The Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs (Ministre de la Défense et des Anciens combattants) is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France.

A "Secretary of State for War" was one of the four specialised secretaries of state established in France in 1589. This Secretary of State was responsible for the Army. In 1791, the Secretary of State became "Minister of War". Along with the other ministerial positions, it was abolished in 1794 and restored the next year. In the 1930s, the position was frequently named "Minister of War and of National Defence". After the Second World War, the War Ministry merged with the Ministry of the Navy, absorbing the role of the Minister of the Navy and Colonies, with a Minister of National Defence (from 1974 to 2010 styled as Minister of Defence and from 2010 as Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs) directing the entire military.

The current Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs is Jean-Yves Le Drian

A defence minister (or minister of defence) is a person in a cabinet position in charge of a Ministry of Defence, which regulates the armed forces in some sovereign nations. The minister usually has a very important role in a cabinet.

When cabinets first started appearing in the late 18th century, they were often called "Ministers of War" (in the United States of America, "Secretary of War"), who were in charge of the land forces of a nation. Since the end of World War II, the change was made from war to defence, and also often involved putting a single defence minister in charge of all the armed forces. Another common reform which occurred at the end of World War II was to place the defence minister in a national security council or kitchen cabinet which allows the head of government or head of state to coordinate military, diplomatic and economic activities.

The Defence Ministry in some countries is a very important ministry, sometimes considered more important than the foreign minister. It is often assumed by the Prime Minister if war is common for that nation (for example, no less than five Prime Ministers of Israel have held the Defence (Security) Ministry during their Premiership). In many nations, it is the very strong convention that the defence minister be a civilian to highlight civilian control over the military. In less democratic countries, the minister is often a uniformed army official, and in several countries, he will also hold the position of the Armed Forces Commander.

The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves:

The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages. Black often gains counterattacking possibilities on the queenside while White tends to concentrate on the kingside.

Following the opening moves 1.e4 e6, the game usually continues 2.d4 d5 (see below for alternatives). White expands his claim on the centre, while Black immediately challenges the pawn on e4.

White has several main options—he can defend it with 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2, he can exchange with 3.exd5, or he can advance the pawn with 3.e5, which leads to different types of positions. Note that 3.Bd3? is bad as it allows 3...dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6.

The diagram below on the left displays the pawn structure most typical of the French. Black has more space on the queenside, so tends to focus on that side of the board, almost always playing ...c7–c5 at some point to attack White's pawn chain at its base, and may follow up by advancing his a- and b-pawns.

Hervé Morin (born 17 August 1961 in Pont-Audemer, Eure) is a French politician, leader of the New Center party (center-right) and a former French Minister of Defence.

He was elected as a representative in the French National Assembly on 16 June 2002, in the 3rd constituency of Eure, Normandy. He was the president of the group UDF in the National Assembly. After the UDF's candidate for the 2007 presidential election, François Bayrou, didn't make it to the 2nd round, he hinted that he attempted to create an alliance with the Socialist Party and decided to found a new political party: the Democratic Movement (or MoDem). Consequently, Morin, who is of the center-right and an ally of the presidential election's winner, Nicolas Sarkozy, made it an organisation within the presidential majority in the National Assembly. It is now called New Centre and he is the leader.

After the creation of the UMP, he took the presidency of the UDF group at the National Assembly, from 2002 to 2007. While Morin was joining the government as minister of Defence in July 2007, Marc Vampa New Centre replaced him as representative.

Mario Mauro (born July 24, 1961 in San Giovanni Rotondo) is an Italian Member of the European Parliament and a teacher of history. He's married with Giovanna, they have two children, Francesca Romana and Angelo. He graduated in Lettere and Filosofia at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) in Milan, in 1985. In 2008 he started teaching at the Università Europea di Roma.

Mauro was first elected at the European Parliament in 1999 with the PPE-DE group. From 1999 to 2004 he was Vice President for the Education and Culture Commission. On July 20, 2004 he was elected one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament.. In June 2009 he was elected again at the European Parliament. Currently he holds, in addition to his position as European Parliamentary, the following positions: 1) Personal Representative of the OSCE presidency against racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with special reference to discrimination against Christians (2009). 2) Professor contracted "Fundamental human rights in natural law and international agreements" and "History of European institutions" at the European University of Rome (since 2008). In his parliamentary duties, which can be accessed http://www.europarl.europa.eu, he maintains a dynamic work of monitoring the activity of the Commission for the promotion and defense of human rights in various parts of the world and protection of activists who suffer persecution or discrimination of local authorities.