Armée d'Orient (1915–19)

The Armée d'Orient (AO) was a field army of the French Army during World War I who fought on the Macedonian front.

The Armée d'Orient was formed in September 1915 during the Conquest of Serbia by German-Austrian-Bulgarian forces, and shipped to the Greek port of Salonika where its first units arrived on 5 October. Despite several offensives, the front stabilized on the Greek-Serbian border until September 1918, when the Bulgarian army disintegrated after defeat in the Battle of Dobro Pole.

On 11 August 1916, all allied troops on the Salonika Front came under a united command, and named Allied Army of the Orient. Supreme commander became the French commander of the Armée d'Orient Maurice Sarrail. He was replaced as commander of the Armée d'Orient by Victor Cordonnier, and the army itself was renamed the Armée française d'Orient (AFO).

Commanders

General Maurice Sarrail (5 October 1915 – 11 August 1916)
General Victor Cordonnier (11 August 1916 – 19 October 1916)
General Paul Leblois (19 October 1916 – 1 February 1917)
General Paul François Grossetti (1 February 1917 – 30 September 1917)
General Charles Louis Jacques Régnault (30 September 1917 – 31 December 1917)
General Paul Prosper Henrys (31 December 1917 – April 1919)

Units

156th Infantry Division (since October 1915), was part of the Corps Expeditionnaire des Dardanelles
57th Infantry Division (since October–November 1915)
122nd Infantry Division (since October–November 1915)
17th Colonial Infantry Division (since February 1916), was part of the Corps Expeditionnaire des Dardanelles
30th Infantry Division (since September–December 1916)
76th Infantry Division (since September–December 1916)
11th Colonial Infantry Division (since September–December 1916)
16th Colonial Infantry Division (since September–December 1916)
A cavalry brigade formed of units from the Army of Africa

After World War I

After the victory against Bulgaria in the fall of 1918, the AFO is divided in 3 parts :

Army of the Danube (AD), created on 28 October 1918, operated in Romania and the Crimea. Commanded by :
- Henri Mathias Berthelot (until May 1919)
- Jean César Graziani (until January 1920)
Army of Hungary (AH), created on 1 March 1919 and dissolved on 31 August 1919. Commanded by
- Paul-Joseph de Lobit
Expeditionary corps for the Occupation of Constantinople (COC). Commanded by
- Louis Franchet d'Esperey (November 1918 – January 1919)
- Albert Defrance (February 1919 – December 1920)
- Maurice Pellé (1921 – 22 October 1923)

References

External Links

Chanoir, Yohann: Army of the Orient, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.

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