Henri Maurice Berteaux (3 June 1852 – 21 May 1911) was the Minister of War in France from 14 November 1904 to 12 November 1905, and from 2 March 1911 until his accidental death on 21 May 1911.

Biography

Berteaux was born at

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a commune in Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southea ...

. During his second term of office, Berteaux devoted himself to the reform of the French army service uniform, which included red trousers and blue coats for the majority of regiments, as well as other traditional features such as plumed helmets and cuirasses for the heavy cavalry. Berteaux, convinced that such conspicuous dress was unsuitable for modern warfare, promoted the adoption of a grey-green replacement known as ''la tenue reseda''. This project was opposed by Berteaux's political opponents, who argued that the new uniform was both ugly and too similar to the

field grey ''Feldgrau'' (English: field-grey) is a grayish green color. It was the official basic color of military uniforms of the German armed forces from the early 20th century until 1945 (West Germany) or 1989 (East Germany). Armed forces of other cou ...

service dress just adopted by the Imperial German army. His sudden death led to the abandonment of the ''reseda'' project and the French Army entered World War I in August 1914 still wearing colourful and impractical peacetime uniforms. Berteaux was accidentally killed on 21 May 1911 at the start of the

1911 Paris to Madrid air race The 1911 Paris to Madrid air race was a three-stage international flying competition, the first of several European air races of that summer. The winner was French aviator Jules Védrines, although his win, along with the rest of the race, were ...

, when a monoplane piloted by Louis Émile Train made a forced landing, running into a group of people including Berteaux, the oil tycoon

Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe (; 25 September 1846 – 24 November 1919), born Salomon Henry Deutsch, was a successful French petroleum businessman (known as the "Oil King of Europe"Howard, Fred, ''Wilbur & Orville: A Biography'', Dover Publicati ...

, the French Prime Minister

Ernest Monis Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis (; 23 May 1846 in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente – 25 May 1929 in Mondouzil) was a French politician of the Third Republic, deputy of Gironde from 1885 to 1889 and then senator of the same department from 1891 to 19 ...

, and his son, all of whom were also injured. His funeral was on 26 May 1911.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berteaux, Henri Maurice 1852 births 1911 deaths People from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Politicians from Île-de-France Radical Party (France) politicians French Ministers of War Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 8th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 9th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 10th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in France Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1911