Minister of War (France)

In 1791, during the French Revolution, the Secretary of State for War became titled Minister of War.^[1]

For most of its existence and until the beginning of the 20th century, ministers had always been Marshals or Generals. The Third Republic saw the gradual replacement of the military by civilian politicians to the office. It was also subject to the governmental instability of the regime, leading to ministers seating only for few days.^{[citation needed]}

On 27 April 1791, the National Constituent Assembly issued a decree organizing the six ministries of Justice, Interior, Finances, War, Navy and Foreign Affairs. The decree was signed into law on 25 May 1791 by King Louis XVI.^[2] This law determined the responsibilities of the minister, giving him full authority on the French Army and the sole provost duties of the National Gendarmerie. It also resolved that the minister would be responsible for the administration and finances of his department.

Kingdom of France edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	King	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
Ministry established
1			Louis Lebègue Duportail	25 May 1791	7 December 1791	196 days	Louis XVI	Louis XVI	[a]
2			Louis de Narbonne-Lara	7 December 1791	10 March 1792	94 days			[3]
3			Pierre Marie de Grave	10 March 1792	10 May 1792	61 days			[4]
4			Joseph Servan	10 May 1792	13 June 1792	34 days			[5]
5			Charles du Périer Dumouriez	13 June 1792	18 June 1792	5 days			[6]
6			Pierre de Lajard	18 June 1792	23 July 1792	35 days			[7]
7			Charles d'Abancourt	23 July 1792	10 August 1792	18 days			[8]
8			Joseph Servan	10 August 1792	22 September 1792	43 days			[9]

First Republic edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term[b]			Cabinet	Head of State	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
8			Joseph Servan	22 September 1792 1 Vendémiaire Year I	3 October 1792 12 Vendémiaire Year I	11 days	National Convention	National Convention	[c]
Interim by Pierre Lebrun-Tondu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 3 October 1792 to 24 January 1793.
9			Jean-Nicolas Pache	24 January 1793 5 Pluviôse Year I	4 February 1793 16 Pluviôse Year I	11 days	National Convention	National Convention	[10]
10			Pierre Riel de Beurnonville	4 February 1793 16 Pluviôse Year I	4 April 1793 15 Germinal Year I	59 days			[11]
11			Jean Bouchotte	4 April 1793 15 Germinal Year I	20 April 1794 1 Floréal Year II	1 year, 16 days			[12]
All ministries suspended and replaced by the Executive Commissions between 20 April 1794 and 3 November 1795.									[13]
12			Jean-Baptiste Aubert du Bayet	3 November 1795 12 Brumaire Year IV	8 February 1796 19 Pluviôse Year IV	97 days	Directory	Directory	[14]
13			Claude Petiet	8 February 1796 19 Pluviôse Year IV	23 July 1797 5 Thermidor Year V	1 year, 165 days
14			Barthélemy Schérer	23 July 1797 5 Thermidor Year V	21 February 1799 3 Ventôse Year VII	1 year, 213 days			[15]
15			Louis de Milet de Mureau	21 February 1799 3 Ventôse Year VII	2 July 1799 14 Messidor Year VII	131 days			[16]
16			Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte	2 July 1799 14 Messidor Year VII	14 September 1799 28 Fructidor Year VII	74 days			[17]
17			Edmond Dubois-Crancé	14 September 1799 28 Fructidor Year VII	7 November 1799 16 Brumaire Year VIII	54 days			[18]
18			Louis-Alexandre Berthier	7 November 1799 16 Brumaire Year VIII	2 April 1800 12 Germinal Year VIII	146 days	Consulate	Napoléon Bonaparte	[19]
19			Lazare Carnot	2 April 1800 12 Germinal Year VIII	5 May 1800 16 Floréal Year VIII	33 days			[20]
Interim by Jean-Gérard Lacuée, Councillor of State, from 5 May to 8 October 1800.									[21]
20			Louis-Alexandre Berthier	8 October 1800 16 Vendémiaire Year IX	18 May 1804 28 Floréal Year XII	3 years, 223 days	Consulate	Napoléon Bonaparte	[22]

First Empire edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	Emperor	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
20			Louis-Alexandre Berthier Prince de Neuchâtel	18 May 1804	9 August 1807	3 years, 83 days	Napoléon	Napoleon I	[d]
21			Henri Guillaume Clarke Duc de Feltre	9 August 1807	20 November 1813	6 years, 103 days			[23]
22			Pierre Daru Comte Daru	20 November 1813	1 April 1814	132 days			[24]

