Fort de Charenton
Encyclopedia
Fort de Charenton is a fortification built in 1842 in the community of Maisons-Alfort
, and part of the Paris defenses
planned by Adolphe Thiers
.
After the fall of Napoleon I
in 1814, and again after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo
in 1815, Paris was occupied by foreign forces. To counter new invasion and occupation, defensive works were planned. In 1841 a new fortified enclosure of Paris was proposed, becoming known as the Thiers wall
after its chief proponent, prime minister Adolphe Thiers
. The plan involved the construction of a new fortified wall around an expanded Paris, the Thiers wall proper, and the building of sixteen new forts a few kilometers farther out. The Fort de Charenton was planned as part of this system. Presently occupied by the National Police, the fort saw passing regiments as well as foreign occupation forces at the time of the Franco-Prussian War
of 1870 and the Second World War.
, Paris had not been invaded by an enemy army since the Hundred Years' War
. Louis-Philippe, proclaimed king of the French in 1830, was convinced that the key to the defense of France was to prevent Paris from falling too easily into the hands of foreign armies, as in 1814. He conceived a project to build an enclosure of fortifications around the capital that would make the city impregnable. The first project was presented to the Chambre des Députés at the beginning of 1833 by Marshal Soult, President of the Council and Minister of War. The proposal was sharply opposed by the Left, which suspected, or pretended to suspect, ulterior motives on behalf of the government with respect to internal policy. The Left claimed that the fortifications were actually intended not to defend France, but to threaten Parisians if they revolted against the royal powers.
With the walls surrounding Paris a system of 16 detached forts was added, placed a few kilometers away as a first line of defense. Among them was the Fort de Charenton.
, by whose name it was originally known. It later took the name of the town it was to defend, Charenton-le-Pont
. The fort cost 5 million francs at the time, equivalent to 9 million current euros. Construction lasted five years.
, where land was purchased, but the military administration changed its opinion and moved the project to its present site. In the middle of the 19th century, Maisons-Alfort was open country. The hill finally chosen, the Butte de Gramont, had clear lines of fire, apart from the National Veterinary School of Alfort, to the northwest. The is located at a strategic point that was contested in 1814, where forces under Frederick of Württemberg attacked the bridges of Charenton, defended by veterinary students and some regular troops, and the bridges of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
, obligatory passages on the Marne. The fort commands Route Nationale 6
to Geneva
and Route Nationale 19
to Belfort
along with the Pont de Charenton on the Marne and the Pont à l'Anglais on the Seine.
system. Construction required a site of about 26 hectares, with accompanying difficulties with expropriation from the existing owners. The fort itself occupies an area of approximately 10 hectares with a perimeter of about 1500 meters. The first stone was laid by Louis-Philippe on 19 April 1841 only two weeks after construction was authorized, and the walls were finished the following year.
In 1930 barracks were built outside the fort to accommodate the 3rd cavalry group of the 1st Legion of the Mobile Republican Guard. Ten of these buildings remain along Boulevard Charles de Gaulle.
During the German occupation from 1940, small pillboxes with machine guns were built in the point of each bastion.
. A few years after the rise of Napoleon III the fort's armament was updated with rifled guns. The long-range guns had a firing range of 3000 meters.
During the Franco-German War the fort took part in the defense of Paris against the Prussians. The fort fired at targets in Moulins-Saquet, the Gare-aux-bœufs, Mont-Mesly, and destroyed part of Choisy-le-Roi, which had been occupied by the Prussians.No fire was returned in the direction of the fort or town. After the Prussian victory, the fort was handed over to occupation troops in February 1871, and was evacuated in September the same year.
In 1910 the garrison was provided by the 1st group of the 59th artillery regiment. By the First World War the garrison was the 3rd regiment of colonial artillery. In 1914 the fort was opccupied by the 32nd divisional regiment, which stayed until the Second World War, when it was sent to the front, and where it was practically destroyed in combat.
After 1944 the fort was used by the Gendarmerie
and was employed as a center for political prisoners and for juvenile delinquents. The fort was formally transferred to the Gendarmerie in 1950. It was used as a training and assembly center for units destined to the French war in Indo-China, with more than 6000 gendarmes passing through. After the war, other Gendarmerie units were installed at the fort, with the training command occupying the fort from 1959 to 2000. The Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale
(GIGN) was established in 1974 and housed at the Fort de Charenton until 1983, when it moved to Satory
. Presently the fort is occupied by various services of the directorate of the Police Nationale and the historical department of the Gendarmerie.
Maisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort, the most renowned veterinary medical school in France...
, and part of the Paris defenses
Thiers wall
The Thiers wall was the last of the defensive walls of Paris. It was an enclosure constructed between 1841 and 1844 under a law enacted by the government of the French prime minister, Adolphe Thiers. It covered , along the 'boulevards des Maréchaux' of today...
planned by Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
.
After the fall of Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
in 1814, and again after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
in 1815, Paris was occupied by foreign forces. To counter new invasion and occupation, defensive works were planned. In 1841 a new fortified enclosure of Paris was proposed, becoming known as the Thiers wall
Thiers wall
The Thiers wall was the last of the defensive walls of Paris. It was an enclosure constructed between 1841 and 1844 under a law enacted by the government of the French prime minister, Adolphe Thiers. It covered , along the 'boulevards des Maréchaux' of today...
after its chief proponent, prime minister Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...
. The plan involved the construction of a new fortified wall around an expanded Paris, the Thiers wall proper, and the building of sixteen new forts a few kilometers farther out. The Fort de Charenton was planned as part of this system. Presently occupied by the National Police, the fort saw passing regiments as well as foreign occupation forces at the time of the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870 and the Second World War.
History of the Thiers Wall
Before the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, Paris had not been invaded by an enemy army since the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. Louis-Philippe, proclaimed king of the French in 1830, was convinced that the key to the defense of France was to prevent Paris from falling too easily into the hands of foreign armies, as in 1814. He conceived a project to build an enclosure of fortifications around the capital that would make the city impregnable. The first project was presented to the Chambre des Députés at the beginning of 1833 by Marshal Soult, President of the Council and Minister of War. The proposal was sharply opposed by the Left, which suspected, or pretended to suspect, ulterior motives on behalf of the government with respect to internal policy. The Left claimed that the fortifications were actually intended not to defend France, but to threaten Parisians if they revolted against the royal powers.
With the walls surrounding Paris a system of 16 detached forts was added, placed a few kilometers away as a first line of defense. Among them was the Fort de Charenton.
Fort de Charenton
The Fort de Charenton is a defensive work located in the town of Maisons-AlfortMaisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort, the most renowned veterinary medical school in France...
, by whose name it was originally known. It later took the name of the town it was to defend, Charenton-le-Pont
Charenton-le-Pont
Charenton-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe....
. The fort cost 5 million francs at the time, equivalent to 9 million current euros. Construction lasted five years.
Choice of location
The fort was originally proposed for the plateau of Charenton-Saint-MauriceSaint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne
Saint-Maurice is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The insane asylum Charenton was located in Saint-Maurice; it is now a psychiatric hospital.-History:...
, where land was purchased, but the military administration changed its opinion and moved the project to its present site. In the middle of the 19th century, Maisons-Alfort was open country. The hill finally chosen, the Butte de Gramont, had clear lines of fire, apart from the National Veterinary School of Alfort, to the northwest. The is located at a strategic point that was contested in 1814, where forces under Frederick of Württemberg attacked the bridges of Charenton, defended by veterinary students and some regular troops, and the bridges of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.7 km. from the center of Paris.-The abbey:...
, obligatory passages on the Marne. The fort commands Route Nationale 6
Route nationale 6
The Route nationale 6 is a trunk road in France between Paris and the frontier with Italy in the Alps.- Reclassification :The RN 6 runs parallel for a long portion of its route to the A 6 autoroute...
to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and Route Nationale 19
Route nationale 19
The Route nationale 19 is a trunk road in north east France. The road forms part of European route E54.-Reclassification:The RN19 has been subsequently downgraded in several sections to the RD319 and RD619.-Route:...
to Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
along with the Pont de Charenton on the Marne and the Pont à l'Anglais on the Seine.
