Protecting our memorial heritage

Fréjus (on left) - Tunisia (on right)

The origins of remembrance tourism

Between the 17th and the 20th centuries, France was the site of a great number
of armed conflicts which left behind many remnants as a lasting legacy.

The National Day of Remembrance of the victims of racist and anti-Semitic persecutions by the French State and of tribute to the righteous of France

The monument erected near the Vélodrome d'Hiver, in Paris. Source: MINDEF/SGA/DMPA

La bataille de la Dyle - mai 1940

10th May 1940. The arrival of French regiments in Belgium

1918: the Second Battle of the Marne (27 May - 6 August)

Le mémorial des batailles de la Marne. Dormans. Source : GNU Free Documentation License

Following the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, on 3 March 1918, Germany hastened to transfer its troops from Russia to France. Now with numerical superiority over its British, French and Belgian adversaries, in order to secure victory it had to launch a series of offensives before the Americans arrived at the front.

The Resistance and the Networks

Saboteur en action.©MINDEF/SGA/DMPA

They rubbed shoulders with death to keep London informed, to help prisoners escape, to get pilots back home, to organise sabotages… They were part of a network.

L'invasion

La Victoire... et ensuite ?

14 July 1945

Défilé du 14 juillet 1945 à Paris. Vue aérienne de la place de la Bastille. ©ecpa>d

From the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Nation and taking in Place de la Bastille where the official stand was located, the crowd gathered on the parade route through Paris adorned with tricolours. After an interruption lasting six years the French national holiday was again celebrated with Europe finally at peace and the country liberated.

1918 : les Belges à la reconquête de la Belgique

La bataille de Verdun