Restoration edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	King	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
23			Pierre Antoine Comte Dupont de l'Étang	3 April 1814	26 November 1814	237 days	Provisional Government	Louis XVIII	[25]
							Restoration
24			Jean-de-Dieu Soult Duc de Dalmatie	26 November 1814	11 March 1815	105 days			[e]
25			Henri Guillaume Clarke Duc de Feltre	11 March 1815	20 March 1815	9 days

Hundred Days edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	Emperor	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
26			Louis Nicolas d'Avout Duc d'Auerstaedt, Prince d'Eckmühl	20 March 1815	9 July 1815	111 days	Hundred Days	Napoleon I	[26]
							Executive Commission	Napoleon II

Kingdom of France edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	King	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
27			Laurent de Gouvion Marquis de Saint-Cyr	9 July 1815	28 September 1815	81 days	Talleyrand	Louis XVIII	[27]
28			Henri Guillaume Clarke Duc de Feltre	28 September 1815	12 September 1817	1 year, 349 days	de Richelieu I
29			Laurent de Gouvion Marquis de Saint-Cyr	12 September 1817	19 November 1819	2 years, 68 days	de Richelieu I Dessolles		[28]
30			Victor de Faÿ Marquis de La Tour-Maubourg	19 November 1819	14 December 1821	2 years, 25 days	Decazes de Richelieu II		[29]
31			Claude Victor Perrin Duc de Bellune	14 December 1821	23 March 1823	1 year, 99 days	de Villèle		[30]
Interim by Alexandre Elisabeth Michel, Vicomte Digeon, from 23 March to 15 April 1823.									[31]
32			Claude Victor Perrin Duc de Bellune	15 April 1823	19 October 1823	187 days	de Villèle	Louis XVIII
33			Ange Hyacinthe Maxence Baron de Damas	19 October 1823	4 August 1824	175 days			[32]
34			Aimé Marie Gaspard Comte de Clermont-Tonnerre	4 August 1824	4 January 1828	3 years, 268 days			[33]
								Charles X
35			Louis Victor de Caux Vicomte de Blacquetot	4 January 1828	8 August 1829	1 year, 216 days	de Martignac		[34]
36			Louis Auguste Victor Comte de Ghaisnes de Bourmont	8 August 1829	29 July 1830	355 days	de Polignac		[35]
37			Étienne Maurice Comte Gérard	29 July 1830	17 November 1830	115 days	de Rochechouart de Mortemart Paris Municipal Commission Cabinet Provisional cabinet First cabinet		[36]
								Louis Philippe I
38			Jean-de-Dieu Soult Duc de Dalmatie	17 November 1830	18 July 1834	3 years, 243 days	Laffitte Casimir-Périer Soult I		[37]
39			Étienne Maurice Comte Gérard	18 July 1834	10 November 1834	115 days	Gérard
40			Simon Bernard Général-Baron	10 November 1834	18 November 1834	8 days	Maret
41			Édouard Mortier Duc de Trévise	18 November 1834	12 March 1835	114 days	Mortier
Interim by Henri de Rigny, Minister without portfolio, from 12 March to 30 April 1835.
42			Nicolas Joseph Marquis Maison	30 April 1835	19 September 1836	1 year, 142 days	de Broglie Thiers I	Louis Philippe I
Interim by Claude du Campe de Rosamel, Minister of Navy, from 6 September to 19 September 1836.									[38]
43			Simon Bernard Général-Baron	19 September 1836	31 March 1839	2 years, 193 days	Molé I – II	Louis Philippe I	[39]
44			Amédée Despans-Cubières	31 March 1839	12 May 1839	42 days	Transitional cabinet		[40]
45			Antoine Schneider	12 May 1839	1 March 1840	294 days	Soult II		[41]
46			Amédée Despans-Cubières	1 March 1840	29 October 1840	242 days	Thiers II		[42]
47			Jean-de-Dieu Soult Duc de Dalmatie	29 October 1840	10 November 1845	5 years, 12 days	Soult III		[43]
48			Alexandre Moline de Saint-Yon	10 November 1845	9 May 1847	1 year, 180 days			[44]
49			Camille Trézel	9 May 1847	24 February 1848	291 days	Soult III Guizot		[45]