The fort
The fort was built according to the VaubanVauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
system. Construction required a site of about 26 hectares, with accompanying difficulties with expropriation from the existing owners. The fort itself occupies an area of approximately 10 hectares with a perimeter of about 1500 meters. The first stone was laid by Louis-Philippe on 19 April 1841 only two weeks after construction was authorized, and the walls were finished the following year.
The caserne
Accommodating several hundred men, the fort's buildings were laid out in 1843 according to the following program:"The barracks will be laid out to accommodate four companies of approximately 110 men with their warrant officers ... They will be two stories high above the ground floor and will be composed of a series of bays with a span of 6.5 meters, with two windows on each frontage They will be high of two stages above the ground floor, and will be composed d' a series of spans of 6,50 m width, informed by two windows on each façade, and are served two by two, three meters wide and leading directly to the principal façade. Moreover, two other staircases entered at the gable ends are located on each end bay, which are divided into small rooms. The troop quarters are located on the long sides with communicating openings between them ... they will have a length of 14.1 meters and a ceiling height of 3.45 meters, and will accommodate twenty-four beds."
"The pitched roof will be zinc-covered with gables at the ends to avoid costs for trusses, on top of the cross walls starting from the attic floor and supported by masonry pillars, on which will rest the roof purlins. Moreover, due to the span of the members, they would otherwise need to be especially heavy, so they have been augmented by bracing that permits a reduction in their dimension to those ordinarily found in commercially available timbers."
"Chimney flues will be installed in the cross walls at each floor that will be offset to meet at a single chimney on the ridge of the building."
"The stairs will be of wood, with one or two additional steps between the ground and first floors compared with the flight between the first and second floors, with sufficient height at the landings to allow access to small rooms behind the stairs."
In 1930 barracks were built outside the fort to accommodate the 3rd cavalry group of the 1st Legion of the Mobile Republican Guard. Ten of these buildings remain along Boulevard Charles de Gaulle.
During the German occupation from 1940, small pillboxes with machine guns were built in the point of each bastion.
History
Completed in 1845, the fort was used as a prison following the Revolution of 1848French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
. A few years after the rise of Napoleon III the fort's armament was updated with rifled guns. The long-range guns had a firing range of 3000 meters.
During the Franco-German War the fort took part in the defense of Paris against the Prussians. The fort fired at targets in Moulins-Saquet, the Gare-aux-bœufs, Mont-Mesly, and destroyed part of Choisy-le-Roi, which had been occupied by the Prussians.No fire was returned in the direction of the fort or town. After the Prussian victory, the fort was handed over to occupation troops in February 1871, and was evacuated in September the same year.
In 1910 the garrison was provided by the 1st group of the 59th artillery regiment. By the First World War the garrison was the 3rd regiment of colonial artillery. In 1914 the fort was opccupied by the 32nd divisional regiment, which stayed until the Second World War, when it was sent to the front, and where it was practically destroyed in combat.
After the Second World War
Little information is available concerning the German occupation. The fort was used during this time as an ammunition dump and radio transmitting station. As the Allies advanced on Paris, the fort was abandoned by the Germans on 25 August 1944. Before leaving the Germans set up a timed-detonation device in the hundreds of tons of explosives using an acid-fuse device. The device was defused by bomb disposal expert Roger François and the destruction of the fort and the potential destruction of the town was averted. A plaque commemorates the deed.After 1944 the fort was used by the Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
and was employed as a center for political prisoners and for juvenile delinquents. The fort was formally transferred to the Gendarmerie in 1950. It was used as a training and assembly center for units destined to the French war in Indo-China, with more than 6000 gendarmes passing through. After the war, other Gendarmerie units were installed at the fort, with the training command occupying the fort from 1959 to 2000. The Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale
Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale
The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN , is a special operations unit of the French Armed Forces. It is part of the National Gendarmerie and is trained to perform counter-terrorist and hostage rescue missions in France or anywhere else in the world.The GIGN was...
(GIGN) was established in 1974 and housed at the Fort de Charenton until 1983, when it moved to Satory
Satory
Satory is an area south of Versailles in France. It is mostly known for its military camp, housing:* Weapon-testing facilities of GIAT Industries* Barracks and facilities for gendarmerie including the GIGN headquarters and the gendarmerie armored squadron...
. Presently the fort is occupied by various services of the directorate of the Police Nationale and the historical department of the Gendarmerie.