French cavalry 7th Regiment, at their camp in Villeurbanne. 1913.

17 comments
  1. Tu as une idée sur la localisation précise ? Parce qu’aujourd’hui c’est tout bétonné hein (sauf les berges du Rhône, parc de la feyssine)

  2. Seriously, the French Army was very proud of their red trousers. Part of their battle philosophy was that the splendid attire, confidence, and bravery of their men would cause the enemy to cower and flee. It was a attitude that valued the attack and victory, and put little stock in defensive measures, which were seen as low-class and cowardly. In their view, one didn’t win wars by being good at hunkering down.

    And so, they sent wave after wave of brave confident men into the killing zone of German machine guns. In the first year of the war their losses were staggering. Mostly because their leadership couldn’t conceive of any other tactic than the march to victory they had been taught at war college.

  3. I wish these breastplates would remain at the very least as ceremonial uniforms, they look too damn good. At least the helmets are still around.

  4. Those guys in that picture….talk about being at the wrong place (the cavalry) at the wrong time (just before WW1)

  5. Very nice uniforms. It’s easy to see why other European (or generally the world) was inspired by French military fashion

  6. This is how I see the present day US Navy (and most other navies). All ready to completely kick the Japs’ asses; with a side order of taking on the soviet union navy circa 1982.

    It’s like they are all still proud of being so farsighted because they got rid of battleships and replaced oil with nuclear propulsion.

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