The French Way of War

Video Description

A discussion of the French Way of War, drawing on French military sources from Foch to contemporary French Army publications. If you like this video, please consider making a donation using the "thanks" button or buying me some coffee, so to speak, here: https://buymeacoffee.com/shurkin Stuff to read: General Dirou's excellent book: https://amzn.to/42G7q2D GEN Yakovleff: https://amzn.to/4gZyQEP Coutau-Bégarie: https://amzn.to/4hlSomA Who am I? Former CIA analyst, former RAND Senior Political Scientist, Currently Director of Global Programs at 14 North Strategies and RUSI Associate Fellow. Yale History Ph.D. My RAND paper on Operation Serval: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR770.html "French Army Approaches to High Intensity Warfare in the 21st Century" https://wavellroom.com/2022/06/22/french-army-warfare/ https://warontherocks.com/2023/04/why-the-french-army-will-continue-to-prioritize-quality-over-mass/ Check out my Substack etc. https://shurkin.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/MichaelShurkin https://bsky.app/profile/michaelshurkin.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shurkin-ph-d-1397641a/ And my website: https://www.michaelshurkin.com/ My favorite books on war (Affiliate links) Svetlana Alexievitch, “The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II.” https://amzn.to/3GyeDIV Haruko Taya Cook, Japan at War: An Oral History, https://amzn.to/42Dpo5j. Vasily Grossman, "Life and Fate." https://amzn.to/4gRzFz6 Robert Heinlein, "Starship Troopers", https://amzn.to/406gqfA Ernst Jünger, “Storm of Steel”, https://amzn.to/4lWmyji Ahmadou Kourouma, "Allah is not obliged." https://amzn.to/3PaEfwj Robert Leckie, “Helmet for my Pillow: From Paris Island to the Pacific,” https://amzn.to/3YrmWwe Väinö Linna, "Unknown Soldiers." https://amzn.to/41Rnazm Jonathan Littell, "Les Bienveillantes, or The Kindly Ones." In French: https://amzn.to/4a0BY0A In English: https://amzn.to/49VEhSh Erich Maria Remarque, "All Quiet on the Western Front." https://amzn.to/4iRvnJB Pierre Schoendoerffer, "La 317e Section." https://amzn.to/40dmvG3 E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. https://amzn.to/4iSkBlu 0:00:00 Introduction 0:02:48 Sources 0:06:18 Part I: Key Traits of the French Way of War 0:06:22 Modularity 0:12:12 Subsidiarité 0:20:35 Initiative 0:24:42 Audacity 0:31:22 Maneuver 0:35:28 Effet Majeur 0:37:23 Michel Goya's Definition of Effet Majeur 0:43:43 Weird French Army Take on Dien Bien Phu 0:40:56 French Reflections on US Way of War 0:47:01 De-emphasis on Fire Power 0:48:02 Story about CAESAR howitzers in Mali 0:50:16 Part II: Advantages of the French Way of War 0:56:32 Part III: Disadvantages of the French Way of War 0:57:27 Story about supply troops in Mali with water 1:01:22 France versus Russia