French national military academy at Coëtquidan, founded in Fontainebleau in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I). In 1808 Napoleon moved it to the town of Saint-Cyr-l'École near Versailles, on the site of a famous school founded in the 17th century by Madame de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV. The buildings at Saint-Cyr-l'École were destroyed in 1944, and after the war the academy was transferred to Coëtquidan, in Brittany. The popular name was retained.

Throughout most of its history Saint-Cyr prepared officers for the infantry and cavalry and for staff positions within those services, while the École Polytechnique in Paris trained engineers, artillerymen, and other technical officers. After World War II, however, Saint-Cyr took over the training of most technical officers. Saint-Cyr trains officers for the French army through a two-year course for graduates who have earned a baccalauréat and through a one-year course for selected noncommissioned officers. The French commanders Philippe Pétain and Henri Giraud were trained at Saint-Cyr. Charles de Gaulle, who graduated with honours in 1911, taught military history there after World War I.