Second Republic edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
50			Alphonse Bedeau	24 February 1848	25 February 1848	1 day	Provisional Government	Provisional Government	[46]
51			Jacques Subervie	25 February 1848	19 March 1848	23 days			[47]
Interim by François Arago, Minister of Navy, from 19 March to 20 March 1848.									[48]
52			Louis-Eugène Cavaignac	20 March 1848	5 April 1848	16 days	Provisional Government	Provisional Government	[49]
53			François Arago	5 April 1848	11 May 1848	42 days	Executive Commission	Executive Commission	[50]
Interim by Jean-Baptiste Charras, Under Secretary of State of War, from 11 May to 17 May 1848.									[51]
54			Louis-Eugène Cavaignac	17 May 1848	28 June 1848	42 days	Executive Commission	Executive Commission	[52]
55			Louis Juchault de Lamoricière	28 June 1848	20 December 1848	175 days	Cavaignac	Louis-Eugène Cavaignac[f]	[53]
56			Joseph Rullière	20 December 1848	31 October 1849	315 days	Barrot I – II	Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
57			Alphonse d'Hautpoul	31 October 1849	22 October 1850	356 days	d'Hautpoul
58			Jean-Paul de Schramm	22 October 1850	9 January 1851	79 days			[54]
59			Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély	9 January 1851	24 January 1851	15 days			[55]
60			Jacques Randon	24 January 1851	26 October 1851	275 days	Rouher Faucher		[56]
61			Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud	26 October 1851	2 December 1852	1 year, 37 days	Last cabinet Napoléon I – II		[57]

Second Empire edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	Emperor	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
61			Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud	2 December 1852	11 March 1854	1 year, 99 days	Napoléon III	Napoleon III	[d]
62			Jean-Baptiste Philibert Comte Vaillant	11 March 1854	5 May 1859	5 years, 55 days			[58]
63			Jacques Louis César Alexandre Comte Randon	5 May 1859	20 January 1867	7 years, 260 days			[59]
64			Adolphe Niel	20 January 1867	13 August 1869†	2 years, 205 days			[60]
Interim by Charles Rigault de Genouilly, Minister of Navy, from 13 August to 21 August 1869.
65			Edmond Le Bœuf	21 August 1869	19 July 1870	332 days	Napoléon IV Ollivier	Napoleon III	[61]
Interim by Charles Dejean, Councillor of State, from 19 July to 9 August 1870.									[62]
66			Charles Cousin-Montauban Comte de Palikao	9 August 1870	4 September 1870	26 days	Cousin-Montauban	Napoleon III	[63]

