About- France for mobiles | Home page for full-screens | French route maps | French travel and tourism |
![]() |
A century on - Remembering the Great War - 1914-1918 - in FranceToday, the only sounds that disturb the fields and forests of much of northeast France are those of farm machinery and passing road traffic, or in more bucolic locations, birdsong, the bells of grazing cattle and other traditional rural sounds.If you were to stand - for example - in the depth of the countryside, just a kilometre east of the church of the small village of Romagne sous Montfaucon, in the Meuse department, you could feel the silence. There is no noise here, no sounds but the wind in the trees, sometimes raindrops, birdsong, and the occasional voice of a passer by. And from time to time the sound of lawn-mowers or the call of a bugle. Then turn your mind back almost a century, to 1917, when the only silence here was the silence of the dead. Then look at the photo above. You are here. Red markers : British and Commonwealth military cemetries Blue markers : French military cemeteries and monuments Pink markers : United States war cemeteries Mauve markers : international war cemeteries Grey markers : large German war cemeteries Green markers : Other historic locations, war museums and places to visit. Click markers for details : zoom and pan map for larger scale. The Great War rememberedFrom 2014 to 2018, France - along with much of the world - will reflect back on the horrors of the First World War, the "Great War" which many thought, once it ended, would mark an end to all wars. And France will remember with greater grief than most other countries. It is an often overlooked fact that French military casualties in the First World War were greater than those of any other combating nation, except Russia; and France took the highest number of casualties on the Western Front; because to a large extent, France was the theatre of war in which the battles of the Western Front were fought out.Each country remembers its own dead in war, often without so much thought for the dead of the other nations, allies or enemies, who had their own losses too. In France they will remember their own, the "poilus" who went to their deaths; but they will also remember the others, since they cannot forget them. It was in France that so many died and so many lie to this day. British, Americans, Australians, New-Zealanders, Canadians, South Africans, Americans.... but also Germans and Austrians: and young men from many other countries. Over nine million servicemen lost their lives in the First World War - about half of them on the Western Front. The expression "battlefield tourism" sounds trite in the context; but visiting the many sites, monuments and cemeteries of the First World War in France is a sobering experience, for both young and old.
No one will ever be able to count the actual number of men who fell on
the Western Front, in the fields of Flanders and Northeast France,
during the Great War; but the number is horrendous. It is estimated
that there were upwards of 750,000 British and Commonwealth casualties
during the years of the conflict; France recorded almost 1.4 million
military deaths, most of these on the Western Front, and
probably over a million young German and Austrian soldiers perished
fighting in France or Belgium. And these figures do not include the
civilian deaths due directly or indirectly to the effects of war. |
►► Site guide |
About-France.com home |
Full site index |
About-France.com site search |
►► Principal chapters on About-France.com : |
Guide
to the
regions of France Beyond
Paris, a guide to the French regions and their tourist attractions.
|
Guide
to Paris Make
the most of your trip to Paris; Information on attractions, Paris
hotels, transport, and lots more.
|
Accommodation
in France
The different options, including hotels,
holiday gites, b&b, hostels and more
|
Tourism in France
The
main tourist attractions and places to visit in France - historic
monuments, art galleries, seasides, and more
|
Planning
a trip to France
Information
on things to do before starting your trip to France.
|
Driving
in France
Tips
and useful information on driving in and through France - motorways,
tolls, where to stay....
|
Maps of France
Cities,
towns, departments, regions, climate, wine areas and other themes.
|
The French way of
life
A mine of information about
life and living in France, including
working in France, living in France, food and eating, education,
shopping.
|
A-Z
dictionary of France Encyclopedic
dictionary of modern France - key figures, institutions, acronyms,
culture, icons, etc.
|
►► More accommodation |
Gites in France |
Bed & breakfast in France |
Small rural campsites |
Small hotels in France |