Marie-Pierre Kœnig

Marie Joseph Pierre François Kœnig (French pronunciation: ​[maʁi pjɛʁ køniɡ]; 10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French general during the Second World War, where he commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942. He started a political career after the War and was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1984.

Marshal

Marie-Pierre Kœnig
General Kœnig in 1948.
Minister of National Defence
In office
19 June 1954 – 14 August 1954
Prime MinisterPierre Mendès France
Preceded byRené Pleven
Succeeded byEmmanuel Temple
In office
23 February 1955 – 6 October 1955
Prime MinisterEdgar Faure
Preceded byMaurice Bourgès-Maunoury
Succeeded byPierre Billotte
Member of the National Assembly for Bas-Rhin's constituency
In office
5 July 1951 – 5 December 1958
Personal details
Born(1898-10-10)10 October 1898
Caen, France
Died2 September 1970(1970-09-02) (aged 71)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Resting placeMontmartre Cemetery
NationalityFrench
Political partyRPF (1951–1955)
RF (1956–1958)
Spouse(s)
Marie Klein
(
m. 1931)
MotherErnestine Mutin
FatherHenri Joseph Kœnig
Alma materLycée Malherbe
Military service
Nickname(s)Mutin
Allegiance French Third Republic
Free France
French Fourth Republic
Branch/serviceFrench Army
Years of service1917–1951
RankArmy general[lower-alpha 1]
Unit
  • 36th Infantry Regiment[1]
  • 15th Chasseurs Battalion[2]
  • 38th Infantry Division
  • 51st Infantry Regiment
  • 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment[3]
  • 2nd Tirailleurs Regiment
  • 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion
Commands
Battles/wars

Early life

Marie-Pierre Kœnig was born on 10 October 1898, in Caen, Calvados, France. His parents were from the Alsace region.

Military career

World War I

Kœnig fought in the French Army during World 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 the Médaille militaire, he was promoted to sous-lieutenant on 3 September 1918.

Interwar

After the war, he served with French forces in Morocco and Cameroon. He served in Silesia as assistant (French: adjoint) of captain Adrien Henry in the Alpes, in Germany, then in Morocco, at the general staff headquarters of the division of Marrakesh.

World War II

He was a captain and assistant to lieutenant-colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey in the 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion of the French Foreign Legion.

When World War II broke out, Kœnig returned to France. In 1940, he was assigned as a captain with the French troops in Norway, for which he was later awarded the Krigskorset med Sverd or Norwegian War Cross with Sword, in 1942. After the fall of France, he escaped to England from Brittany.

In London, Kœnig joined General Charles de Gaulle and was promoted to colonel. He became chief of staff in the first divisions of the Free French Forces. In 1941, he served in the campaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in Egypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five Axis divisions (c. 37,000 men) for 16 days at the Battle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. General de Gaulle said to Kœnig: "Hear and tell your troops: the whole of France is watching you, you are our pride."[4]

Later, Kœnig served as the Free French delegate to the Allied headquarters under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, he was given command of the Free French who participated in the Invasion of Normandy. Kœnig also served as a military advisor to de Gaulle. In June 1944, he was given command of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) to unify various French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI stopped range battle in the Maquis, preferring sabotage waged in support of the invasion army. Important in D-Day, the role of the FFI became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in Provence of the US 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 Marshal Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany, but who gave himself up at the frontier with Switzerland.[5]

Cold War

After the war, Kœnig was commander of the French army in the French occupation zone of Germany from 1945 to 1949. In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa and in 1950 vice-president of the Supreme War Council.

