2C
The Char 2C, also known as the FCM 2C, was a French heavy tank, later also seen as a super-heavy tank. It was developed during World War I but not deployed until after the war. It was, in total volume or physical dimensions, the largest operational tank ever made. Development The ''Char d'assaut de grand modèle'' The origins of the Char 2C have always been shrouded in a certain mystery. In the summer of 1916, likely in July,Guy François, 2011, "Le char lourd FCM 1A, ou le rêve immolé", ''Histoire de Guerre, Blindés & Matériel'', 98: 42-51 General Léon Augustin Jean Marie Mourret, the Subsecretary of Artillery, verbally granted ''Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée'' (FCM), a shipyard in the south of France near Toulon, the contract for the development of a heavy tank, a ''char d'assaut de grand modèle''. At the time, French industry was very active in lobbying for defence orders, using their connections with high-placed officials and officers to obtain commi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its Metropolitan France, metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin (island), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Thomas (minister)
Albert Thomas (16 June 1878 – 7 May 1932) was a prominent French Socialist and the first Minister of Armament for the French Third Republic during World War I. Following the Treaty of Versailles, he was nominated as the first Director General of the International Labour Office, a position he held until his death in 1932. As Director-General, he was succeeded by Harold Butler. Early years He was born at Champigny-sur-Marne on 16 June 1878. In 1898, he entered the École Normale Supérieure, where he studied history and won a travelling scholarship which enabled him to visit Russia. Other educational distinctions followed, including degrees in literature and history at the University of Paris. In 1904, Thomas was both appointed to the editorial staff of ''L'humanité'' and elected a municipal councillor for Champigny, where, eight years later he was elected mayor. As a journalist, Thomas wrote for ''L'information'' and the ''Revue socialiste'' founded the ''Revue syndicaliste' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). In these devices, one shaft is typically attached to an engine or other power unit (the driving member), while the other shaft (the driven member) provides output power for work. Typically the motions involved are rotary, but linear clutches also exist. In a motor vehicle, the clutch acts as a mechanical linkage between the engine and transmission, and briefly disconnects, or separates the engine from the transmission system. This disconnects the drive wheels whenever the clutch pedal is depressed, allowing the driver to smoothly change gears. In a torque-controlled drill, for instance, one shaft is driven by a motor, and the other drives a drill chuck. The clutch connects the two shafts so they may be locked together and spin at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muzzle Velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets, to more than in modern rifles with high-velocity cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns firing kinetic energy penetrator ammunition. To simulate orbital debris impacts on spacecraft, NASA launches projectiles through light-gas guns at speeds up to . Projectile velocity For projectiles in unpowered flight, its velocity is highest at leaving the muzzle and drops off steadily because of air resistance. Projectiles traveling less than the speed of sound (about in dry air at sea level) are ''subsonic'', while those traveling faster are ''supersonic'' and thus can travel a substantial distance and even hit a target before a nearby observer hears the "bang" of the shot. Projec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon De 105 Mle 1913 Schneider
The Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider was a French artillery piece used in World War I and World War II by many European countries. History In the early 1900s, the French company Schneider began a collaboration with the Russian company Putilov. For this collaboration, it had developed a gun using the Russian 107 mm round, which was ordered by the Russian Army to be produced in Russia (though the initial batch of guns was made in France). Schneider then decided to modify the design for the French 105 mm (4.134 inches) round and offer it to France as well. Initially, the French army was not interested in this weapon as they already had plenty of 75 mm field guns. However, in 1913, the French army purchased a small number under the designation Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider; it was also known by the service designation L 13 S. The lighter 75 mm guns were of limited use against trenches; so, once the western front in World War I had settled down to trench warfare, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nivelle Offensive
The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front in the First World War which was named after General Robert Nivelle, the commander-in-chief of the French metropolitan armies, who led the offensive. The French part of the offensive was intended to be strategically decisive by breaking through the German defences on the Aisne front within with casualties expected to be around A preliminary attack was to be made by the French Third Army at St Quentin and the British First, Third and Fifth armies at Arras, to capture high ground and divert German reserves from the French fronts on the Aisne and in Champagne. The main offensive was to be delivered by the French on the Chemin des Dames ridge (the Second Battle of the Aisne). A subsidiary attack was to be made by the Fourth Army (the Third Battle of Champagne). The final stage of the offensive was to follow the meeting of the British and French armies, having broken through the Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Renaudel
