The « Ecole Militaire » in Paris (France)Headquarters of the high s National Defence Studies Institute

After the surrender, in June 1748 the project of raising to KingLouis XV a statue on a new site, the Deputy Head of provisions,Joseph Paris Duverney, in agreement with Jean-Baptiste de Machaultd'Arnouville, controller General of Finance, and an idea of Marshal

Maurice de Saxe offers the king to build anAcademic College, which would at the sametime a military academy able to house withdignity 500 gentlemen. In front of the littleking enthusiasm, Paris Duverney convinces Mmede Pompadour to intercede with the king sothat it makes build the Ecole Militaire.King, yielding to the one for whom he had aninclination, decided, then, to create an

edict of January 13, 1751, "a military school for shelter,sustenance, maintenance and education in the art of war, fivehundred young gentlemen of our kingdom ... "even state" want it tobe selected shortly around our good city of Paris, land and a cleanand convenient location to build and build a hotel to accommodatethe so-called gentlemen ... which hotel will be called the RoyalMilitary Hotel ".Initial funding for this major project was obtained from theproceeds of the tax on playing cards and then a lottery (Judgment of15 October 1754), which, you will agree, shows a little caricature Iadmit, the "Vice and Virtue"!The project.The initial project of Paris Duverney provided, in addition tohousing 500 gentlemen, a staff, a steward, fifty officers, twelve tofifteen teachers, two squires, a surgeon, representatives ofdifferent professions and household nearly seven hundred people. Todo this, we needed a large enough location near the Invalides, forthe king can be seen from the castle of Meudon the work of the GreatKing (Les Invalides built under Louis XIV) and his own.

From left to right, Jacques-Ange Gabriel, Madame de Pompadour, the Comte d'Argenson

The architect who was chosen to carry out this project was Jacques-Ange Gabriel. The fact that he was married to Catherine Angélique dela Motte (2 February 1728), daughter of the first secretary of theDuc d'Antin, Director General of Buildings, has, of course, playedno role in the appointment ...!Upon receiving the "specifications" prepared by Paris Duverney,Gabriel offers after a few weeks of work, a huge and beautiful mapwhich earned him a letter dated 29 December 1750, in which ParisDuverney already leaves reflected concern about the financing ofthis monument: "Between the beautiful and the useful, there is noswinging when you can combine the two. Besides, Sir, theestablishment of a military school is such by nature that drag onthe reign of King without the aid of the magnificence and decorationof a building. do you even liftFaced with the argument of Paris Duverney, Gabriel resolves, then,to propose a second project that had all the same a surface (takinginto account the five courses and indoor gardens) three times theInvalides! (Reproduced by Le Rouge figure below).

The location

The site chosen for the building of the school was a vast sandyplain known as the plain of Grenelle. June 20, 1751, an initial landwas bought by Marc-Pierre Voyer de Paulmy, Count d'Argenson, actingas superintendent of the Royal Military Academy for a price of277,860 pounds (€ 4,723,620 in 2010), while the owners claimed atleast 300,000 (taking account of the annual product hereunto) plus a"fair compensation for dispossession which is always made to thesubjects of his majesty." It should be noted that this land wasacquired in December 1714 for £ 100,000 which releases in less than40 years, an interesting added value!The land area is insufficient, the king decided to add to "the landitself, home and lordship of Grenelle" for 166,380 pounds (€2,828,460). From 1760 to 1773 the Royal Military Academy yetacquired land for a total of 92,340 pounds (€ 1,569,780). It must,however, deduct the sale on September 18, 1788, twenty acres to88,219 pounds ... The only cost of the land required for theconstruction of about 258,720 pounds, excluding sales 1788 (€

7,622,137) . This amount remains below the forecast established May24, 1752 by Paris-Duverney was 450,000 pounds.

Construction

The construction of the School can be divided into two phases:

1. 1751-1764: Building the Branch did establish an institutionresponsible for the construction of the School and has a budget of1,280,211 pounds (€ 21,763,587). A kind of EPA (publicadministrative institution) before its time! This phase correspondsto the partial realization of large project (which is, I repeat, thesecond plan proposed by Gabriel).

