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Remembrance site brochures

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La Fontenelle National Cemetery Credit: © Olivier Gilquin / ECPAD

The DPMA and the National Office for Veterans and War Victims (ONAC-VG), responsible for maintaining remembrance sites, present a full tourism offering around the remembrance sites and national military cemeteries managed by the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the French State’s number-two cultural actor.

French remembrance sites attracted nearly 14 million visitors in 2018, including one third foreign tourists and over a million schoolchildren.

Questions to Jean Tulard: From one regime to another.

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The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David - This scene shows the moment when Napoleon takes the imperial crown from the hands of Pius VII to place it on his wife's head the Empress Josephine.
The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David - This scene shows the moment when Napoleon takes the imperial crown from the hands of Pius VII to place it on his wife's head the Empress Josephine.

The Song of the Partisans

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Manuscrit original du Chant des partisans rédigé par Maurice Druon et Joseph Kessel. Source : Musée de la Légion d’honneur.
Manuscrit original du Chant des partisans rédigé par Maurice Druon et Joseph Kessel. Source : Musée de la Légion d’honneur.

1914: a demographically weakened France

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Image published in the Hachette Almanac in 1908. Source: Author's document.
Image published in the Hachette Almanac in 1908. Source: Author's document.

What was the demographic situation of France as it entered into war on 3rd August 1914? For several centuries, right up to the 1860s, France was the most populated country in Europe, even ahead of Russia at certain times. Then, mainly due to the effect of a low birth rate at the end of the 18th century, when France entered into war it occupied fifth position in demographic terms in Europe, behind Russia, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Great Britain, closely followed by Italy. In 1914, the population of France was still very rural, stagnant and ageing. The 1914 war struck a country which was struggling demographically. The enforced effort was huge, and the consequences after the war weighed heavy.

The liberation of Marseille

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The FFI (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur), which played a large role in the liberation of Marseille, parade on the Quai des Belges. August 1944. Source: ECPAD
The FFI (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur), which played a large role in the liberation of Marseille, parade on the Quai des Belges. August 1944. Source: ECPAD

French civilian victims of the Battle of Normandy

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Saint-Lô, 95% destroyed after the bombardments of 1944, called the Capital of Ruins. Source: Basse-Normandie Regional Council / National Archives USA
Saint-Lô, 95% destroyed after the bombardments of 1944, called the Capital of Ruins. Source: Basse-Normandie Regional Council / National Archives USA

World War II, unlike World War I, was very deadly for civilians. In France, nearly 400,000 civilians were killed between 1939 and 1945.

Liberation of Grenoble

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Operation “1000 Trees for Cemeteries”

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Vignemont National Cemetery (Oise department) - Source : MINDEF/SGA/DMPA-ONACVG

Chantiers de la jeunesse

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Maréchal Pétain inspecting a group of Chantiers de Jeunesse leaders. Source: Private collection.
Maréchal Pétain inspecting a group of Chantiers de Jeunesse leaders. Source: Private collection.

China in the First World War

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Near Blangy, Pas-de-Calais, arrival of Chinese workers. May 1918. Source: Photographer: Albert Moreau. ECPAD
Near Blangy, Pas-de-Calais, arrival of Chinese workers. May 1918. Source: Photographer: Albert Moreau. ECPAD
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