1918, France is covered with war memorials

Le Poilu victorious, by Eugène Benet (1863-1942). Civray, France • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

In the 1920s, the mourning of the communes will materialize in the form of various monuments. In 2013, the Goncourt prize was awarded to Goodbye up there, a burlesque and dizzying novel, one of whose themes is war memorials. Each municipality in France quickly becomes a requester, thanks to the help of subscriptions and subsidies. Very few are those who do not have one, on the main square or near the church, like Thierville, in Normandy, which has seen all its men return.

However, if the common purpose of these buildings is the memory, their appearance diversified, the column and the soldier being the most frequent representations. Their meaning also diverged, resounding with civic, patriotic, even warlike allusions, or on the contrary – in a more unusual way – pacifist. In some towns that were not occupied or destroyed, such as Prez-sous-Lafauche in Haute-Marne, one can find votive monuments, also erected in thanks for having spared the civilians.

Find out more
Goodbye up there, P. Lemaître, Albin Michel, 2013.
Web The Centennial Mission, centenary.org