French Nazi collaborators named and shamed

by Kathryn Hadley,

In February last year, the French council of state, the Conseil d’Etat, recognised for the first time the responsibility of the French Vichy government in the deportation of Jews during the Second World War. Peter Allen reported on Wednesday, June 30th, in the Telegraph and Mail Online that police reports from the time are now due to be digitised and published online. The files dating from 1940 will be made public in 2015, as soon as the 75-year official secrecy order issued by the post-war government expires. Archives from the following four years will subsequently also be made public from 2016 to 2019. Since the liberation of Paris on August 25th, 1944, the documents have been kept in the archives of the Musee des Collections Historiques de la Prefecture de Police in Paris. They include police logs from stations across France, details of fines, arrests and interviews, as well as information passed on to the Nazis.

In the Guardian, Nabila Ramdani explains how the online publication of the names of ‘second world war collaborators’ will force the country to reconsider official versions of the history of the German occupation and the ‘myth of the resistance’ developed in the aftermath of the liberation. ‘If a beloved great uncle was caught slipping some black market camembert to the Bosch in 1940, then the whole world will be able to read about it from 2015’.

It is not that simple, however. Can giving a German soldier a camembert really be defined as an act of collaboration? How indeed does one define collaboration and what crimes did one have to commit to be classified as a collaborator? When times were hard, queues for food were never-ending and people were hungry, can selling cheese on the black market to have a little extra cash really be defined as a crime? The history of occupied France is not black and white and the lines between collaboration and resistance were often blurred. People could, for example, superficially collaborate with the Germans in order to cover up more active acts of resistance against the Nazi regime. On the whole, the majority of the French population primarily sought to survive and carry on with their daily lives as unaffected as possible by the occupation. The publication of archives from the time will, above all, raise many complex questions about historical memory and issues of responsibility.

70 years ago de Gaulle said 'Non'

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, celebrated with British Prime Minister David Cameron today, June 18th, the 70th anniversary of de Gaulle’s broadcast appeal rallying the French to pursue the fight against Nazi Germany. It is the first time that a French president has travelled to London to mark de Gaulle’s historic ‘appel du 18 juin’.

The full text of de Gaulle's speech:

‘To be sure, we have been submerged, we are submerged, by the enemy’s mechanised forces, on land and in the air.


It is the Germans’ tanks, planes and tactics that have made us fall back, infinitely more than their numbers. It is the Germans’ tanks, planes and tactics that have so taken our leaders by surprise as to bring them tot he point that they have reached today.


But has the last word been said? Must hope vanish? Is the defeat final? No!
Believe me, for I know what I am talking about and I tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same means that beat us may one day bring us victory.


For France is not alone. She is not alone! She is not alone! She has an immense Empire behind her. She can unite with the British Empire, which commands the sea and which is carrying on with the struggle. Like England, she can make an unlimited use of the vast industries of the United States.


This war is not confined to the unhappy territory of our country. This war has not been decided by the Battle of France. This war is a worldwide war. All the faults, all the delays, all the sufferings do not do away with the fact that in the world there are all the means for one day crushing our enemies. Today we are struck down by the mechanised force; in the future we can conquer by greater mechanised force. The fate of the world lies there.


I, General de Gaulle, now in London, call upon the French officers and soldiers who are on British soil or who may be on it, with their arms or without them, I call upon the engineers and the specialised workers in the armaments industry who are or who may be on British soil, to get in contact with me.


Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not and shall not go out.’

In our June 2010 issue, Jonathan Fenby goes in-depth to explore the historical background and impact of de Gaulle’s historic speech.

The Duel for Europe, 1800-1830

FCO historian Dr Isabelle Tombs introduces the FCO's first online exhibition, 'The Duel for Europe, 1800-1830'.

by Isabelle Tombs,

This online exhibition, mounted by FCO Historians, charts both the personal duel fought between two of Britain’s top politicians and the national duel between Britain and France for supremacy in Europe in the years 1800-1830. Eventually, Britain won a historic victory over Napoleon’s empire. It covers the efforts of the Foreign Secretary and his staff to keep Britain and her Allies together and bring lasting peace to Europe, after a century of war across four continents and Napoleon’s universal threat. Britain was simultaneously seeking to stamp out the transatlantic slave trade.

