Learning the hard way. French officers’ training during World War Two (1940-1945). ; « À rude école ». La formation initiale des officiers français à l’épreuve de la Seconde Guerre mondiale (1940-1945).

In the eyes of the French military command, the training of its officers was a central issue throughout the war. The reopening of the French military academies in the aftermath of the defeat raised the question of their training. For the Vichy regime, military academies were now a political tool, while for the Free French movement military skills were vital to erase the humiliation of the defeat.The dissolution of the armistice Army in November 1942 changed the mission of theses academies. The aim was to merge the two former French forces and promote their amalgam while the militay training was influenced by the allied environment and combat practices. The return of French troops on the national soil and the contact with irregular armies from the Resistance’s movements questioned once more the role of these military academies in the rebulding process of the Nation.The end of the war led to the reopening of the academies in metropolitan France, in order to create a new army, reconciling formerly divided French forces with the Nation. The training of French officers was modified. However, the begining of the conflict in Indochina highlighted the weakness of this rebirth, at odds with the needs of the French forces. ; La formation des officiers français durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale a longtemps constitué un vide historiographique. Cette question est pourtant essentielle aux yeux du commandement durant tout le conflit, comme l’atteste la volonté de rouvrir au plus vite les écoles de formation initiale en charge de cette mission. Au-delà de la continuité des institutions se pose celle du modèle de formation.Pour l’État français, les écoles revêtent avant toute chose une dimension politique en formant les futurs officiers incarnant et diffusant par devant-eux les idéaux de la Révolution nationale. Inversement, pour le commandement de la France libre, la dimension miliaire est au cœur du processus d’instruction des cadres. C’est par ce moyen et grâce aux combats que la France libre mène aux cotés des Alliés que le ...