The Second Army () was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Army became famous for fighting the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, 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 Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

and Robert Nivelle.

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 (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)

History

1918

On the 25th of September, the American First Army relieved the French Second Army from the sector between Meuse and the Argonne Forest.

References