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Fifth day of
mobilization in Paris. Departure of the 5th Artillery, August 6,
1914
© Excelsior,
rights held by roger-viollet.fr
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2014 marks
the centennial of the outbreak of the Great War, the War to end all Wars, or La
Der des Ders, la derrière des derrières, in French. France suffered the
second highest number of military deaths (almost 1.4 million) of the Allied
nations, very high civilian population losses, and the highest number of deaths
as a percentage of the total population (4.3%). Paris alone experienced the
loss of 90,000 soldiers. The numbers were (and remain) unprecedented. Over
twenty percent of the total population was mobilized, sixteen percent of them
killed and a staggering additional 50% wounded. The total French casualties
(killed in action, wounded, taken prisoner) were over 73% of soldiers
mobilized.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties
The wounded
who made it home were known as the gueules
cassées, men with broken faces. They were often not classified as wounded
veterans since they often retained use of their limbs and could, in theory,
still be productive members of society. As today, the imperative to get men
back to the front or back to civil life in order to support the war effort
provided the impetus for great strides in oral and maxillofacial surgery and
prosthetics development, as well as the beginnings of recognition of the
psychological trauma of war and treatment for what was then known as ‘shell
shock.’
The video
below, Gueules cassées – Men with broken faces (1918) – Music by Igorrr (2008),
is footage from a facial prosthetics lab in which you see a young soldier being
fitted with a prosthetic jaw.
Great War Centennial Events in Paris
Centenaire 1914-2014 Que Faire à Paris?
Exhibits
Paris
14-18 : La Guerre au quotidien, Daily life in Paris during the
Great War, photographs by Charles Lansiaux.
- Galerie
des bibliothèques, Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, 22 rue Malher,
4 th, M: St. Paul. Tuesday – Sunday, 1 – 7 p.m., Thursday,
until 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Entry: 4-6 €.
(January 15 –
June 15, 2014)
Jean
Jaurès – The largest exhibit ever on the social activist and founder of
the newspaper L’Humanité. The exhibit follows his
career in politics and journalism up until his assassination on the eve of the
Great War.
- Archives
Nationales, Hôtel de Soubise, 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 3rd, M:
Rambuteau.
Wednesday – Monday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Saturday
and Sunday, 2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Free entry.
(March 5 – June 2, 2014)
Eté 14 :
Les Derniers Jours de l’Ancien Monde,
Summer of ’14 – The last days of the old world. An exhibit focusing on the chain
of events from July 23 – August 4, 2014 and the diplomatic, political and
military decisions leading up to the outbreak of war.
-
BnF
François Mitterand, Grande Galerie Quai François-Mauriac, 13th, M:
Quai de la Gare & Bibliothèque François Mitterand, Tuesday – Saturday, 10
a.m. – 7 p.m., Sunday, 1 – 7 p.m. Entry : 5 – 7 €.
(March 25 –
August 3, 2014)
Paris
1900, la Ville Spectacle, Paris at the time of the Universal Exposition
inaugurating the 20th century – the rise of the leisure class,
theater, cinema, art, fashion and department stores, everything that
contributed to the image of Paris as the a city of luxury and center of
civilization in the years prior to the Great War.
- Petit
Palais – Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, 2 ave Winston, 8 th,
M : Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau. Closed Mondays. Entry: 5.50 – 11 €.
(April 2 – August 17, 2014)
Laurent Corvaisier illustre Guillaume
Apollinaire, Original
images by Laurent Corvaisier illustrate Apollinaire’s poem Il y a.
- Bibliotheque Buffon, 15 rue Buffon, 5th, M :
Gare d’Austerlitz. Friday, 10:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Free
Entry.
(April 12 – May 31, 2014)
La
Guerre des Crayons, Drawings and writing by school children in two
local schools during the war.
- Bibliothèque Jacqueline de Romilly, 16 ave de la Porte Montmartre, 18
th, M : Porte de Saint-Ouen & Porte de Clignancourt. Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday, 1 – 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. –
6 p.m. (April 8 – May 3, 2014). Free Entry.
-
Bibliotheque
Maurice Genevoix, 19 rue Tristan Tzara, 18th, M: Porte de la
Chapelle. Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Free Entry.