Third Republic edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
67			Adolphe Le Flô	4 September 1870	5 June 1871	274 days	National Defence Dufaure I	Jules Trochu[g]	[64]
								Adolphe Thiers
68			Ernest de Cissey	5 June 1871	29 May 1873	1 year, 358 days	Dufaure I – II		[65]
69			François du Barail	29 May 1873	22 May 1874	358 days	de Broglie I – II	Patrice de MacMahon	[66]
70			Ernest de Cissey	22 May 1874	15 August 1876	2 years, 85 days	de Cissey Buffet Dufaure III – IV		[67]
71			Jean Berthaut	15 August 1876	23 November 1877	1 year, 100 days	Dufaure IV Simon de Broglie III		[68]
72			Gaëtan de Rochebouët	23 November 1877	13 December 1877	20 days	de Rochebouët		[69]
73			Jean-Louis Borel	13 December 1877	13 January 1879	1 year, 31 days	Dufaure V		[70]
74			Henri Gresley	13 January 1879	28 December 1879	349 days	Dufaure V Waddington		[71]
								Jules Grévy
75			Jean-Joseph Farre	28 December 1879	14 November 1881	1 year, 260 days	Waddington de Freycinet I Ferry I		[72]
76			Jean-Baptiste Campenon	14 November 1881	30 January 1882	77 days	Gambetta		[73]
77			Jean-Baptiste Billot	30 January 1882	31 January 1883	1 year, 1 day	de Freycinet II Duclerc		[74]
78			Jean Thibaudin	31 January 1883	9 October 1883	251 days	Fallières Ferry II		[75]
79			Jean-Baptiste Campenon	9 October 1883	3 January 1885	1 year, 86 days	Ferry II		[76]
80			Jules Lewal	3 January 1885	6 April 1885	36 days			[77]
81			Jean-Baptiste Campenon	6 April 1885	7 January 1886	276 days	Brisson I		[78]
82			Georges Boulanger	7 January 1886	30 May 1887	1 year, 143 days	de Freycinet III Goblet		[79]
83			Théophile Ferron	30 May 1887	12 December 1887	196 days	Rouvier I		[80]
84			François Logerot	12 December 1887	3 April 1888	113 days	Tirard I	Sadi Carnot	[81]
85			Charles de Freycinet	3 April 1888	11 January 1893	4 years, 283 days	Floquet Tirard II de Freycinet IV Loubet Ribot I		[82]
86			Julien Loizillon	11 January 1893	3 December 1893	326 days	Ribot II Dupuy I		[83]
87			Auguste Mercier	3 December 1893	28 January 1895	1 year, 56 days	Casimir-Perier Dupuy II – III		[84]
								Jean Casimir-Perier
88			Émile Zurlinden	28 January 1895	1 November 1895	277 days	Ribot III		[85]
89			Jacques Cavaignac	1 November 1895	29 April 1896	180 days	Bourgeois	Félix Faure	[86]
90			Jean-Baptiste Billot	29 April 1896	28 June 1898	2 years, 60 days	Méline		[87]
91			Jacques Cavaignac	28 June 1898	5 September 1898	69 days	Brisson II		[88]
92			Émile Zurlinden	5 September 1898	17 September 1898	12 days			[89]
93			Charles Chanoine	17 September 1898	25 October 1898	38 days			[90]
Interim by Édouard Lockroy, Minister of Navy, from 25 October to 1 November 1898.									[91]
94			Charles de Freycinet	1 November 1898	6 May 1899	186 days	Dupuy IV – V	Félix Faure	[92]
								Émile Loubet
95			Camille Krantz	6 May 1899	22 June 1899	47 days	Dupuy V		[93]
96			Gaston de Galliffet	22 June 1899	29 May 1900	341 days	Waldeck-Rousseau		[94]
97			Louis André	29 May 1900	15 November 1904	4 years, 170 days	Waldeck-Rousseau Combes		[95]
98			Henri Berteaux	15 November 1904	12 November 1905	362 days	Combes Rouvier II		[96]
99			Eugène Étienne	12 November 1905	25 October 1906	347 days	Rouvier II – III Sarrien		[97]
								Armand Fallières
100			Georges Picquart	25 October 1906	24 July 1909	2 years, 272 days	Clemenceau I		[98]
101			Jean Brun	24 July 1909	23 February 1911†	1 year, 214 days	Briand I – II		[99]
Interim by Aristide Briand, President of the Council of Ministers, from 23 February to 2 March 1911.									[100]
102			Henri Berteaux	2 March 1911	21 May 1911†	80 days	Monis	Armand Fallières	[101]
Interim by Jean Cruppi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 21 May to 27 May 1911.									[102]
103			François Goiran	27 May 1911	27 June 1911	15 days	Monis	Armand Fallières	[103]
104			Adolphe Messimy	27 June 1911	14 January 1912	201 days	Caillaux		[104]
105			Alexandre Millerand	14 January 1912	12 January 1913	364 days	Poincaré I		[105]
106			Albert Lebrun	12 January 1913	21 January 1913	9 days			[106]
107			Eugène Étienne	21 January 1913	9 December 1913	322 days	Briand III – IV Barthou		[107]
								Raymond Poincaré
108			Joseph Noulens	9 December 1913	9 June 1914	182 days	Doumergue I		[108]
109			Théophile Delcassé	9 June 1914	13 June 1914	4 days	Ribot IV		[109]
110			Adolphe Messimy	13 June 1914	26 August 1914	74 days	Viviani I		[110]
111			Alexandre Millerand	26 August 1914	29 October 1915	1 year, 64 days	Viviani II		[111]
112			Joseph Gallieni	29 October 1915	16 March 1916	139 days	Briand V		[112]
113			Pierre Roques	16 March 1916	12 December 1916	271 days			[113]
114			Hubert Lyautey	12 December 1916	15 March 1917	93 days	Briand VI		[114]
Interim by Lucien Lacaze, Minister of Navy, from 15 March to 20 March 1917.									[115]
115			Paul Painlevé	20 March 1917	16 November 1917	241 days	Ribot V Painlevé I	Raymond Poincaré	[116]
116			Georges Clemenceau	16 November 1917	20 January 1920	2 years, 65 days	Clemenceau II		[117]
117			André Lefèvre	20 January 1920	16 December 1920	331 days	Millerand I – II Leygues		[118]
								Paul Deschanel
								Alexandre Millerand
118			Flaminius Raiberti	16 December 1920	16 January 1921	31 days	Leygues		[119]
119			Louis Barthou	16 January 1921	15 January 1922	364 days	Briand VII		[120]
120			André Maginot	15 January 1922	14 June 1924	2 years, 151 days	Poincaré II – III François-Marsal		[121]
121			Charles Nollet	14 June 1924	17 April 1925	307 days	Herriot I	Gaston Doumergue	[122]
122			Paul Painlevé	17 April 1925	29 October 1925	195 days	Painlevé II		[123]
123			Édouard Daladier	29 October 1925	28 November 1925	31 days	Painlevé III		[124]
124			Paul Painlevé	28 November 1925	23 June 1926	207 days	Briand VIII – IX		[125]
125			Adolphe Guillaumat	23 June 1926	19 July 1926	207 days	Briand X		[126]
126			Paul Painlevé	19 July 1926	3 November 1929	3 years, 107 days	Herriot II Poincaré IV–V Briand XI		[127]
127			André Maginot	3 November 1929	21 February 1930	110 days	Tardieu I		[128]
128			René Besnard	21 February 1930	2 March 1930	9 days	Chautemps I		[129]
129			André Maginot	2 March 1930	13 December 1930	286 days	Tardieu II		[130]
130			Louis Barthou	13 December 1930	27 January 1931	45 days	Steeg		[131]
131			André Maginot	27 January 1931	7 January 1932†	345 days	Laval I – II		[132]
								Paul Doumer
Interim by Charles Dumont, Minister of Navy, from 7 January to 14 January 1932.									-
132			André Tardieu	14 January 1932	20 February 1932	37 days	Laval III	Paul Doumer	[133]
133			François Piétri[h]	20 February 1932	3 June 1932	104 days	Tardieu III		[134]
134			Joseph Paul-Boncour	3 June 1932	18 December 1932	198 days	Herriot III	Albert Lebrun	[135]
135			Édouard Daladier	18 December 1932	30 January 1934	1 year, 43 days	Paul-Boncour Daladier I Sarraut I Chautemps II		[136]
136			Jean Fabry[i]	30 January 1934	4 February 1934	5 days	Daladier II		[137]
137			Joseph Paul-Boncour[i]	4 February 1934	9 February 1934	5 days			[138]
138			Philippe Pétain	9 February 1934	8 November 1934	272 days	Doumergue II		[139]
139			Louis Maurin	8 November 1934	7 June 1935	211 days	Flandin I Bouisson		[140]
140			Jean Fabry	7 June 1935	24 January 1936	231 days	Laval IV		[141]
141			Louis Maurin	24 January 1936	4 June 1936	132 days	Sarraut II		[142]
142			Édouard Daladier[i]	4 June 1936	18 May 1940	3 years, 349 days	Blum I Chautemps III – IV Blum II Daladier III – IV – V Reynaud		[143]
143			Paul Reynaud	18 May 1940	16 June 1940	29 days	Reynaud		[144]
144			Louis Colson	16 June 1940	10 July 1940	24 days	Pétain		[145]

