Marie-Pierre Kœnig

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = Marshal

| name = Marie-Pierre Kœnig (Koenig)

| image = Marie-Pierre Kœnig.jpg

| caption = General Kœnig in 1944.

| office = Minister of the Armed Forces

| primeminister1 = Pierre Mendès France

| term_start1 = 19 June 1954

| term_end1 = 14 August 1954

| predecessor1 = René Pleven

| successor1 = Emmanuel Temple

| primeminister = Edgar Faure

| term_start = 23 February 1955

| term_end = 6 October 1955

| predecessor = Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury

| successor = Pierre Billotte

| office2 = Member of the National Assembly

| term_start2 = 5 July 1951

| term_end2 = 5 December 1958

| constituency2 = Bas-Rhin

| birth_date = {{birth date|1898|10|10|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1970|09|02|1898|10|10|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Caen, French Republic

| death_place = Neuilly-sur-Seine, French Republic

| resting_place = Montmartre Cemetery

| nationality = French

| spouse = {{marriage|Marie Klein|1931}}

| father = Henri Joseph Kœnig

| mother = Ernestine Mutin

| alma_mater = Lycée Malherbe

| party = RPF (1951–1955)
RS (1956–1958)

| allegiance = {{flagicon|France|1794}} Third Republic
{{flagicon|Free French Forces}} Free France
{{flagicon|France|1794}} Fourth Republic

| branch = French Army

| serviceyears = 1917–1951

| rank = Army general{{efn|Marshal of France is a dignity and not a rank}}

| nickname = Mutin

| unit = {{Collapsible list

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| 1 = 36th Infantry Regiment

| 2 = 15th Chasseurs Battalion

| 3 = 38th Infantry Division

| 4 = 51st Infantry Regiment

| 5 = 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment

| 6 = 2nd Tirailleurs Regiment

| 7 = 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion

}}

| commands = {{Collapsible list

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| 1 = 1st Free French Brigade

| 2 = French Forces of the Interior

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| battles = {{collapsible list|title = {{nobold|See list}}|

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Marie Joseph Pierre François Kœnig{{efn|{{IPA|fr|maʁi pjɛʁ køniɡ}}}} or Koenig[https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/4150 French National Assembly] (10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French general during World War II during which 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.

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 career=

After the war, he served with French forces in Morocco and Cameroon. He served in Silesia as an assistant ({{langx|fr|adjoint}}) of Captain {{ill|Adrien Henry|fr}} in the Alps, in Germany, and in Morocco at the general staff headquarters of the division of Marrakesh.

= World War II =

Kœnig 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 Norway's Krigskorset med Sverd, or the War Cross with Sword, in 1942. After the fall of France, he escaped to England from Brittany.

File:LC-USZ62-105393 (19594339801).jpg leaving Hotel de Ville, behind him is French General Marie-Pierre Koenig. In the background are tanks of the Division Leclerc.]]

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. De Gaulle said to Kœnig, "Know and tell your troops that all of France is watching you and that you are its pride."{{#tag:ref|« Sachez et dites à vos troupes que toute la France vous regarde et que vous êtes son orgueil. »{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}}}

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 the various French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI abandoned ranged battle in the maquis 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 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 Philippe Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany but gave himself up at the frontier with Switzerland.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,797479,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621093137/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,797479,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 June 2009|title=FRANCE: Toward Twilight|date=7 May 1945|magazine=Time|access-date=29 March 2016}}

= Cold War =

After the war, Kœnig was the military governor of the French occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1949.{{cite web |url=https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/ga4-490512.htm |title = Bonn Constitution – Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. May 1949.}} In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa, and in 1950, he became the vice-president of the Supreme War Council.

Political career

File:Dan Hadani collection (990044335000205171).jpg

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).{{cite web|url=https://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr/compagnons/pierre-koenig|title=Pierre KOENIG|access-date=19 July 2019|website=ordredelaliberation.fr|last=National Order of Liberation}}

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 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). 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.Jerry Klinger (President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation). [http://www.jewishmag.co.il/138mag/koenig_jewish_brigade/koenig_jewish_brigade.htm "General Marie-Pierre Koenig and the Jewish Brigade: The First Salute"]. The Jewish Magazine, October–November 2009

Death

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

Legacy

There are streets named after Kœnig in Jerusalem,{{cite web|url=http://www.itraveljerusalem.com/city/jerusalem/hadar-mall/|title=iTravelJerusalem – Hadar Mall|work=iTravelJerusalem|access-date=29 March 2016}} Netanya{{cite web|url=https://www.google.co.il/maps/place/Pierre+Koenig+St,+Netanya/@32.3079243,34.8437655,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x151d406b7b9a794f:0xb80099d6c2635341|title=מפות Google|access-date=29 March 2016}} and Haifa.{{cite web|url=http://wikimapia.org/street/6742/Pierre-Koenig-st|title=Pierre Koenig st. – Haifa|access-date=29 March 2016}}

Military ranks

Aspirant ! Second lieutenant ! Lieutenant ! Captain ! Battalion chief ! Lieutenant colonel
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February 1918 ! 3 September 1918{{cite web\|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63678542/f3.image\|title=Décret du 12 Septembre 1918 portant promotion dans l'armée active\|date=12 September 1918\|access-date=3 August 2019\|website=gallica.bnf.fr\|last=Government of the French Republic}} ! 3 September 1920{{cite web\|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63830640/f71.image\|title=Décret du 5 Octobre 1920 portant promotion dans l'armée active\|date=9 October 1920\|access-date=3 August 2019\|website=gallica.bnf.fr\|last=Government of the French Republic}} ! 25 June 1932{{cite web\|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6547070b/f22.image\|title=Décret du 18 Juin 1932 portant promotion dans l'armée active\|date=18 June 1932\|access-date=3 August 2019\|website=gallica.bnf.fr\|last=Government of the French Republic}} ! 1 July 1940 ! December 1940
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Colonel ! Brigade general ! Division general ! Corps general ! Army general ! Marshal of France
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January 1941 ! July 1941 ! 1943 ! 28 June 1944 ! 20 May 1946{{cite web\|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9770544b/f14.item\|title=Décret du 6 Juin 1946 conférant le rang et les prérogatives de général d'armée\|date=6 June 1946\|access-date=2 August 2019\|website=gallica.bnf.fr\|last=Government of the French Republic}} ! 6 June 1984{{cite web\|url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000519409\|title=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\|date=6 June 1984\|access-date=19 July 2019\|website=legifrance.gouv.fr\|last=Government of the French Republic}} Posthumous

Honours and decorations

= National honours =

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Honour

Marie-Pierre Kœnig

Early life

Military career

= World War I =

= Interwar career=

= World War II =

= Cold War =

Political career

Death

Legacy

Military ranks

Honours and decorations

= National honours =

= Ministerial honours =

= Decorations and medals =

= Foreign honours =

See also

References

= Notes =

External links