Marie-Pierre Kœnig (Koenig) | |
|---|---|
 General Kœnig in 1944. | |
| Minister of the Armed Forces | |
| In office 23 February 1955 – 6 October 1955 | |
| Prime Minister | Edgar Faure |
| Preceded by | Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Billotte |
| In office 19 June 1954 – 14 August 1954 | |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Mendès France |
| Preceded by | René Pleven |
| Succeeded by | Emmanuel Temple |
| Member of theNational Assembly | |
| In office 5 July 1951 – 5 December 1958 | |
| Constituency | Bas-Rhin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1898-10-10)10 October 1898 Caen,French Republic |
| Died | 2 September 1970(1970-09-02) (aged 71) Neuilly-sur-Seine,French Republic |
| Resting place | Montmartre Cemetery |
| Nationality | French |
| Political party | RPF (1951–1955) RS (1956–1958) |
| Spouse | |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | Lycée Malherbe |
| Nickname | Mutin |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Third Republic Free FranceFourth Republic |
| Branch/service | French Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1951 |
| Rank | Army general[a] |
| Unit | List of units
|
| Commands | List of commands
|
| Battles/wars | |
Marie Joseph Pierre François Kœnig[b] orKoenig[4] (10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French general duringWorld War II during which he commanded aFree French Brigade at theBattle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942. He started a political career after the war and was posthumously elevated to the dignity ofMarshal of France in 1984.
Marie-Pierre Kœnig was born on 10 October 1898, inCaen,Calvados, France. His parents were from theAlsace region.
Kœnig fought in theFrench Army duringWorld War I and served with distinction. He obtained his baccalaureate and enlisted in 1917. He served in the 36th Infantry Regiment. He was designated as an aspirant in February 1918 and joined his unit at the front. Decorated with theMédaille militaire, he was promoted tosous-lieutenant on 3 September 1918.
After the war, he served with French forces inMorocco andCameroon. He served inSilesia as an assistant (French:adjoint) of CaptainAdrien Henry [fr] in theAlps, in Germany, and inMorocco at the general staff headquarters of the division ofMarrakesh.
Kœnig was a captain and assistant toLieutenant-ColonelRaoul Magrin-Vernerey in the13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion of theFrench Foreign Legion.
WhenWorld War II broke out, Kœnig returned to France. In 1940, he was assigned as a captain with theFrench troops in Norway for which he was later awardedNorway'sKrigskorset med Sverd, or theWar Cross with Sword, in 1942. After thefall of France, he escaped to England fromBrittany.
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In London, Kœnig joined GeneralCharles de Gaulle and was promoted tocolonel. He becamechief of staff in the first divisions of theFree French Forces. In 1941, he served in thecampaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade inEgypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five Axis divisions (c. 37,000 men) for 16 days at theBattle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. De Gaulle said to Kœnig, "Know and tell your troops that all of France is watching you and that you are its pride."[5]
Later, Kœnig served as the Free French delegate to the Allied headquarters under GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, he was given command of the Free French who participated in theInvasion of Normandy. Kœnig also served as a military advisor to de Gaulle. In June 1944, he was given command of theFrench Forces of the Interior (FFI) to unify the variousFrench Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI abandoned ranged battle in themaquis and preferred sabotage that was waged in support of the invading army. Important during D-Day, the FFI had a role that became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in Provence of theUS Seventh Army and French Army B.
On 21 August 1944, de Gaulle appointed Kœnig military governor of Paris to restore law and order. In 1945, he was sent to arrest MarshalPhilippe Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany but gave himself up at the frontier with Switzerland.[6]
After the war, Kœnig was the military governor of theFrench occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1949.[7] In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa, and in 1950, he became the vice-president of the Supreme War Council.
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In 1951, after his retirement from the army, Kœnig was elected asGaullist representative to theFrench National Assembly and briefly served as Minister of Defense underPierre Mendès-France (1954) andEdgar Faure (1955).[8]
He gave his strong support to the newState of Israel as president of the Franco-Israeli Committee (Comité franco-israélien), at around the same time when he was France's Defense Minister, as shown from his informing his Israeli counterpartShimon Peres that France was willing to sell Israel any weapons it wished to purchase, from small arms to tanks (such as theAMX-13light tank).[8] Kœnig had witnessed the heroism of a battalion of Palestinian Jewish mine layers during theBattle of Bir Hakeim and afterwards allowed them to fly their own Star-of-David flag, against British regulations.[9]
Kœnig died on 2 September 1970, inNeuilly-sur-Seine, and was buried atMontmartre Cemetery, in Paris.[8]
There are streets named after Kœnig inJerusalem,[10]Netanya[11] andHaifa.[12]
| Aspirant | Second lieutenant | Lieutenant | Captain | Battalion chief | Lieutenant colonel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_OF-D.svg) | _OF-1a.svg) | _OF-1b.svg) |  |  |  |
| February 1918[8] | 3 September 1918[1] | 3 September 1920[2] | 25 June 1932[3] | 1 July 1940[8] | December 1940[8] |
| Colonel | Brigade general | Division general | Corps general | Army general | Marshal of France |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| January 1941[8] | July 1941[8] | 1943[8] | 28 June 1944[8] | 20 May 1946[13] | 6 June 1984[14] Posthumous |
| Ribbon bar | Honour[8] |
|---|---|
 | Grand Cross of theNational Order of the Legion of Honour |
 | Companion of the National Order of Liberation |
| Ribbon bar | Honour[8] |
|---|---|
 | Commander of theOrder of Agricultural Merit |
| Ribbon bar | Honour[8] |
|---|---|
 | Military medal |
 | War Cross 1914–1918 (2 citations) |
 | War Cross 1939–1945 (4 citations) |
 | War Cross for foreign operational theatres (3 citations) |
 | Resistance Medal with rosette |
 | Colonial Medal with clasps "Maroc", "Sahara", "Libye", "Bir-Hakeim", "Tunisie 43-43" |
_ribbon.svg) | Combatant's Cross |
 | Aeronautical Medal |
 | Escapees' Medal |
 | 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal |
 | 1914–1918 Commemorative war medal |
 | 1939–1945 Commemorative war medal |
 | Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France |
 | Medal of French Gratitude |
Marshals of Franceof the 20th century | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3rd Republic |  | |
| 4th Republic | ||
| 5th Republic | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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