The exhibition also highlights the personal rivalry between War Secretary Lord Castlereagh and Foreign Secretary George Canning who, in the midst of war, fought a duel on Putney Heath. The two men embodied differing approaches to foreign affairs but both went on to become great Foreign Secretaries - Castlereagh played a key role in ending the Napoleonic Wars and establishing peace for a century, whilst Canning put his imprint on the liberation of Latin America.

Period artefacts, pictures and manuscripts are on show, including a silver-mounted pistol and the major treaties that sealed Britain’s victory.

Follow www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/who-we-are/our-history/online-exhibition to view the exhibition.

Image:

William Heath, Wellington entering Toulouse (National Army Museum, London).

70 years ago today: Operation Dynamo

by Kathryn Hadley

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo and the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk. Following the rapid advance of German troops during the Battle of France, French and British soldiers became trapped in a small pocket around Dunkirk. It is estimated that between May 26th and June 5th, 1940, over 300,000 soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain (approximately 200,000 British and 110,000 French).

Memory of the evacuation diverges on both sides of the Channel, however. The 70th anniversary is featured on the front pages of most of today’s British newspapers; it is not covered, however, in the French news. Whereas Dunkirk is viewed in Britain as one of the most significant episodes of the Second World War, in France, the evacuation was on the whole a humiliation, which has been largely forgotten. In May 1940, Operation Dynamo also caused disputes between the French and British generals, when Gort disagreed with Weygand’s plans to organise a counter-attack on Arras.

What happened to the French soldiers who briefly sojourned in Britain and later returned to France? In Dunkirk: Paradise After Hell Rhiannon Looseley uncovers the forgotten history of the evacuation of over 100,000 French soldiers from Dunkirk to Britain.

Another forgotten episode of June 1940 is the sinking of the British ship Lancastria, on June 17th 1940, in the concluding phase of an operation to bring home British troops left in France after Dunkirk. In Dunkirk: For Those in Peril Jonathan Fenby asks why the greatest maritime tragedy ever to affect Britain was hushed up at the time and has remained a virtually untold story for sixty-five years.

First Impressions: Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey

by Kathryn Hadley

‘Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey’ opens today, February 24th, at the National Gallery. The exhibition charts the career of the French artist Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) and highlights in particular his masterpiece The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833), depicting the death, in 1554, of the 16-year-old who had been Queen of England for just nine days. Following its rediscovery in 1973, the painting was first exhibited at the National Gallery two years later.

The exhibition is unique in two respects. Featuring a series of the artist’s preparatory drawings, as well as a selection of comparative drawings and prints by his contemporaries, the section entitled ‘Lady Jane Grey’ reveals the work and sources behind his masterpiece. The exhibition also brings together seven of Delaroche’s other great historical paintings on loan from collections across the world, revealing some of the major influences and themes of his work.

Delaroche first visited England in 1822. He returned to London five years later to prepare for his work on The Princes in the Tower (1830). It is believed that he visited the Tower of London itself and that his visit inspired his two further Tower compositions – The Execution of Lady Jane Grey and Strafford on his Way to Execution (1835). In the aftermath of the French Revolution, English history was a powerful muse to represent and reflect upon recent events in France. Delaroche notably depicted numerous scenes of imprisonment and execution from the British past to draw parallels with recent upheavals in French history.

Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554) inherited the crown following the death of Edward VI on July 6th, 1553, but her reign ended on July 19th when her Catholic cousin Mary led a successful counter-coup. ‘The Nine Day’s Queen’ was tried for treason and sentenced to death. She was imprisoned in the Tower and beheaded on February 12th, 1554. Within six months of her death, however, she was reinvented in the Protestant propaganda of the time as a martyr and victim of Catholic tyranny.

Delaroche’s depiction of Jane Grey is based on a contemporary eye-witness account. It is immensely tragic and heavily influenced by the theme of martyrdom. The 16-year-old is blindfolded and supported only by Sir John Brydges, the lieutenant of the Tower, as she fumbles for the block. Her white dress vividly stands out against the sombre background of the painting, highlighting her innocence and vulnerability, and the tragedy of her execution is further emphasised by the gestures of her swooning and distraught ladies in waiting.

