Jacques Massu
Encyclopedia
Jacques Émile Massu was a French general who fought in World War II
, the First Indochina War
, the Algerian War and the Suez crisis
.
(1919–1925) and Prytanée National Militaire
(1926–1928). He then entered Saint-Cyr
and graduated in 1930 as a second lieutenant in the promotion class "Marshal Foch
" and chose the Colonial Infantry.
Between October, 1930 and August, 1931, he served in the 16th Senegalese Tirailleur Regiment (16th RTS) in Cahors
. He was sent to Morocco
with the 5th RTS and took part in the fighting around Tafilalt
where he earned his first citation. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1932 and took part in the operations in High Atlas
, earning a new citation.
In 1934 Massu was transferred to 12th RTS at Saintes
, Charente-Maritime
. He served in Togo from January 1935 to February 1937 performing military and civilian duties in Komkombas. Then he was stationed in Lorraine with the 41st RMIC until June 1938, when he was sent to Chad
to command the subdivision of Tibesti with headquarters in Zouar
.
. He took part in the battle of Fezzan
with the armoured troops of General Leclerc
. In 1941, he was in charge of the bataillon de marche du Tchad. He served as a lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Armored Division (2e DB) until the end of the war.
.
during the Suez crisis
.
in June 1955, Massu commanded the groupe parachutiste d'intervention and from 1956 the 10e Division parachutiste. (Grando and Valynseele). France sent Massu and his division to Algeria
in response to a wave of armed attacks and terrorist bombings coordinated by Algerian FLN
. (Codevilla and Seabury). Massu ultimately won the Battle of Algiers
in 1957, during which French forces were able to identify and arrest the leadership of the FLN in Algiers through the successful application of coercive methods of interrogation and outright torture
on members of subordinate cells. In July 1958, he was promoted to Général de division and took the head of the army corps of Algiers
, as well as functions of prefect
for the region of Algiers.
It was said of Massu that he willingly admitted to the use of torture on suspected members of the FLN. However, he insisted that he would never subject anyone to any treatment that he had not first tried out on himself.
The Algier crisis of 1958, began when the current government suggested that it would negotiate with the Algerian nationalists, bringing the instability and ineffectiveness of the Fourth Republic
to a head. Right-wing elements in the French Army
, led by General Massu seized power in Algiers
and threatened to conduct an assault on Paris, involving paratrooper
s and armoured forces based at Rambouillet
, unless Charles de Gaulle
was placed in charge of the Republic. De Gaulle did so under the precondition that a new constitution would be introduced creating a powerful presidency in which a sole executive, the first of which was to be De Gaulle, ruled for seven-year periods. These changes were introduced and the Fifth Republic
was born.
In July 1958 he became général de division (3 stars).
On 14 January 1960, Massu gave an interview in which he declared:
Massu was immediately relieved of command and sent back to the mainland.
in 1960, Massu was fired from his positions of military governor of Algiers. In 1962 he became military governor of Metz
and of the Sixth military region in France. Promoted to général de corps d'armée
(4 stars) in 1963. In March 1966, he became général d'armée (5 stars) and was made chief of the French forces in Germany. On 29 May 1968, Charles de Gaulle
came to visit him at his headquarters in Baden-Baden
during the events of May 68. Massu assured de Gaulle of his support, but according to some sources conditioned it upon an amnesty for French military officers implicated in coup attempts during the Algerian War.
Massu retired from military duty in July 1969 and spent the rest of his life in his home at Conflans-sur-Loing
writing his memoires. He died there on 26 October 2002.
He received 13 citations during his career
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
, the Algerian War and the Suez crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
.
Early life
Jacques Massu was born in Châlons-sur-Marne to a family of military officers; his father was an artillery officer. He studied successively at Saint-Louis de Gonzague in Paris, the Free College of GienGien
Gien is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.Gien is on the Loire River, from Orléans. The town was bought for the royal property by Philip II of France. The town is twinned with Malmesbury in England.-Sights:*Faience de Gien...
(1919–1925) and Prytanée National Militaire
Prytanée National Militaire
The Prytanée National Militaire, originally Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand, is a French school managed by the military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory school classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to enter French...
(1926–1928). He then entered Saint-Cyr
École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...
and graduated in 1930 as a second lieutenant in the promotion class "Marshal Foch
Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
" and chose the Colonial Infantry.
Between October, 1930 and August, 1931, he served in the 16th Senegalese Tirailleur Regiment (16th RTS) in Cahors
Cahors
Cahors is the capital of the Lot department in south-western France.Its site is dramatic being contained on three sides within an udder shaped twist in the river Lot known as a 'presqu'île' or peninsula...
. He was sent to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
with the 5th RTS and took part in the fighting around Tafilalt
Tafilalt
Tafilalt or Tafilet is a region and the most important oasis of the Moroccan Sahara; it is also considered one of the largest oases in the world, the oasis is entirely located along the Ziz River. The oasis is ten days' journey south of Fez, across the Atlas Mountains...
where he earned his first citation. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1932 and took part in the operations in High Atlas
High Atlas
High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas Mountains is a mountain range in central Morocco in Northern Africa.The High Atlas rises in the west at the Atlantic Ocean and stretches in an eastern direction to the Moroccan-Algerian border. At the Atlantic and to the southwest the range drops abruptly...
, earning a new citation.
In 1934 Massu was transferred to 12th RTS at Saintes
Saintes
Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....
, Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
. He served in Togo from January 1935 to February 1937 performing military and civilian duties in Komkombas. Then he was stationed in Lorraine with the 41st RMIC until June 1938, when he was sent to Chad
Colonial Chad
Chad was a part of the French colonial empire from 1900 to 1960. Colonial rule under the French began in 1900 when the Military Territory of Chad was established. From 1905, Chad was linked to the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, known from 1910 under the name of French...
to command the subdivision of Tibesti with headquarters in Zouar
Zouar, Chad
Zouar is a town in the Tibesti Department in the BET Region in northern Chad, in an oasis in the Tibesti Mountains. The town has an airport with an unpaved runway....
