Allies

Page 4 – Republic of France

Flag

Republic of France flag

1914 Map

Map of Republic of France

Click on map for more detail

General facts

  • Population: 39.6 million (1914)
  • Capital: Paris (1914 population 3 million)

Government

  • Head of State:
    • President Raymond Poincaré (18 February 1913 – 18 February 1920)
    • President Paul Deschanel (18 February 1920 – 21 September 1920)
  • Head of Government:
    • Prime Minister René Viviani (13 June 1914 – 29 October 1915)
    • Prime Minister Aristide Briand (29 October 1915 – 20 March 1917)
    • Prime Minister Alexandre Ribot (20 March – 12 September 1917)
    • Prime Minister Paul Painlevé (12 September – 16 November 1917)
    • Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (16 November 1917 – 20 January 1920)
    • Prime Minister Alexandre Millerand (20 January 1920 – 24 September 1920)

Participation in the War

  • Entered the war: 3 August 1914 (Germany declared war on France)
  • Ceased hostilities: 11 November 1918 (armistice with Germany)
  • Ended belligerent status: 10 August 1920 (Treaty of Sèvres signed with the Ottoman Empire)

Military Forces

Army

  • Peacetime strength 1914: 823,000
  • Reserves 1914: 2.9 million
  • Total mobilised 1914: 3.6 million
  • Total mobilised during war: 8.7 million

Navy

  • Peacetime strength 1914: 65,000

Fleet (1914)

  • Battleships (Dreadnoughts): 4
  • Battleships (pre-Dreadnoughts): 21
  • Cruisers: 19
  • Light cruisers: 6
  • Destroyers: 81
  • Submarines: 67

Casualties

Military

  • Dead (all causes): 1,385,000
  • Wounded: 3.2 million

Sources

  • Anthony Clayton, Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914–18, Cassell, London, 2003
  • Hew Strachan, The First World War, Volume I: To Arms, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001
How to cite this page

'Republic of France', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/republic-france-facts, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 28-Aug-2014