Martyrdom is a prevailing theme throughout Delaroche’s work. A similar use of symbolism and light to depict the tragedy of martyrdom is notably evident in his later depiction of Marie-Antoinette, who was condemned to death on October 16th, 1793, in Marie-Antoinette before the Tribunal (1851). His painting was, once again, based on contemporary drawings and documentary reports and, similarly to Lady Jane Grey, all that stands out against the dark background is the martyr’s silver grey hair, white shawl and pale face.

A second major influence on the artist was the theatre. The influence was two-fold. From the 1820s, there was a general fascination with period reconstruction in France and a growing tendency in French theatre to draw on pictorial forms with plays divided, for example, into ‘tableaux’ as well as acts. Several of Delaroche’s works, including Lady Jane Grey and The Princes in the Tower, were notably recreated on the stage. But Delaroche was also himself influenced by the cultural trends and theatrical conventions of the time. In Lady Jane Grey, for example, the queen is depicted with outstretched hands in accordance with the conventional theatrical gesture used to portray female martyrs. It is believed that the artist may even have used an actress, Anaїs Aubert with whom he had become romantically involved, as a model for the queen.

Multiple facets of Delaroche's career are put forward in this fascinating exhibition. From the influence of contemporary artists and the cultural context of 19th-century France, where English history was used as a medium to comment upon contemporary political events, on his grandiose historic paintings, to Delaroche's own subsequent influence on artists in France and abroad, 'Painting History' also offers a glimpse of the man himself and his intimate relationship with Anaїs Aubert through a display of some of his letters to the actress.

Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey
February 24th – May 23rd
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London WC2N 5DN
Telephone: 020 7747 2885
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Images:
- Paul Delaroche, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, 1833
© The National Gallery, London
- Paul Delaroche, Portrait of Mademoiselle Anaïs, 1832
Private Collection
- Paul Delaroche, Marie-Antoinette before the Tribunal, 1851
The Forbes Collection, New York

The legend of Mitterrand’s opposition to German reunification

by Kathryn Hadley

What if Mitterrand’s alleged opposition to German unification was no more than a myth? Was Thatcher thus the only leader opposed to German unification? How far did Thatcher's views represent those of Britain as a whole? Maybe her alleged opposition to unification too was merely a legend? Or maybe these are the wrong questions to ask? If German unification was inevitable, perhaps the questions to be posed are slightly more complex.

These were some of the questions raised by an impressive panel of speakers at a conference held at the residence of the French Ambassador to the UK last week. The conference, entitled ‘France, Britain, German unification and European construction: Twenty years after the Fall of the Wall’, was organised to mark the launch of the latest book by Frederic Bozo, Mitterrand, the End of the Cold War, and German Unification. Bozo is professor in contemporary history and international relations at the Sorbonne. Speakers included Bozo himself, Professor Michael Cox from the LSE, Professor Patrick Salmon, chief historian at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Jean Mendelson, the director of the French national archives. The hugely engaging and stimulating discussion was chaired by James Blitz, the Diplomatic Editor of the Financial Times.

In his book, Bozo argues, against the dominant view, that Mitterrand was against German unification, and that he sought to oppose it. The French president’s alleged opposition was a ‘legend’. French policies were undoubtedly different to German and American policies and these differences, at times, caused disagreement between the three countries. Historiography is also dominated by the American viewpoint, which has caused French policies of German unification, in favour of a unified Germany within a European framework, to be largely overlooked.

Mitterrand was thus not opposed to German unification. According to Bozo, he was ‘intellectually ready’ and the German question was at the heart of French policies. He did not try to block German unification, but merely sought to slow down and control the process in order to embed it in a European framework. Bozo quoted Mitterrand: ‘German unification is legitimate provided it is done peacefully and democratically’. In Mitterrand’s opinion, German unification should not be a takeover, and should be compatible with international defence arrangements. Mitterrand may not have actively sought to oppose the unification process; however, is Bozo’s study not overly positive? Moreover, if Mitterrand was in favour of German unification, was Thatcher then the only leader who voiced her opposition?

