It is a short biography of an ordinary Breton whose journey is traced through the archives. While he had no connection with Armenia, he found himself fighting for the resettlement of Armenians in Cilicia between 1918-1922. Jean Picard was born on November 19, 1900 in the hamlet of Boutiry in the commune of Saint [1] in the heart of Breton Argoat [2]. His parents Pierre Picard and Marie-Louise Laîné married in 1896 [3]. .Jean is the youngest son of the couple who welcomed Louis Marie, the eldest [4], a year before Jean. Jean spent his childhood on the farm where his parents were farmers. The family can be found in the 1906 census. They live with Marie-Louise's mother, Hélène, also in the company of Marie Louise's brother and sister, Jean and Louise [5]. At home, in the village, the mother tongue is Breton, a dialect of Cornouaille [6]. The family grew with the arrival of Maurice the same year [7]. then Marie in 1910 [8]. Two months after the birth of Marie, a misfortune strikes the family, four-year-old Maurice dies [9]. The family is not rich, Pierre must look for work elsewhere. He was hired as an agricultural laborer on farms in Loir-et-Cher [10]. Jean learns from his parents the profession of farmer [11]. When the Great War broke out in 1914, Pierre was mobilized and left for the front [12]. Jean's older brother, Louis Marie, was also mobilized in 1918 [13]. Jean, who is too young, is the breadwinner and cultivates the fields in Boutiry. At the age of twenty, in March 1920, he was in turn called up for service. The young Breton is incorporated into the 118th Infantry Regiment where he must not be out of place, it is the regiment of Finisterian Bretons. There are 9 months left. But in December 1920, he was assigned to the 18th Regiment of Algerian Tirailleurs [14]. The regiment has been in operation in the Levant for a year. What are the historical facts at the origin of the presence of this regiment in Cilicia?
Map of Sykes-Picot agreements. Royal Geographical Society 1910-1915, The National Archives, UK.
The Sykes-Picot agreement signed by the Allies in 1916 provides for the partition of the Ottoman Empire. Thus France, according to this agreement, directly administers coastal Syria, Cilicia, Lebanon and part of Kurdistan up to the Tigris, also known as the Blue Zone, and a trusteeship over the Arab States in the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Mosul- Harput. Boghos Nubar, president of the Armenian National Delegation, on the sidelines of this agreement, proposes the recruitment of Armenian volunteers to set up an autonomous state under French protectorate in Cilicia. They will only have to face the Turkish enemy: The Legion of the East, which will later be called the Armenian Legion, was born. She participated in the decisive captures in Nablus, Damascus, Beirut at the end of the Great War. The Turks are defeated. They signed the Armistice of Moudros with the Allies on October 31, 1918. From November 15, 1918, the French and the Armenian Legion landed in Alexandretta to occupy Cilicia. Mustafa Kemal, on December 13, gives up command of Cilicia and leaves the region. The Armenian Legion occupies Cilicia. The repatriation of the 100,000 Armenians present in Syria begins. But clashes between the Armenian legion and the Turks who hardly admit an Armenian authority lead to tensions. Turkish defense committees are organized. The Turks of Deurtyol and Alexandretta rose up in January 1919. The understaffed French accepted British intervention. The British occupied Cilicia in February 1919. They remained until October 1919 and the French brought in troop reinforcements to replace them, including the 18th Regiment of Algerian Tirailleurs which landed on November 1, 1919.
