Thomson-CSF

Thomson-CSF , centenary industry group took in 2000 the name of Thalès. Result of fusion in 1968 of Thomson-Brandt, itself resulting from the bringing together of the CFTH and Hotchkiss-Brandt, and of the CSF (General Company of Wireless telegraphy), two industry groups created at the beginning of the XXe century the CFTH was rather a finance company while the CSF always promoted the technological innovation.

After having depended much on the innovations American (Thomson-Houston then General Electric and RCA, Hotchkiss) and long relations with General Electric, the companies of the group knew to work out their own technologies.

Multiple centrings, diversifications, reorganizations, nationalization and privatization (see hereafter) modelled a group balancing three activities: defense, aeronautics and safety. For the history after 1990 to see Thalès.

History of the group

1870 Benjamin Berkeley ''' Hotchkiss ''' creates a French subsidiary company of its company of armament close to Rodez.
1879 : Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston creates the Thomson-Houston Electric Company with the the United States. In 1892 is created the French subsidiary company Thomson-Houston International. It yields dice 1891 the license of its electric meter to the Compagnie for the Manufacture of the Meters and Matériels of Gas Works , famous Compagnie of the Meters . In 1892, Thomson-Houston Co amalgamates with the company of Thomas Edison to form General Electric Company today General Electric.

1893 : creation in common with the Company of the Meters of the French Company for the exploitation of the processes Thomson-Houston , name shortened in French Company Thomson-Houston (CFTH), to exploit in France the patents of the american company Thomson-Houston Electric, in the field of the production and the transport of the electricity. The company is directed by Emile Mercet, representative of the bank Périer, the principal shareholder. It widens its activities with the promising sector of the Tramway and more largely of the electric traction.
1909 : It continues to diversify in fields, then additional, transport: railway Indication, Telephone and takes, for this purpose, the control of the Ateliers Postel-Vinay.
1910 : Emile Girardeau founds the Radioelectric French company (SFR), pionnière of the hertzian transmissions.
1919 : The reorganization of the industry of the communications gives rise to the general Compagnie of the wireless telegraphy (CSF) whose main component is the CSF.
1919 : signature on August 1st of a Principal Agreement clarifying the relationship between the CFTH and GEC.

1921 : Creation in common with the general Company of electricity (CGE, today Alstom) of the Company of the Lamps known for its mark Mazda.

1922 : Installation of the central services in the building of the 173 Boulevard Haussmann (Paris 8).
1925 - 1929: Important series of reorganizations with in particular:

1925: Creation of a financial subsidiary company, the Electric Finance company and its company of Consumer credit, the electric Credit which will become the electric and gas Crédit (CREG);
the creation of the Company of the Telephones Thomson-Houston (CTTH) which will be yielded to ITT in 1926;
1928 : Transfer of the heavy activities in a joint venture with the Alsatian Company of mechanical engineering, the Alsthom:
1930 : subsidiarization of the activities of radiology in the General Company of Radiology (CGR);
1931 : the lamps activities are placed in a joint venture with Philips to create the Fabriques Joined together of Flashlights (FLRE):
1931 : repurchase of the company Ducretet-Roger and creation of the company Ducretet-Thomson for mass production of apparatus of TSF under the mark " The Voice of Monde".

1926 : Craftsman Ironworker since 1905, Edgar Brandt created a public limit company with its name and built factories with Châtillon-under-Bagneux for rolling stock and with Vernon for the ammunition.
1936: The companies CFTH, Hotchkiss, Brandt are nationalized.

1946 : electronic production of professional (radio operator transmitter-receivers, transmission ultra high frequencies, Radar S), of consumer electronics (radios, record player S) and of electric household appliances (Refrigerating S).

1957 : absorption by CSF of its subsidiary company Radioelectric French company (SFR) having played an active role in the field of the Broadcasting, the radiocommunications on Short waves, of electroacoustics and already of the Television and the radar.

