A discussion of the French Way of War, drawing on French military sources from Foch to contemporary French Army publications.
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/
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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