Political career

In 1951, after his retirement from the army, Kœnig was elected as Gaullist representative to the French National Assembly and briefly served as Minister of Defense under Pierre Mendès-France (1954) and Edgar Faure (1955).[6]

He gave his strong support to the new State 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 of his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres that France was willing to sell Israel any weapons it wished to purchase, from small arms to tanks (such as the AMX-13 light tank).[6] Kœnig had witnessed the heroism of a battalion of Palestinian Jewish mine layers during the Battle of Bir Hakeim and afterwards allowed them to fly their own Star-of-David flag, against British regulations.[7]

Death

Marie-Pierre Kœnig died on 2 September 1970, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and was buried at Montmartre Cemetery in Paris.[6]

Hommage

There are streets named after Kœnig in Jerusalem,[8] Netanya[9] and Haifa.[10]

Military ranks
Ranks attained in the French Army
Aspirant Sous-Lieutenant Lieutenant Capitaine Chef de bataillon Lieutenant-Colonel
February 1918[6] 3 September 1918[1] 3 September 1920[2] 25 June 1932[3] 1 July 1940[6] December 1940[6]
Colonel Général de brigade Général de division Général de corps d'armée[lower-alpha 2] Général d'armée[lower-alpha 2] Maréchal de France[lower-alpha 3]
January 1941[6] July 1941[6] 1943[6] 28 June 1944[6] 20 May 1946[11] 6 June 1984[12]
Posthumous

Honours and decorations

National honours
Ribbon barHonour[6]
Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
Companion of the National Order of Liberation

Ministerial honours
Ribbon barHonour[6]
Commander of the Order of Agricultural Merit

Decorations and medals
Ribbon barHonour[6]
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"
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

Foreign honours
Ribbon barHonour[6]Country
Companion of the Order of the Bath United Kingdom
Distinguished Service Order United Kingdom
Commander of the Legion of Merit United States
Congressional Gold Medal United States
Order of Suvorov, 1st Class Soviet Union
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown with palm Belgium
Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold Belgium
War Cross with Palm Belgium
Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands
War Cross Luxembourg
Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown Luxembourg
Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog Denmark
Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav Norway
War Cross with Sword Norway
Commander's Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari[13] Poland
Resistance Medal with rosette Poland
War Cross Czechoslovakia
Order of the White Lion for Victory Czechoslovakia
Grand Cross of the Order of George I Greece
Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Charles Monaco
Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta Malta
Sherifian Order of Military Merit Morocco
Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite Morocco
Grand Cordon of the Nichan Iftikar Tunisia
Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Anjouan Comoros
Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant Thailand
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See also
  • Susan Travers
  • The works of Jean Fréour. Sculptor of Kœnig memorial

Notes
  1. Marshal of France is a dignity and not a rank. As such, he was still legally an Army general.
  2. Not a rank, but a position and style
  3. Not a rank, but a dignity in the state

References
  1. Government of the French Republic (12 September 1918). "Décret du 12 Septembre 1918 portant promotion dans l'armée active". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  2. Government of the French Republic (9 October 1920). "Décret du 5 Octobre 1920 portant promotion dans l'armée active". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  3. Government of the French Republic (18 June 1932). "Décret du 18 Juin 1932 portant promotion dans l'armée active". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  4. «Sachez et dites à vos troupes que toute la France vous regarde et que vous êtes son orgueil.»
  5. "FRANCE: Toward Twilight". TIME.com. 7 May 1945. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  6. National Order of Liberation. "Pierre KOENIG". ordredelaliberation.fr. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. Jerry Klinger (President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation). "General Marie-Pierre Koenig and the Jewish Brigade: The First Salute". The Jewish Magazine, October–November 2009
  8. "iTravelJerusalem – Hadar Mall". iTravelJerusalem. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. "מפות Google". מפות Google. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. "Pierre Koenig st. – Haifa". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  11. Government of the French Republic (6 June 1946). "Décret du 6 Juin 1946 conférant le rang et les prérogatives de général d'armée". gallica.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  12. Government of the French Republic (6 June 1984). "Décret du 6 juin 1984 LA DIGNITE DE MARECHAL DE FRANCE EST CONFEREE A TITRE POSTHUME AU GENERAL D'ARMEE KOENIG MARIE,JOSEPH,PIERRE,FRANCOIS". legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  13. 16 July 1946 Monitor Polski 1947 no. 27 pos. 188
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