Military School of Paris

Located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, a large complex of buildings beautifully encloses the southeast part of the Champ de Mars. This is where the various educational structures that make up the Military School are grouped. The idea of creating this immense institution dates back to the mid-18th century when King Louis XV decided, after the War of the Austrian Succession, to build a school to train young cadets of the royal army. The school would later welcome the greatest officers and military leaders of the country, including the famous Napoleon Bonaparte, who would count among its students a few years later. Today, it is still in this establishment with its lavish decor that officers are trained.

The Military School: a dream of grandeur…

The War of the Austrian Succession finally comes to an end, and France, although victorious, counts and mourns its dead. The victory was not easy to achieve, and the battles revealed a cruel lack of preparation among the royal regiments. Leading a cavalry division of the French army during the war, Marshal of Saxony, drawing on his combat experience, urges King Louis XV to create a true royal military school intended to train 500 young boys, both poor and wealthy. To further convince the king, the marshal emphasizes the symbolic dimension that the institution could embody: an imposing and richly adorned military school where the best officers of the country would be trained… In short, a formidable testament to the superiority of Louis XV's reign.

Convinced of the project, the king commissions his chief architect, named Ange-Jacques Gabriel, to draw up plans for a building even more imposing and majestic than the Hôtel des Invalides, which was built during the reign of Louis XIV. The architect quickly gets to work and presents the plans for his Grand Project on June 24, 1751. The king is captivated by what is presented to him: the future building's area is immense, the facades are grand, and the decorative details are of great subtlety. Gabriel's plans envision a structure with five pavilions facing the Champ de Mars and consisting of three-story buildings surrounding numerous courtyards. In the midst of this lavish composition, a chapel in the shape of a cross completes the work.

… hampered by laborious work

Construction begins on September 13, 1751, with the digging of the large well. But very quickly, it will be halted due to a lack of funds in the state treasury. The numerous wars waged by Louis XV have completely drained them, and the architect struggles to gather the necessary funds to continue the project. Three years later, the progress of the work is not promising, and only the construction of service buildings has been initiated. To avoid having to abandon the opening of the school, Gabriel chooses to admit only a limited number of students and to house them in the service buildings temporarily converted into dormitories and classrooms.

In 1756, the institution finally opens its doors to 200 young men. Alongside the opening of the first classes and despite the increasingly worrying financial situation of the king, work continues. Madame de Pompadour and Joseph Pâris Duverney, the first steward of the school and a major financier of the time, are unable to finance the entire construction with their own funds. The project bogs down, and ultimately, in 1760, the king abandons the idea of building the institution as he had envisioned it with Gabriel. It is then decided that it will be divided between the Military School and the Royal College of La Flèche.

The architect then goes back to work, revising his initial plans downwards. The surfaces are therefore reduced, but the magnificent facades planned during the Grand Project are retained: facing the impressive perspective of the Champ de Mars, the main building of the institution must have a facade of impeccable appearance, which can still be admired today. On July 5, 1768, the king himself lays the first stone of the chapel in the shape of a cross, and twelve years later, the work is finally completed. Throughout the duration of the construction, the school has already welcomed hundreds of cadets to train them for military careers. The most famous among them bore the renowned name of Bonaparte.

But the institution's troubles do not end there. Seven years after the completion of the work, the Military School closes its doors. Left abandoned, the buildings are completely looted during the French Revolution of 1789. For many years, the former institution will serve alternately as a depot, then as a barracks, and will be enlarged to finally take on the appearance we know today.

It will take until the end of the 19th century for the building to finally regain its original purpose that had been taken from it: military training. Since then, the institution has not ceased to train officers.