Pierre Renaudel (19 December 1871 – 1 April 1935) was a French socialist politician and journalist. Biography He served as central committee member of the League of Human Rights (''Ligue des droits de l'homme'', LDH), was a founder and ''majoritaire'' of the Socialist Party of France (PSdF). He urged the party to work with the Radicals and wanted the party to build coalition cabinets as he felt the alternative, would be instability and reaction. Renaudel was a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and a national leader of the French Section of the Workers' International (''Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière'', SFIO). He was editor of the daily newspaper ''L'Humanité''; and was the founder and political editor of the socialist weekly publication, '' La Vie Socialiste''. He was characterized as a right-wing parliamentary leader of the Socialists in the Var. Renaudel was an editor of ''L'Humanité'' from 1914 through the end of World War I. It was said that, "his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schneider CA1
The Schneider CA 1 (originally named the Schneider CA) was the first French tank, developed during the First World War. The Schneider was inspired by the need to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare which on the Western Front prevailed during most of the Great War. It was designed specifically to open passages for the infantry through barbed wire and then to suppress German machine gun nests. After a first concept by Jacques Quellennec devised in November 1914, the type was developed from May 1915 onwards by engineer Eugène Brillié, paralleling British development of tanks the same year. Colonel Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne in December 1915 began to urge for the formation of French armoured units, leading to an order in February 1916 for four hundred Schneider CA tanks, which were manufactured by SOMUA, a subsidiary of Schneider located in a suburb of Paris, between September 1916 and August 1918. Like most early tanks, the Schneider was built like a simple armoured box ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Nivelle
Robert Georges Nivelle (15 October 1856 – 22 March 1924) was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in the Battle of Verdun, leading counter-offensives that rolled back the German forces in late 1916. During these actions he and General Charles Mangin were accused of wasting French lives. He gives his name to the Nivelle Offensive. Following the successes at Verdun, Nivelle was promoted to commander-in-chief of the French armies on the Western Front in December 1916, largely because of his persuasiveness with French and British political leaders, aided by his fluency in English. He was responsible for the Nivelle Offensive at the Chemin des Dames, which had aroused skepticism already in its planning stages. When the costly offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front, a major mutiny occurred, affecting roughly half the Fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regrouping the retreating allied armies to defeat the Germans at the strategically decisive First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. His political position waned after unsuccessful offensives in 1915, the German attack on Verdun in 1916, and the disappointing results of the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme in 1916. At the end of 1916 he was promoted to Marshal of France, the first such elevation under the Third Republic, and moved to an advisory role, from which he quickly resigned. Later in the war he led an important mission to the United States. Early career Joffre was born in Rivesaltes, Pyrénées-Orientales, into a family of vineyard owners. He entered the École Polytechnique in 1870 and became a career officer. He first saw a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne
Jean Baptiste Eugène EstienneEstienne's forenames are frequently incorrectly given as Jean-Baptiste Eugène. He was christened with the three names Jean, Baptiste, and Eugène, but disliked the name Baptiste, and preferred to be addressed as Eugène. He usually signed himself J.E. Estienne. See Mondet, Arlette Estienne: ''Le général J.B.E. Estienne, père des chars.'' L'Harmattan, 2010 (7 November 1860 in Condé-en-Barrois, Meuse – 2 April 1936 in Paris) was a general of artillery and a specialist in military engineering, one of the founders of modern French artillery and French military aviation, and the creator of the French tank arm. He is considered by many in France to be the ''Père des Chars'' (Father of the Tank). Early life Estienne was born at Condé-en-Barrois (now Les Hauts-de-Chée) in the Meuse valley. He was admitted to the ''École Polytechnique'' (the French Military Academy) at the age of nineteen. He graduated 131st of his year in 1882, the same year he won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules-Louis Breton
Jules-Louis Breton (1 April 1872 – 2 August 1940) was an inventor and a French politician. He was a representative of the French Assembly, and the proponent of the Breton-Prétot machine, a device developed in France from November 1914, intended to cut a way through barbed wire on the battlefield. It was developed with an engineer named Prétot, but did not progress beyond the experimental stage. Biography Breton was born on 1 April 1872 in Courrières, Pas-de-Calais. He was a Socialist with Anarchist tendencies, and as a Natalist, endeavoured to giving more freedom to women. During World War I he was France's Undersecretary of State for Inventions for National Defense. and later founded and directed the National Research and Invention Ministry.''Irresistible empire'' by Victoria De Grazia p.426 He was also Minister of Hygiene under President Millerand in 1920. Breton was the founder and first director of the National Board of Scientific and Industrial Research and Inven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
