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.

L'année 1944

The principal axes of the Allied advance between June and September 1944

The French Foreign Legion

Flag of the Foreign Legion with grenade and seven rising flames. Source: Personal collection

The French Foreign Legion - History

La Paix

The Korean War sixty years on: history and remembrance

Camp de base du BF/ONU à Kapyong. Source : ECPAD

Breaking out on 25 June 1950, the Korean War was a major conflict of the Cold War and one of the deadliest in the second half of the 20th century.

The war also represented a first test for the UN which, to prevent the outbreak of a third world war, appealed to its member states to form an international army. France's involvement, by sending a battalion of military volunteers that proved its valour on a number of occasions, paved the way for the Opex (overseas operations of the French military) and sealed its partnership with South Korea.

Au nom de tous les autres : l'Internationale des Soldats inconnus (1916-2004)

The tomb of the British Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey in London

La Première Guerre mondiale (1914-1918)

11 November: a day of remembrance

Des canons allemands sont traînés, le 11 novembre 1918, sur la place de l'Opéra et les boulevards, au milieu des farandoles.

Why is 11 November still today one of the major dates in the French commemorative calendar?

If 11 November has become a day of remembrance, it is also the recollection of a single day, the Armistice of 1918 that finally brought the battles of the First World War (1914-1918) to an end.

The Armistice procession, 11 November 1918. Source: SHD collection