The French Military Mission to Romania was a mission led by General Berthelot, and sent from France to help Romania during World War I. French officers, aviators and medical staff trained and supported the Romanian Army. As the Bolsheviks took power in Russia and began negotiations for ending hostilities, Romania signed an armistice in December 1917 and the military mission had to be sent back to France.
Romania entered the war on the side of the Allies in August 1916. Joffre's first choice to head the French military mission was General de Langle de Cary, but the suggestion was rejected by the French Minister there, Charles de Saint Aulaire. Instead, Berthelot was appointed, arriving at Iași on 15 October and formally taking up his position the next day. Central Powers forces under General von Falkenhayn had already broken through the Transylvanian passes on 11 October, and swiftly conquered Wallachia and Dobruja. [1]
Just as France had reconstituted the Serbian Army (now based at Salonika) after her conquest in the winter of 1915-16, between January and June 1917 Berthelot supervised the reorganisation and retraining of the Romanian Army. The men travelled through Norway, Sweden and Russia by train to reach Romania. [2] The military mission was built up to almost 400 officers and 1,000 men. [3] 74 75mm guns were sent (with another 102 "under consideration") and 120 old 120L heavy guns, but Britain was asked to supply howitzers (28 BL 5-inch howitzer were received in 1917). [4] Medical staff helped fight typhus and trained the Romanian staff to use modern techniques in both radiology and surgery. [5]
To efficiently train their Romanian allies, the French mission personnel was integrated directly into the ranks Romanian army. Likewise, the aviation component of the mission was integrated into the Romanian Air Corps. [6]
On the way home from his visit to Petrograd in early 1917, shortly before the Fall of the Tsar, General de Castelnau stopped off for talks with Berthelot, and was told that the Romanian army could not be ready before 15 May. [7] In August 1917 Foch sent General Albert Niessel (a Russian speaker and formerly commander of IX Corps), on a mission to Russia (by then a republic under the Provisional Government) in the hope of repeating Berthelot's success there. [8]
By summer 1917 Romania had reconstituted ten fully equipped divisions and had five more needing only artillery. Berthelot lobbied successfully for more munitions and 100 medics to defeat the spread of typhus. [9] The results of the reorganisation and resupply of the Romanian troops were seen in August 1917, when Alexandru Averescu's army broke the front at Mărăști. The Central Powers' major counter-offensive under Mackensen, aiming to occupy the rest of Romania (Moldavia) and the port of Odessa, was stopped at Mărășești and Oituz. US Army Chief of Staff General Hugh Scott praised Berthelot as "a brilliant general". [9]
However, when the Bolsheviks began negotiations to take Russia out of the war which resulted in their ceasefire agreements, Romania, surrounded by the Central Powers, had to sign an armistice on 9 December 1917, followed by a peace treaty on 7 May 1918. The French military mission had to leave the country on 29 February 1918. At Berthelot's suggestion, Britain and France issued a statement that Romania had fought hard, and had been overcome by circumstances beyond her control and that the imposed peace treaty would be disregarded by the Allies. [10] [11]
Berthelot is considered a hero in post-war Romania. The village of General Berthelot is renamed in his honor and the government granted him a house there. [12]
The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 November 1918. It had the most significant oil fields in Europe, and Germany eagerly bought its petroleum, as well as food exports.
The Battle of Mărăști was one of the main battles to take place on Romanian soil in World War I. It was fought between 22 July and 1 August 1917, and was an offensive operation of the Romanian and Russian armies intended to encircle and destroy the German 9th Army. The operation was planned to occur in tandem with the Nămoloasa offensive; however, this operation was abandoned before it began.
Henri Cihoski was a Romanian major general during World War I, and Minister of War from 1928 to 1930.
The air commanders of World War I were army or navy officers who came to command air services during the first major conflict in which air power played a significant role.
The Battle of Bucharest, also known as the Argeş–Neajlov Defensive Operation in Romania, was the last battle of the Romanian Campaign of 1916 in World War I, in which the Central Powers' combatants, led by General Erich von Falkenhayn, occupied the Romanian capital and forced the Romanian Government, as well as the remnants of the Romanian Army to retreat to Moldavia and re-establish its capital at Iaşi.
Henri Mathias Berthelot was a French general during World War I. He held an important staff position under Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, at the First Battle of the Marne, before later commanding a corps in the front line. In 1917 he helped to rebuild the Romanian Army following its disastrous defeat the previous autumn, then in summer 1918 he commanded French Fifth Army at the Second Battle of the Marne, with some British and Italian troops under his command. In the final days of the war he again returned to Romania, helping fight the Hungarians during the Hungarian–Romanian War and then briefly commanded French intervention forces in southern Russia in the Russian Civil War, fighting the Bolsheviks in Bessarabia (1918).
Adjutant Charles Alfred Revol-Tissot was a French World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.
The Battle of the Argeș took place during the Romanian Campaign of World War I.on 1 December 1916. The battle was fought along the line of the Argeș River in Romania between Austro-German forces of the Central Powers and Romanian forces with the Russian imperial forces.
Henri Albert Niessel was a French general.
The Chantilly Conferences were a series of three conferences held between 1915 and 1916 by the Allied Powers of World War I. The conferences were named after Chantilly, France, where the meetings took place.
The Second Army was a field army of the Romanian Land Forces, created on 18 August 1916. Its successor is the 2nd Infantry Division.
The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service and subordinated to the Engineer Inspectorate, being organized in two branches – the aviation and the balloon branch. On 23 August 1915, the RAC was formed as an independent military arm and operated until 1 January 1924 when it became an equal to the Army and Navy, being redesignated as the Royal Romanian Air Force.
After a series of quick tactical victories on the numerically overpowered Austro-Hungarian forces in Transylvania, in the autumn of 1916, the Romanian Army suffered a series of devastating defeats, which forced the Romanian military and administration to withdraw to Western Moldavia, allowing the Central Powers to occupy two thirds of the national territory, including the state capital, Bucharest.
The Pitești–Târgoviște Retreat was a fighting-withdrawal operation carried out by the Romanian 1st Army in the face of advancing Central Powers' forces during World War I. The retreat lasted from 29 November to 3 December and culminated in a violent battle at Târgoviște, after which the entire Romanian Army started a general retreat towards Moldavia.
Rezerva generală a aviației (RGA) or the General Aviation Reserve in English was a Romanian aircraft factory founded during the First World War. It operated between 1916 and 1919 in Iași. After the war it was transferred to Bucharest and renamed to Arsenalul Aeronautic. The maintenance, repair, and assembly of the aircraft and aircraft engines received by Romania during the war took place here.
Ștefan Protopopescu was a Romanian officer and aviation pioneer, he held the no. 1 pilot license in Romania, being the first licensed pilot in Romania and the first pilot of the Romanian Army.
Grupul 2 Aeronautic, also known as Grupul 2 Aviație was one of the three groups of the Romanian Air Corps created following the aviation reorganization in the winter of 1916/1917. In the 1920s, it was transformed into the 2nd Bombardment Group, then into the 1st Fighter Flotilla in 1937.
Grupul 1 Aeronautic, also known as Grupul 1 Aviație was one of the three groups of the Romanian Air Corps created following the aviation reorganization in the winter of 1916/1917. After the war, the Group was eventually transformed into the 1st Reconnaissance Group, then into the 1st Aviation Flotilla in 1929.
Gheorghe Mihăilescu was a Romanian World War I pilot, credited with four victories by Romanian standards and eight including shared ones.