2. From 1764, the school may no longer be sufficient to constructioncosts, the king, to prevent the ruin of the institution, undertookthe expense. He named Gabriel Director of the buildings under theauthority of the Marquis d'Argenson and paid to the GeneralDirectorate of Buildings the sum of 2.87 million pounds (€48,790,000). Gabriel receiving, for its part a pension of £ 20,000over 20 years by way of fees (€ 340 000 per year). This second phaseis the realization of the castle we know and some call "The GreatReversal".Gabriel chooses to turn the main facade of the building to theChamps de Mars, while the school chapel, for reasons of economy, wasintegrated into the body of the central pavilion called "Castle". In1773, the first part of the construction was completed. A Corinthianfront building of eight columns supporting a pediment and there aquadrangular dome on which stands a clock Lepaute. Four statuesstand on the entablature: Victory under Louis XV traits, France,Peace and Force. The originals of these statues heavily damaged, dueto Huez and Mouchy sculptors, today are exposed under the porticoesof the courtyard. The two lower wings flanking the central body arethe work of Brongniart, who took over from Gabriel. The wingsoutermost bearing the inscriptions "Cavalry" and "Artillery" wasadded under the Second Empire.There are numbers of anecdotes relatedto the construction of the school and I will quote you a few.

The clock in the Ecole Militaire

The clock was commissioned the renowned Jean-André Lepaute, King watchmaker. Itsconstruction lasted 21 months (from November1771 to July 1773). The minutes of receipt,signed on July 27 1773 by Dom Bedos of Gelleand Berthoud qualified this work as "the mostbeautiful clock that we have yet seen for

both genius for the beautiful performance." Composed of 962 parts,the clock showed all the revolutions of the sun on 4 dials andstruck the hours, quarters and front quarters with very largehammer, which caused significant friction and required frequentrevisions.The price offered by the experts was 25,000 pounds (€ 425,000),while in Lepaute claimed 33,000. To make up the difference, thewatchmaker asked to be given a Grenelle apartment so, also, to beclose to the school in order to make any necessary adjustments andrevisions. The Council refused and allocated an additional $ 6.000pounds to pay a clock, which had been paid and that decorated theboard room.The clock operates since 1773 and it is still the Lepaute House(founded in 1740) that assureson maintenance which gives us anafter-sales service of more than 230 years (237 to be exact).

The banister of the grand staircase of the Government.

The banister of the Government, designed byGabriel, was commissioned to Fayet masterlocksmith without a call for competition, whichcaused a conflict with the Council of theSchool. Intendant of the school, a man namedDupont was alarmed May 15, 1773, with Gabriel,"effect that must naturally produce the

magnificence of the ramp you just pose to grand staircase of theGovernment" . He decided, on the same date, to convene anextraordinary council in which he declined all responsibility in thecontrol of this ramp ensures even, that if he had known, he wouldhave refused this extravagant expense! To hide the beauty of theobject, the ramp was painted a dark color because, as the Councilwrote to the Marquis of Monteynard (15 May 1773): "Our first wish,my lord, is that promptly steals show this ramp to the public bycharging whole of a black or gray as we want ... "

This ramp will still cost the tidy sum of 18,000 pounds (€ 306,000)

The reception rooms on the ground floor

It is customary to attribute the woodworkthat adorn the first reception room on theground floor, Jacques Verberckt, but we mustremember that this artist died in December1771 and in April of the same year the mainbuilding of the "government" and the chapelwere completed. It is therefore impossible

that he could begin a decoration in these conditions, especially ashis name does not appear in the register of Council deliberationsamong the sculptors employed at that time.The 2nd and 3rd room are adorned, over the doors, due to Cozetteoval medallions depicting scenes of military life: establishing acamp, crossing a river by a cavalry unit, assault of a gap and walkto a plain infantry column. It is interesting to note that theartist had not complied with the prescription ordered by Count deMuy, President of the School Board and Secretary of State for War,which was: "Accepted (quotation) at provided they take varioustopics in the best older writers "that is to say, subjects frommythology and ancient ...These reception rooms used since 1878 library of the War College.Shelving hiding from the magnificent fireplaces rococo style ofLouis XVI marble.The fund currently has about 100,000 volumes, 140 manuscripts, 400French and foreign periodicals, 3,000 maps and plans and asignificant literature. The modern collection is particularly strongin relation to the war of 1870-1871 and the Paris Commune. Thedefeat against Germany was indeed behind the creation of the WarCollege. The two world wars are also particularly well represented.

The Council Chamber.