.
World War II
He was serving in Africa when World War II broke out, and joined the Free French ForcesFree French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
. He took part in the battle of Fezzan
Fezzan
Fezzan is a south western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.-Name:...
with the armoured troops of General Leclerc
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, then Leclerc de Hauteclocque, by a 1945 decree that incorporated his French Resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, , was a French general during World War II...
. In 1941, he was in charge of the bataillon de marche du Tchad. He served as a lieutenant-colonel in the 2nd Armored Division (2e DB) until the end of the war.
Indochina
In September 1945, he landed in Saigon and took part in the retaking of the city and of the South of IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
.
Egypt
In 1956, the 10th Parachute Division was sent in Egypt to take back the Suez canalSuez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
during the Suez crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
.
Algeria
A Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
in June 1955, Massu commanded the groupe parachutiste d'intervention and from 1956 the 10e Division parachutiste. (Grando and Valynseele). France sent Massu and his division to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
in response to a wave of armed attacks and terrorist bombings coordinated by Algerian FLN
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
. (Codevilla and Seabury). Massu ultimately won the Battle of Algiers
Battle of Algiers (1957)
The Battle of Algiers was a campaign of guerrilla warfare carried out by the National Liberation Front against the French Algerian authorities from late 1956 to late 1957. The conflict began as a series of hit-and-run attacks by the FLN against the French Police in Algiers. Violence escalated...
in 1957, during which French forces were able to identify and arrest the leadership of the FLN in Algiers through the successful application of coercive methods of interrogation and outright torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
on members of subordinate cells. In July 1958, he was promoted to Général de division and took the head of the army corps of Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, as well as functions of prefect
Prefect
Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....
for the region of Algiers.
It was said of Massu that he willingly admitted to the use of torture on suspected members of the FLN. However, he insisted that he would never subject anyone to any treatment that he had not first tried out on himself.
The Algier crisis of 1958, began when the current government suggested that it would negotiate with the Algerian nationalists, bringing the instability and ineffectiveness of the Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
to a head. Right-wing elements in the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
, led by General Massu seized power in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
and threatened to conduct an assault on Paris, involving paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
s and armoured forces based at Rambouillet
Rambouillet
Rambouillet is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.It is located in the suburbs of Paris southwest from the center...
, unless Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
was placed in charge of the Republic. De Gaulle did so under the precondition that a new constitution would be introduced creating a powerful presidency in which a sole executive, the first of which was to be De Gaulle, ruled for seven-year periods. These changes were introduced and the Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
was born.
In July 1958 he became général de division (3 stars).
On 14 January 1960, Massu gave an interview in which he declared:
Massu was immediately relieved of command and sent back to the mainland.
Later life
After his criticism of the policy of de GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
in 1960, Massu was fired from his positions of military governor of Algiers. In 1962 he became military governor of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
and of the Sixth military region in France. Promoted to général de corps d'armée
Général de corps d'armée
A Général de corps d'armée is a senior rank in the French Army.The rank is the equivalent of a Lieutenant General in other countries and is junior to the rank of Général d'armée and senior to Général de division...
(4 stars) in 1963. In March 1966, he became général d'armée (5 stars) and was made chief of the French forces in Germany. On 29 May 1968, Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
came to visit him at his headquarters in Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
during the events of May 68. Massu assured de Gaulle of his support, but according to some sources conditioned it upon an amnesty for French military officers implicated in coup attempts during the Algerian War.
Massu retired from military duty in July 1969 and spent the rest of his life in his home at Conflans-sur-Loing
Conflans-sur-Loing
Conflans-sur-Loing is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.-See also:*Communes of the Loiret department...
writing his memoires. He died there on 26 October 2002.
Decorations
- Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Companion of the LiberationOrdre de la LibérationThe Ordre de la Libération is a French Order awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is an exceptional honor, the second highest after the Légion d’Honneur and only a small number of people and military units have received it, exclusively for deeds accomplished...
(14 July 1941) - Croix de guerre 1939-1945Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (France)The Croix de guerre 1939–1945 is a French military decoration created on September 26, 1939, to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis force at any time during World War II.-Recipients:...
(8 citations) - Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieuresCroix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations ExterieuresThe Croix de guerre des théâtres d’opérations extérieures is a French medal rewarded for military service in foreign countries. It is granted to individuals who have received citations for their actions while engaged in military service overseas.-History:...
(3 citations) - Croix de la Valeur MilitaireCroix de la Valeur MilitaireThe Croix de la Valeur Militaire is a military decoration of France that recognizes individual holding a mention in Dispatches earned in theaters of operations which are not subject to the award of the Croix de guerre....
(2 citations) - Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(UK) - Grand Officer of the Ordre du Nichan El-AnouarOrdre du Nichan El-AnouarThe Ordre du Nichan El-Anouar was established in 1887 as a colonial order of merit of the Tajurah sultanate in French Somaliland.-Notable Recipients:...
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Black Star
- BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
(West Germany)
He received 13 citations during his career
Quotes
- "Give me two divisions and tomorrow, you can take your breakfast on the boulevard Saint Germain" (to De Gaulle, about May '68)
- "I am a soldier, I obey"
- Charles de Gaulle : "So, Massu, still that stupid?"
- Jacques Massu's answer : "Still that gaullist, General!"
Further reading
- Aussaresses, General Paul, The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Algeria, 1955-1957. New York: Enigma Books, 2010. 978-1-929631-30-8.