Following his study of British diplomatic documents for his work on Britain and German Unification 1989-90, Patrick Salmon was largely in agreement with Bozo: Mitterrand was in favour of German unification, albeit within a European framework. But, in his view, French opposition was not the only ‘legend’; British opposition was also a myth. Thatcher did not impede unification either, and he argued that there was a certain passivity about Thatcher and a fundamental gulf between her words and her actions. Her public rhetoric was, above all, ‘a way of letting off steam’ and the documents reveal how close British and French views were in reality. British and French views were divided primarily over Germany’s position in Europe. Another difference was that British diplomats had to work against the grain and wear down Thatcher’s opposition.

Neither Mitterrand, nor Thatcher, were thus opposed to German unification. The issue is, however, slightly more complex. The unification process was widely perceived as inevitable and, in this sense, it is unrealistic to think that Mitterrand or Thatcher would have publically opposed it. According to Michael Cox we are thus asking the wrong question. The question is not ‘did Mitterrand slow down the process of unification’. Indeed, in the face of the inevitability of German unification, it would have been an embarrassment to do so. Instead, the question should be: ‘was it reasonable for people to ask questions about a process that was already underway?’. A key issue was thus Gorbachev’s position within the process: would Gorbachev be brought down if the process got out of control? Was it important to keep Gorbachev within the unification process?

Finally, a key issue to consider is the extent to which Thatcher’s views were representative of those of British diplomats as a whole. What was Britain? With a strong leader such as Thatcher, there was a danger that her views obscured those of the policymakers who worked behind the scenes. Cox quoted a British draft paper on German unification to reveal an altogether different view to that publically voiced by Thatcher. The paper was admittedly only a draft; nevertheless, it stated that although there were ‘various disadvantages’ to reunification, ‘these aspects should not be exaggerated’ and ‘can be easily averted’. It argued in favour of unification provided that Britain could ‘exert influence over the speed and direction’ of the process.

Thatcher’s rhetoric was not just unrepresentative of British views in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO); Cox concluded that Thatcher’s attitude, in fact, put the FCO in a very difficult position: Thatcher was ‘embarrassing and complicating Britain’s position’.


In After the Cold War: The Private Side of German Reunification, part of our short series ‘After the Cold War’ looking at changing attitudes to history in the former Communist states, Paul Betts considers the consequences of the collapse of Soviet Communism in eastern and western Germany.
In The Berlin Wall: A Secret History Frederick Taylor asks whether the barrier between opposing sides of Berlin was more convenient to the Western democracies than their rhetoric suggested.

The bright lights of Lyon

by Kathryn Hadley

Today, Tuesday December 8th, is the last day of the annual Festival of Lights, ‘Fete des Lumières’, in Lyon, where I spent the weekend. Over the past four days and nights, sound and light displays, processions and special church services were organised to mark the event. The ‘Fete des Lumières’ was originally a religious festival and was first celebrated 157 years ago, in 1852.

The festival is a tribute to the Virgin Mary, the origins of which date back to the 17th century. In 1643, there was an outbreak of plague in Europe and the magistrates of the town of Lyon appealed to the archbishop for the protection of the Virgin Mary. In return, they agreed, every year, on September 8th, to climb the colline de Fourvière, a small hill to the west of the town and the site of a 12th-century chapel devoted to Mary, to pay homage to the virgin.

In 1852, a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary was due to be inaugurated, on September 8th, at the top of the chapel’s bell tower. That year, however, the river Soane burst its banks and the foundry where the statue was being sculpted was flooded. The inauguration was postponed until December 8th, the day of the Festival of the Immaculate Conception. When the planned celebrations could not take place, once again, due to bad weather, the inhabitants nevertheless all lit lanterns in the windows of their homes to mark the event. Church leaders also lit up the Chapel of Fourvière. From that year on, the inhabitants lit candles and the town was illuminated, every year.

The Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, which replaced the original medieval chapel, was built in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. In 1870, threatened by the advance of the Prussian troops in eastern France, the inhabitants of Lyon appealed to the archbishop, once more, and vowed to extend the existing church if Lyon was spared.

For further information on the festival, visit www.lumieres.lyon.fr/lumieres/sections/en

For further information on the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, visit http://www.fourviere.org/

Photos:

- the opera of Lyon

- view of the Lyon from the colline de Fourvière

First Impressions: Moliere or The League of Hypocrites

by Kathryn Hadley

Moliere or The League of Hypocrites opened at the Finborough Theatre last week. Written by Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940), in 1931, under the Stalinist regime, the play recalls Molière’s fight to keep his integrity during the reign of Louis XIV when his plays were viewed by the Church and court authorities as increasingly subversive. It provides fascinating insights into both the life of Jean-Baptiste Molière (1622-1673) in 17th-century France and the Stalinist regime, of which Bulgakov was a victim.

The play is framed by two scenes in which the ‘scribbler’ records the events of the days on which the play begins and ends. He marks both days ‘with a black cross’. On the first day marked with a black cross, in 1662, Molière marries Armande Béjart, who is significantly younger than him and whom he believes to be his lover Madeleine’s sister. However, Armande was rumoured to be Madeleine’s daughter and the marriage is in the end one of the causes of Molière’s downfall. The play ends, in 1673, on another day marked with a ‘black cross’: the day of Molière’s death during his performance of Le Malade Imaginaire.

Bulgakov’s play provides, first of all, an intriguing insight into the life of one of the most famous French playwrights and the court of Louis XIV. This particular period of French history is vividly brought to life by the excellent staging, costumes, choreography and performances. The hypocrisy and extensiveness of the court is subtly highlighted, for example, by the identical masks worn by the women at Louis XIV’s court. The staging of the last scene, during which Molière’s company perform Le Malade Imaginaire, is particularly powerful. The actors chant medical formulae in Latin and oppressively dance around the main character Argan, a hypochondriac who imagines himself sick and scrupulously follows all his doctor’s orders, highlighting the arrogance and pedantry of doctors in 17th-century France, a recurring theme in Molière’s plays.

Beyond 17th-century court life, however, the play acts as a mirror of the time during which Bulgakov wrote and provides a deeper insight into the repression of the Stalinist regime. The story of the attack mounted against Molière’s Tartuffe following its premiere in 1664 hints at similar censorship in Soviet Russia. The play, which mocks a hypocritical priest and his dupes, was viewed as an attack on the Church. The Archbishop of Paris issued a statement excommunicating anyone who performed, watched or even read the play. The play itself was banned.

In a particularly dark and terrifying scene set in the crypt of church, hooded monks from the ‘League of the Holy Writ’ interrogate Zacharie Moirron forcing him to confess that Molière is married to his lover’s daughter, Armande Béjart. In the words of Jean-Jacques Bouton, the theatre factotum, the members of the league ‘take no account of the law so we must be prepared for anything’. Numerous references are made to the dangers of losing the king’s favour and a later scene, during which Moirron is interrogated by the king himself, is a further allusion to the torture and interrogations of the Stalinist era. When Moirron asks what he should do now that he has been banished from Moliere’s theatre company, the king suggests that he might ‘enter the royal service and work for the secret police’.

Bulgakov wrote at the time of the Great Terror in Russia. His plays were gradually banned and he found himself unemployable. His situation at the end of his life closely resembles that of Molière, who is portrayed as a broken man. Molière is old, has a ‘weak heart’ (he was in reality suffering from tuberculosis), has been deprived of the king’s patronage, his wife has left him and his lover is dead.

Excellently staged and performed in this production directed by Blanche McIntyre, a powerful and thought provoking play, which has forced me to reconsider my choice of the best history play of the year for our advent calendar of the top history moments of 2009!

