The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

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CNE503
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Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

#31

Post by CNE503 » 21 Jul 2015, 19:01

No one interested whatsoever?

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

Sid Guttridge
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Posts: 10158
Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 12:19

Re: The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

#32

Post by Sid Guttridge » 28 Jul 2015, 18:37

Hi CNE503,

Yes, I was very interested in this link and printed it off.

I would have thanked you earlier, but I have been off the internet for several weeks - my longest hiatus in 15 years.

I am going to try to find the French equivalent. Not only did France have little more than half the population of the Reich in 1939, but its reproduction rate was lower. As a result there were some two German annual conscripts to every one Frenchman in the late 1930s.

Thanks again,

Sid.


CNE503
Member
Posts: 2395
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 13:01
Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

#33

Post by CNE503 » 29 Jul 2015, 18:42

Sid,

I'm pretty sure, as a Frenchman, that I can help you with these numbers if you need them. Just ask what you want, I probably can find the year group manpower strength on a very short delay.
If you have some elements to answer my previous question asked on July 13th, feel free! :)

Cheers,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

CNE503
Member
Posts: 2395
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 13:01
Location: Dijon, Bourgogne, France

Re: The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

#34

Post by CNE503 » 29 Jul 2015, 18:50

For instance, the following numbers can probably help:
- 1935: the French army ("armée de terre" ie ground forces only I guess, but I'm not sure) called 208 222 draftees. It also counted at this time 71 960 enlisted volunteers (basically NCOs with a small part of specialized privates, but officers are not included in this figure), 49 278 indigenous soldiers from the French colonies, and 20 502 officers;
- 1936: these numbers were respectively 268 197, 69 418, 44 424 and 21 130;
- 1937: 281 431, 83 345, 48 761 and 22 314;
- 1938: 276 408, 86 479, 52 776 and 22 426;
- 1939: 289 528, 89 979, 58 948 and 23 569.

The "classes creuses" (empty year groups) were spread over 1935 to 1939, but the most critical year was 1935.
As a comparison, for the German, the most critical year group was 1938 (year group 1917), with "only" 362 632 potential draftees out of a "normal" year group comprised between 600 to 700 000 young Germans. For the French, it should have been only 250 to 300 000 per age group (called a "classe" in French). It was a huge strategic drawback for the French...

I will dig in my transcriptions of an old visit to the French DoD center for historical studies ("Service Historique de la Défense"), I may have additional numbers.

Cheers,

CNE503
"Sicut Aquila" / "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre" / "par l'exemple, le coeur et la raison" / "Labor Omnia Vincit"

Sid Guttridge
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Posts: 10158
Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 12:19

Re: The dates the Classes of 1916 to 1929 were called up.

#35

Post by Sid Guttridge » 30 Jul 2015, 16:06

Hi CNE503,

Thanks again.

I think it important to have some facts on this, as it illustrates the problems the French faced vis-a-vis Germany in the long term and does much to explain the lack of French assertiveness in the late 1930s. It also explains why France needed such extensive demilitarization of Germany after WWI.

By 1939-40 Germany was, in population and economic terms, nearly twice the size of metropolitan France. Indeed, France plus her colonial subjects totalled just 110 million in 1939 - not a lot larger than the Reich's 80 million Germans, and far less employable.

France, in turn, was easily the most populous and economically advanced of Germany's direct neighbours. If Germany was not demilitarized, France required an alliance somewhat larger than the more cohesive Reich to be able to stand up to it with any prospect of success. The deployable British Army was only two divisions strong in late 1938 and its conscripted expansion from 1939 could not reach France in numbers until 1941. France was left holding the line in the meantime, and suffered the consequences.

Cheers,

Sid.

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