A franc-tireur (pl: franc-tireurs) is a Soldat belonging to no regular Armée.
Origins
In the armies of the
French revolution, a franc-tireur is a soldier of certain light bodies of Infanterie. By extension, combatant not forming part of a regular army. The name of franc-tireur employed during the Siège of Sébastopol reappears during the Franco-German Guerre of 1870. It is about body of more or less important volunteers who rise against the Prussian troops. The German command refused the quality of belligerent to them. Thereafter, conventions of
$the Hague (
1899 and
1907) and of
Geneva (
1949) grant the quality of belligerent to the franc-tireurs provided that they are presented in military formation and have at their head a chief responsible for his men, that they carry a recognizable distinctive sign remotely and finally that they carry the weapons openly and recognize the Lois of the war.
Evolution
The name of franc-tireur is more and more often erased in front of that of partisan. Between
1941 and
1945 in France, two movements of the French interior Résistance are organized:
Semantics
One also speaks by extension about a
franc-tireur to qualify a person who completes a work as a recluse, often without being concerned with impact that can have around him.
Not to confuse franc-tireur and Marksman or sniper in English.
Media