Moliere or the League of Hypocrites
Until December 19th
Finborough Theatre
118 Finborough Road
London SW10 9ED
Telephone: 020 7244 7439
http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/

Photos (by Sheryl Tait):

- Justin Avoth as Molière

- court scene with Gyuri Sarossy as Louis XIV

Napoleon’s hair on display in London

by Kathryn Hadley

Last Thursday, Sir John Soane’s Museum in London announced that a gold mourning-ring belonging to Soane and containing a lock of Napoleon’s hair had been returned to the museum. The museum had previously tried to acquire the ring at an auction held by Christie’s in June. At the time, however, the museum was the under-bidder. With the support of The Art Fund and private donors the museum has now successfully purchased the ring for £41,000.

The ring originally belonged to Sir John Soane and was allegedly one of his most treasured private possessions. It featured on his will among the items to be kept ‘as heir looms in my family’. However, it eventually passed out of the family’s ownership and was deemed lost. When it went on sale in June, it was the first time that the museum had news of its whereabouts since Soane’s death in 1837.

The ring is hallmarked London 1822, the year after Napoleon’s death. It contains a lock of plaited brown hair, which was given to Sir John by Elizabeth Balcombe, the daughter of an official on St Helena who became close friends with the Emperor. Sir John Soane’s Museum Archive contains a brief letter of presentation from Elizabeth Balcombe which reads:

‘Knowing how much Mr Soane esteems the reliques of great men Miss E. Balcombe
presents him with a lock of Bonaparte’s hair received by her from the hands of
that great Personage.’

A French inscription on the inside reads in English: ‘This lock of hair of Napoleon Buonaparte was presented to John Soane Esquire by Miss Elizabeth Balcombe.’ It also includes the words Prier Pour Moi (pray for me).

It is believed that Sir John Soane commissioned the ring to contain this ‘relique’ and chose the inscription himself. Soane was fascinated by Napoleon. On the south wall of the Breakfast Room in the museum there are notably two portraits of the Emperor, one as a young soldier and the other on the eve of his downfall. In the words of Tim Knox, Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum:

‘Soane had a horrible fascination with Napoleon and this ring, with its plait of
the vanquished Emperor’s hair, was the ultimate trophy. We are thrilled to get
it back to its old home.’

The ring is due to go in display in the museum at the end of November.

Read the press release on the website of The Art Fund.
For further reading on Napoleon, visit our Napoleonic Era focus page.

The Liberation of Paris 65 Years On

by Kathryn Hadley

Paris liberated itself. The French people, the Parisian police, members of the resistance and the French army rose in unity and fought together for the liberation of their capital city, which was, and remains today, a symbol of France. Such is the view of many French people, the view taught in French schools and the view put forward by Nicolas Sarkozy in a speech at the Paris prefecture of police on Tuesday to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.

In Sarkozy’s words, the liberation of Paris was a French victory. It was the victory of an entire people and the victory of a common national will (la victoire de la volonté nationale). The French people united under common national values, forged during the French Revolution, in the belief that, together, they were strong enough to change the course of France’s destiny. Moreover, this victory marked a new beginning, it was the dawn of a new era during which nations would come together to ensure that the mistakes of the past would never be made again. Lastly, Sarkozy compared the challenges faced by France under the yoke of German occupation to current challenges, in particular those caused by the financial crisis, and stressed the need for a rebirth and new economic order.

But did Paris really liberate itself? What about the 4th US infantry division which marched towards Paris alongside the French 2nd armoured division, the 2eme division blindée, led by General Leclerc? Would the liberation of Paris been at all possible without the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day?

Despite the heavy criticism met by this fervently patriotic version of French history, such a rewriting, or rewriting, of French history was understandable in the light of the traumatic French experience of the Second World War. The creation of a myth of a regenerated and new France was key in order to overcome the humiliation of the French defeat and four years of German occupation.

During the occupation, France and the French people had become to extent divided: some had resisted the German occupying forces; others had collaborated. The reality was, however, far more complex. The lines between collaboration and resistance were blurred and there was a predominance of ‘grey areas’, in which people both collaborated and resisted in an effort to pursue their daily lives and survive as best they could. Nevertheless, people had been forced to take sides and Jews in particular had been singled out with many being deported to concentration camps. France had been divided; but France was now united, once again, by the jubilation of victory and by the desire for a new start. The idea of rebirth was also important for de Gaulle in order to legitimise his leadership and to secure a place for France in the new world order, amongst the victorious nations at the end of the Second World War.