Vichy France edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	Chief of State	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
-			Louis Colson[j]	10 July 1940	6 September 1940	58 days	Laval V	Philippe Pétain	[146]
-			Charles Huntziger[j]	6 September 1940	11 November 1941†	1 year, 66 days	Laval V Flandin II Darlan		[147]
-			François Darlan[k][j]	11 November 1941	18 April 1942	158 days	Darlan
-			Eugène Bridoux[j]	18 April 1942	20 August 1944	2 years, 124 days	Laval VI		[148]

Free France edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	Leader	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
145			Paul Legentilhomme[l]	24 September 1941	9 November 1943	2 years, 46 days	CNF	Charles de Gaulle	[149]
							CFLN
146			André Le Troquer[l]	9 November 1943	4 April 1944	147 days			[150]
147			André Diethelm[l]	4 April 1944	10 September 1944	159 days			[151]

Provisional Government edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Cabinet	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
(147)			André Diethelm	10 September 1944	21 November 1945	1 year, 72 days	de Gaulle I	Charles de Gaulle	[152]

Fourth Republic edit

No.	Portrait	Name		Term			Government	President	Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
148			Paul Coste-Floret serving with Defence Minister François Billoux	22 January 1947	22 October 1947	273 days	Ramadier I	Vincent Auriol	[153]
Ministry disestablished