This room is the most lavishlydecorated Ecole Militaire. It has anarea of 135 m2 and is decorated withpaintings depicting battles or seats,painted by Le Paon. Originally Le Paonhad to paint two paintings andCasanova other two, but Casanova, wasthe master of The Peacock, refused to

work together, which is why The Peacock made these four tables andthe top door for the sum of 49,000 pounds (€ 833,000) this amountincludes overseas travel expenses to draw onsite landscapes, viewsand seating plan of Ypres, Furnes and Tournay and the battles ofFontenoy and Tournay.

The chapel.

La Chapelle has neither bell nor clockbecause, originally, a chapel, with theseattributes, to be built south to close themain courtyard (see the map of Red) which wasadded to the chapel infirmaries (now the"Rotonde Gabriel"). For budgetary reasons, itwas decided to integrate the Château despitethe request of Paris Duverney: "Is it notpossible to place the new building in thecenter of the ordinary decoration chapelsclock and bells I need regular. If this cannot be reconciled with the decoration ofbuildings, nor adequately replaced, you will

regret it as a very bad thing for the Military School "(Letter toGabriel Duverney July 28, 1768). The chapel is invisible from theoutside but Gabriel took his revenge on the inside. With arectangular nave 35 meters of 13 and divided into 8 equal spans tallcolumns supporting an entablature on which rests a vault, the vaultgives an impression of harmony, majestic grace ...11 tables representing different moments of the life of Saint Louis,the walls of the chapel. They had to be, originally painted byGabriel François Doyen but he could not make this command in time"decent", it was decided to outsource it to 11 different artists,including Dean. Two tables, those Taraval (Marriage of the king withMarguerite de Provence) and Lépicié (St. Louis dispensing justiceitself under an elm de Vincennes) have disappeared since theRevolution.Devastated during the Revolution, the chapel was turned into acanteen and then a feed and weapons depot. Its furnishings weredispersed. During the funeral of Marshal Joffre in 1931, the chapelwas definitively cleared of all the items kept there. Itsfurnishings were recovered during the course of the 1930s and it wasrestored as a Catholic place of worship in 1951. The chapel is nowopen rarely, for weddings or other religious ceremonies and concertsorganized by the Department of Defense.

One last anecdote that is not related to the construction of theSchool ...

On May 10, 1852.

We can not write on the history of the Ecole militaire withoutmentioning the Eagles giving Ceremony to the French regiments byPresident Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The army gave a big party on theChamps de Mars on this occasion. Offer is the right term since eachofficer had to pay, depending on their rank, from 2 to 20 days pay!Nearly 10,000 people were invited, including 17 Arab leaders camefrom Algiers, for the occasion, was reconstituted imperial camp inthe main courtyard in the middle with a ballroom (see illustrationbelow)

During the day, a discount Eagles weapon taken stood on the Champsde Mars with a military parade of unprecedented magnitude 65 cavalry

squadrons, 80,000 men, 10 guns presented themselves to the Parisianswere invited to assistance but had to pay for access to platforms!

« Soldiers!

The history of peoples islargely the story of hosts.Their successes and theirsetbacks depends the fate ofcivilization and the homeland.Overcome, it is the invasion or

anarchy; victorious is the glory or order.Also the nations, like armies, they wear a religious veneration forthese emblems of military honor, which summarize them in a paststruggles and triumphs.The Roman eagle, adopted by Napoleon at the beginning of thiscentury, was the clearest meaning of regeneration and the size ofFrance. She disappeared into our misfortunes; she had to go back,when France, relieved of her defeats, mistress of herself, does seemmore repudiate his own glory.Soldiers!So repeat these eagles, not as a threat against foreigners, but as asymbol of our independence, like the memory of a heroic time, as asign of nobility of each regiment.Repeat these eagles which have so often led our fathers to victory,and swear to die, if necessary, to defend them. do you even lift »

The dance and dinner were closed by afirework that lives take shape in thesky the face of the Prince-President,the walk to the Second Empire, whichbegan Dec. 2, 1851, continued ...

In conclusion ...

There is much to write about the Ecole Militaire, both architecturalaspects and its long history, but my bias was to give an unusualinsight into what is now the headquarters of the National Instituteof Defence Advanced Studies and the War College.

This paper was carried out according to the work of Robert Laulan:"The Military School of Paris" published by Editions A. and J.Picard and Co. and research on various sites on the Internet.

Captain Pascal TRAN-HUU