France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the Defence Historical Service (''Service historique de la défense''; SHD) is the archives centre of

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and its armed forces. It was set up by decree in 2005. The SHD consists of the "Centre historique des archives" at

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

, the "Centre des archives de l’armement et du personnel" at Châtellerault and a number of smaller repositories. In total, the archives contain about 300 km of records of which 100 km are at Vincennes and 70 km at Châtellerault. The SHD also harbors a research lab in War Studies, the "Division Recherches, Études et Enseignement (DREE)", staffed by ca. 20 professional historians, including both military officers and academic scholars. It deals prominently with French military history (17th-20th century) but some of its members also research broader issues of European, North American or global history.Ministère des Armées, Service historique de la défense: Recherches historiques, études et enseignement
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References

Military history of France Archives in France Buildings and structures in Val-de-Marne Defence agencies of France 2005 establishments in France {{France-mil-stub