(April 24 – May 17, 2014)  |
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Updating of
map of the front, provided to the Parisians by Excelsior, boulevard des
Italiens, end of August 1917
© Excelsior,
rights held by roger-viollet.fr
|
L’Est
Parisian Pendant la Grande Guerre, The eastern quarters of Paris during
the Great War. Photographs of daily life, departure of soldiers to the front
and bombardment of Paris.
- Médiathèque
Marguerite Duras, 115 rue de Bagnolet, 20th, M: Porte de Bagnolet. Tuesday,
Thursday, Friday, 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10
a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sunday, 1 – 6 p.m. Free Entry.
(April 2 – June 29, 2014)
- Also at the Médiathèque Marguerite Duras – L’Oreille ne fait pas de Sieste Spécial 14 –
18, Presentation of recorded texts of the time. Free Entry.
(May 15, 2014, 3 – 4 p.m.)
De l’Arrière
au Front, Original documents from the Historical Library of Paris
detailing moral and material support for soldiers.
- Bibliothèque
Saint Simon, 116 rue de Grenelle, 7th, M: Solferino. Tuesday –
Friday, Noon – 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Free Entry.
(May 6 – 30, 2014)
Jours
de Guerre 1914 - 1918, Days of War, Photographs from the newspaper Excelsior, one of the first dailies to
include photos. During the war the paper published 20-30 photographs with each
issue.
- Orangerie
du Sénat, 19 bis rue de Vaugirard, 6th, M: Saint-Sulpice; RER:
Luxemburg. Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Free entry.
(June 1 –
29, 2014)
Le Camp retranché à Paris, Two monumental models representing the
Ile de France region in 1914 and 2014.
- Esplanade
of the Hôtel de Ville, 4 th, M: Hôtel de Ville. Free entry.
(June 15 – July 1, 2014)
Visages
et Vestiges de la Grande Guerre, Photographs of the poilus
(solders) and objects of the period in the Main Departure Hall and exterior
gates of the Gare de l’Est train station, gathering point of soldiers leaving
for the front during the Great War.
- Gare
d’Est, Place du 11 Novembre 1918, 10th, M: Gare de l’Est. Open during
station hours. Free Entry.
(June 23 – November 29, 2014)
Bastille Day: National ceremonies and
welcome of troops in the different arrondissements
with a “War and Peace” themed firework display at the Eiffel Tower in the
evening. See here for previous year’s program. Will be updated early July. Free
Entry.
(Monday, July 14, 2014)
The Heroism
of the Taxis of the Marne, honoring 1300 taxis for their assistance in
transporting 5000 troops to the front. At the Invalides. Details to come.
(September 6 – 7, 2014)
American Writers in Paris during the Great
War, Details to come.
(September – December, 2014)
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France
decrees general mobilization, August 1, 1914. An officer is carried
triumphantly through the Gare de l’Est train station. Photo appeared in
Excelsior on Sunday, August 2, 1914.
© Excelsior,
rights held by roger-viollet.fr
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Day Trip from Paris: Meaux
Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux
- The permanent exhibit offers two itineraries.
The short itinerary takes about 90 minutes and
focuses on the period after the 1870 defeat and pre-war mentalities; the Marne
in 1914 and 1918 and life in the trenches; and the period between the two world
wars, the illusion of victory and the construction of memory.
For those who wish to spend a half-day or more in
the museum, the long itinerary focuses on ten thematic areas that explore
various aspects of the conflict, from technological advances, women’s place in
the conflict, daily life in the trenches, the involvement of soldiers drafted from
the French colonies, and the role of the American Expeditionary Force in the
final victory.
Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux, rue Lazare Ponticelli, 77100 Meaux,
May to September, Wednesday – Monday, 9:30 a.m. –
6:30 p.m. Closed Tuesday.
October to April, Wednesday – Monday, 10 a.m. – 5:30
p.m. Closed Tuesday.
From Paris: Train from Gare de l’Est to Meaux (30
minutes), then Bus M6 to museum (additional 10 minutes).
Entry: 5 € - 10 €.
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