The Second Army (french: IIe Armée) was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, Air army, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, ...

of the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Army became famous for fighting the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

in 1916 under Generals

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

and

Robert Nivelle Robert Georges Nivelle (15 October 1856 – 22 March 1924) was a French artillery general officer who served in the Boxer Rebellion and the First World War. In May 1916, he succeeded Philippe Pétain as commander of the French Second Army in t ...

Commanders

World War I

* General de Curières de Castelnau (Mobilization – 21 June 1915) * General Pétain (21 June 1915 – 1 May 1916) * General Nivelle (1 May 1916 – 15 December 1916) * General Guillaumat (15 December 1916 – 11 December 1917) * General

Auguste Edouard Hirschauer André Auguste Édouard Hirschauer (16 June 1857 in Saint-Avold, Moselle, France – 27 December 1943 in Versailles (city), Versailles, Yvelines, France) was a French lieutenant general in the First World War and from 1920 to 1936 represen ...

(11 December 1917 – 22 December 1918) * General Antoine Baucheron de Boissoudy (22 December 1918 – 11 February 1919)

World War II

* General Charles Huntziger (2 September 1939 – 5 June 1940) * General Henry Freydenberg (5 June – 31 July 1940)

Commanders

World War I

World War II

See also