World War I Kœnig fought in the
French Army during
World War I and served with distinction. He obtained his baccalaureate and enlisted in 1917. He served in the 36th Infantry Regiment. He was designated as an aspirant in February 1918 and joined his unit at the front. Decorated with the
Médaille militaire, he was promoted to
sous-lieutenant on 3 September 1918.
Interwar career After the war, he served with French forces in
Morocco and
Cameroon. He served in
Silesia as an assistant () of Captain in the
Alps, in Germany, and in
Morocco at the general staff headquarters of the division of
Marrakesh.
World War II Kœnig was a captain and assistant to
Lieutenant-Colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey in the
13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion of the
French Foreign Legion. When
World War II broke out, Captain Kœnig returned to France. In the Spring of 1940, he was a member of the
French expeditionary force in Norway for which he was later awarded
Norway's
Krigskorset med Sverd, or the
War Cross with Sword, in 1942. After the
fall of France, he escaped to England from
Brittany. leaving Hotel de Ville, behind him is French General Marie-Pierre Koenig. In the background are tanks of the Division Leclerc. In London, Kœnig joined General
Charles de Gaulle and was promoted to
colonel. He became
chief of staff in the first divisions of the
Free French Forces. In 1941, he served in the
campaigns in Syria and Lebanon. He was later promoted to general and took command of the First French Brigade in
Egypt. His unit of 3700 men held ground against five Axis divisions (c. 37,000 men) for 16 days at the
Battle of Bir Hakeim until they were ordered to evacuate on 11 June 1942. De Gaulle said to Kœnig, "Know and tell your troops that all of France is watching you and that you are its pride." Later, Kœnig served as the Free French delegate to the Allied headquarters under General
Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, he was given command of the Free French who participated in the
Invasion of Normandy. Kœnig also served as a military advisor to de Gaulle. In June 1944, he was given command of the
French Forces of the Interior (FFI) to unify the various
French Resistance groups under de Gaulle's control. Under his command, the FFI abandoned ranged battle in the
maquis and preferred sabotage that was waged in support of the invading army. Important during D-Day, the FFI had a role that became decisive in the battle for Normandy and in the landing in Provence of the
US Seventh Army and French Army B. On 21 August 1944, de Gaulle appointed Kœnig military governor of Paris to restore law and order. In 1945, he was sent to arrest Marshal
Philippe Pétain, who had taken refuge in Germany but gave himself up at the frontier with Switzerland.
Cold War After the war, Kœnig was the military governor of the
French occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1949. In 1949, he became inspector general in North Africa, and in 1950, he became the vice-president of the Supreme War Council. == Political career ==