The French Forces in Berlin (french: Forces Françaises à Berlin) were the units of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. Franc ...

stationed since 1945 until the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

-era in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

according to the agreements of the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

and

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...

. The troops were the French counterparts to the United States'

Berlin Brigade The Berlin Brigade was a US Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation las ...

and the United Kingdom's

Berlin Infantry Brigade The Berlin Infantry Brigade was a British Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. T ...

in the city.

History

By agreement of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

was divided into four sectors after the

unconditional surrender An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation. In modern times, unconditional surrenders most ofte ...

on May 8, 1945. The allied powers of France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States of America were each granted control of a sector, with permission to station troops there. The first contingent of french forces, from the 1st Armored Division, arrived in Berlin on July 3, 1945. They were led by General de Beauchesne and occupied Camp Cyclop in the district of

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdivi ...

. After the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority (german: Alliierter Kontrollrat) and also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of Wo ...

and the start of the Berlin Crisis in 1961, units from the other three countries were ordered to protect West Berlin against Soviet troops and against the GDR's own

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

(NVA) troops, since the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

was not allowed to station

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

units in Berlin. The French Army first stationed troops in Berlin in 1947. Their

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

were called Quartier Napoléon. After the end of the

and the Two Plus Four Agreement, all Allied troops left Berlin in July 1994.

Units

Combat Units

* 11^e Régiment de Chasseurs (11^e RCh) (40x AMX-30B, 2x AMX-30D) * 46^e Régiment d'Infanterie (46^e RI) (70x VAB) * 110^e Compagnie du Génie (110e CG) * Centre Entrainement de Commando (CEC No 10)

Support Units

* 11ème Compagnie de Transmission * Gendarmerie Berlin * Hôpital Louis Pasteur * Base Aérienne 165 (1x Max Holste MH1521 Broussard -1988,1x

DHC-6-300 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarte ...

1988-1994) * Groupement de Soutien * Quartier Général * Direction des Transport et de la Circulation de Berlin (TMFB – Train Militaire Français de Berlin) * État-Major * Détachement de l'Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre (DETALAT) (2x

Cessna O-1 Bird Dog The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy ...

1968-1993, 2x Sud-Ouest Alouette III 1987-1994)

Subordinate Unit

* Mission Militaire Française de Liaison- MMFL in Potsdam

References

External links

* * * * *{{cite web, url = http://www.western-allies-berlin.com, title = History of the French, American and British Berlin Brigades, accessdate = 2009-03-28, year = 2004 Military units and formations of France West Berlin Allied occupation of Germany Military units and formations established in 1947 Military units and formations disestablished in the 1990s