Adana, 1921 - Wikipedia The situation is rapidly deteriorating. Soon Marache was taken over by the Turks in February 1920, Ourfa was heroically defended but also fell in April; followed by Bozanti in May. All over the territory uprisings take place, the cities are besieged. The French and Armenian losses are numerous. The French troops lack means. They have neither armored vehicles nor modern means of communication (T.S.F.) General Gouraud negotiates an armistice with Kemal in May 1920, the French evacuate Sis, Tell Abiad, Arab Puna, abandon the Armenians of Hadjin and withdraw to south of the railroad of Mersine, Tarsous, Adana, Mouslimié. The truce will be of short duration, Tarsous, Mersine are attacked and defended successfully, Aintap always resists. In October 1920, the Armenians of Hadjin were massacred. On the diplomatic side, the Treaty of Sèvres in August 1920 and the London agreements in February 1921, which were not ratified, provided for a French withdrawal from Cilicia [15]. The situation on the front is stabilized when our young Breton arrives on December 20, 1920 in Cilicia, the withdrawal of the French seems inevitable, but on the spot, they are still resisting. The diary of his regiment tells us about the operations in which he was able to participate. There are no longer large-scale operations, but skirmishes, shootings, maneuver marches, ambushes set along the railway, defense works, missions to protect the railway. In March 1921, a message from the French government ordered to no longer face the enemy [16]. In June 1921, Jean fell ill, he returned to Adana Hospital on June 14, 1921 to be treated for dysentery. His condition worsens. Our young soldier died on July 13, 1921 [17] while his regiment was preparing for the military review for the national holiday the next day. Some soldiers will take part in the torchlight descent that night [18]. He is then buried in the cemetery of Adana. On October 20, 1921, the Angora Agreement between France and the Turks was concluded. France withdraws from Cilicia, the Armenian populations are evacuated to Lebanon and Syria. On January 4, 1922 the withdrawal of military forces was completed.
With regard to the tomb of our young Breton, alas, the officer Vahan Portoukalian on January 22, 1922 explains in his correspondence which is kept in the Andonian Fund, that the graves of Christians in the cemetery of Adana were vandalized and that no Muslim did not want to maintain a Christian cemetery [19]. He was a soldier in a campaign now totally forgotten by the French; forgotten because lost; yet how many French, Algerian, Senegalese, Indochinese, Sudanese, Armenian or Breton men lost their lives there, all gathered around the same French flag? We can regret that this project did not succeed, because beyond colonization for the resources of the country, one of the objectives of the French was particularly noble: the resettlement of the Armenians on their land after having suffered so much injustice.
[1] Birth certificate of Jean Picard on 19/11/1900, Le Saint, NMD 1891-1906, AD du Morbihan [2] the Argoat in Breton “the wood” designates the interior of the lands of Brittany unlike Armor “the sea” which designates the seaside. [3] Marriage certificate of Pierre Picard x Marie Louise Laîné on , Le Saint, NMD 1891-1906 , Morbihan AD [4] Birth certificate of Louis Marie Picard 11/28/1899, Le Faouët, NMD 1899-1902, Morbihan AD [5] 1906 Census, Le Saint, Morbihan AD [6] Breton, a Celtic language close to Welsh, is divided into four dialects (Cornouaillais, Léonard , Vannetais, Trégorrois) [7] Birth certificate of Maurice Nicolas Picard on 07/31/1906, Le Saint, NMD 1902-1911, Morbihan AD [8] Birth certificate of Marie Picard on 09/27/1910, Le Saint, NMD 1902-1911, AD of Morbihan [9] Death certificate of Maurice Nicolas Picard on 22/12/1910, Le Saint, NMD 1902-1911, AD of Morbihan [10] File number of Pierre Picard, Number 2285, Morbihan AD [11] I's registration form an Picard, Registration number 3087, AD of Morbihan [12] Registration number sheet of Pierre Picard, Registration number 2285, AD of Morbihan [13] Registration number sheet of Louis Marie Picard, Registration number 2873, AD of Morbihan [14] Registration number sheet of Jean Picard, Registration number 3087, AD du Morbihan [15] Du Véou Paul - The Passion of Cilicia 1919-1922, Paris, 1954 [16] Journal de Marche - 18e Régiment de Tirailleurs - 1 July 1919-7 January 1923, Côte 26 N 853/4 , Logs of the marches and operations of the troop corps - Men's memory (defense.gouv.fr) [17] File Number of Jean Picard, Number 3087, Morbihan AD [18] March Log - 18th Regiment of Tirailleurs - 1st July 1919-7 January 1923, Côte 26 N 853/4, Journals of marches and operations of the troop corps - Men's memory (defense.gouv.fr) [19] Letter from Vahan Portoukalian to Kourken Tahmazian, 01/29/1922, Nubar Library, Andonian Fund, P.J.1/3, bundle 9, Adana, ff. 50-58, The French evacuation of Cilicia in 1921 as seen by officer Vahan Portoukalian (imprescriptible.fr)
Article written by Laurent Le Guyader