1966 : fusion of the CFTH and the company Hotchkiss-Brandt to give the French Company Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt named then Thomson-Brandt .

1968 : Fusion of the electronic activity of Thomson-Brandt with the General Company of Wireless telegraphy (CSF) to create Thomson-CSF . After the two oil crises of 1973 and 1979, Thomson-CSF concludes its first great contracts with export with countries from the the Middle East, in particular for the sale of its anti-aircraft defense systems Shahine then Crotale. This decade will be also marked by the diversification of the activities, with the development accelerated of the telephone commutation then with the acquisition of the French subsidiary companies of American ITT and Swedish Ericsson.

in October of the same year, the agreement of 1919 with General Electric is cancelled.
1969: " Divide monde" between Thomson-CSF which concentrates on electronics low currents, electric household appliances, data processing and CGE which focuses itself on the installations of great power, the nuclear power and telephony.

1982 : Thomson-Brandt and Thomson-CSF are nationalized by the government of François Mitterrand. Thomson-Brandt takes the name of Thomson SA (Public limit company) and amalgamates with Thomson-CSF. The situation then is strongly degraded: the business portfolio, very diversified, includes many fields where the size and the market shares are insufficient and profitability in Bern. In spite of the resources gotten by the great contracts with countries of the Gulf, the Endettement strongly increased.

Of 1983 with 1992 a series of important reorganizations of Thomson-CSF is undertaken by centring the activities on professional and military electronics:

the telephone activities are transferred to Alcatel n the other hand from the activities components and electronic;
the lamps activities are yielded at Philips (1983), as well as other sectors: cables (at CGE), cold (Bonnet);
in 1987, an exchange of participations transfers the CGR to General Electric in exchange from RCA which is amalgamated with the activities of consumer electronics in Thomson Consumer Electronics while the electric household appliances is gathered in Thomson Électroménager ;
the computers are transferred in Bull;
the entity Thomson components gathers in addition to the credits of CGE those of ECA and Saint-Gobain; this activity Semi-conducteur S will give rise to SGS-Thomson , joint venture with the IRI- Finmeccanica which will become STMicroelectronics after the withdrawal of Thomson;
in 1989, Sextant Avionics (Thomson-CSF: 66%, Aerospace: 34%) gather EAS (subsidiary of Aerospace), Crouzet, Sfena and the civil aviation activities of Thomson-CSF.
1990 : Repurchase of the military activities of Philips (TRT in France, Signaal with the Netherlands)
the sector electric household appliances is yielded to Italian ELFI (known by his mark Zanussi ) in 1992.

In 1995, Thomson Consumer Electronics is famous Thomson Multimédia .

It is in 2000 that the companies become, for the military activities Thalès and for the activities general public Thomson SA .

Some inventions or important scientific and technical contributions

First public emission of Broadcasting (Emile Girardeau, CSF, 1922).
Developed of the Magnetron and the Radar (Maurice Big shot, CSF, 1934-1939).
Munitions with hollow-charge (Edgar Brandt, 1939-1946)
the technique Vapotron (Charles Beurtheret, CFTH, 1950) increases in a spectacular way the power of the tubes of emission.
Invention of the Carcinotron (Epsztain, CSF, 1951).
First transmission of Television in Eurovision: the crowning of Elisabeth II (CSF, 1953).
Patents on the videodisk (, LCR?)

Presidents of the Board of directors

1892-1902: Emile Mercet
1902-1915: Florent Guillain
1919-1938: Charles Laurent
1938-1940: Auguste Detœuf
1940-1960: Etienne de Lassus Saint-Geniuses
1960-1969: Ernest Rope-maker
1969-1976: Paul Richard
1976-1981: Michel Walhain
1981-1982: Jean-Pierre Bouyssonnie
1982-1996: Alain Gomez
1996-1998: Marcel Roulet
1998 -: Denis Ranque

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