More interesting is that fact that, 65 years on, President Sarkozy is advocating the same myth of the liberation and history of the postwar period.

Paris correspondent for The Times, Charles Bremner, notably commented on Sarkozy’s speech.
The full version of Sarkozy's speech is available on the website of the Elysée Palace.

For further information on France during the Second World War, visit our French history page.

Here is also a selection of articles about France’s attitude to its history during the Second World War and in the postwar period
- The First War Baby to be Granted German Citizenship
- Is France still haunted by its past?
- French recognition of responsibility in deportation of Jews
- International colloquium sheds new light on denunciation in France during the Second World War

The First War Baby to be Granted German Citizenship

by Kathryn Hadley

66 years after his birth, Daniel Rouxel was granted German citizenship at the end of last week. Rouxel, who was humiliated as a child for being the ‘son of a Boche’, was the first to sign up to a German scheme to recognise war children born in France, which was launched last February when German authorities agreed to grant joint citizenship to those fathered by German soldiers during the Second World War. He collected his new identity papers from the German consulate in Paris on August 5th.

Rouxel was born to a French mother and German solider in occupied France in 1943. His mother was employed in a German airbase canteen in Brittany when she met Lieutenant Otto Ammon. Ammon was later killed during the Allied invasion of France and Rouxel was brought up by his grandmother in a village in Brittany. He remembers how his grandmother forced him to sleep in a henhouse and how, aged six, he was publicly humiliated by the local village mayor. He is quoted in an article published on the BBC website.

‘Which one of you knows the difference between a swallow and a Boche?’ The mayor
asked. ‘I'll tell you. When the swallow makes its babies here in France, it
takes them with it when it leaves. But the Boche - he leaves his behind.’

Rouxel described how:

‘I wept and wept […] I was so ashamed that I ran and hid under a bridge for the
whole night. I even thought of doing away with myself.’

It is estimated that as many as 200,000 French children may have been born to illicit liaisons during the German occupation. In the aftermath of the war, neither the French nor the German authorities recognised the parentage of these war children. The children were registered as ‘father unknown’.

Ms Nivoix-Sevestre is the president of the French association Amicale Nationale des Enfants de la Guerre (ANEG), or the French National Association of War Children. She too was born to a French mother and German soldier in 1942 and described how in the worst cases some children were even forced to eat cockroaches or to drink their own urine. Ms Nivoix-Sevestre’s mother was killed during the Allied bombardment of Caen during the summer of 1944. She was brought up by a foster mother and discovered her father’s identity when she was 13. She first began trace her father in 2003. She is still searching and believes that her father died on the Eastern Front.

The ANEG was founded in 2005 to provide support to war children and their descendants and to help them retrace their families in Germany or Austria. It currently has 384 members and has helped over a third of them to locate their paternal families in Germany. The association works closely with the Deutsche Dienststelle, the Wehrmacht Information Office for War Losses and Prisoners of War (WASt), which was opened in Berlin shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and currently holds some 18 million index cards on Second World War German soldiers.

One of the main tasks of the WASt was to register and process German Wehrmacht casualties. The organisation was transferred to Thuringia in central Germany in August 1943. From April 1945 onwards, following the occupation of Thuringia, it worked under the supervision of the American Military Commission and was moved, once again, to Furstenhagen near Kassel in the north of the state of Hessen. The WASt returned to Berlin at the end of January 1946. In June, the Allied Control Commission declared that the WASt was to carry on its work and its administration was taken over by the French section of the Control Commission.

Alongside the launch of the German scheme to grant citizenship to children born to German fathers during the occupation in France, there were also moves in France in February towards increased recognition of some aspects of its difficult and controversial past during the Second World War. On Monday February 16th, the French council of state officially recognised, for the first time, the responsibility of the Vichy government in the deportation of Jews during the Second World War.
Have these recent measures put an end to the fights for increased recognition fought by some of the victims of the Second World War and German occupation of France? The answer is far from simple and for many the battle of historical memory continues.

For further information on some of the recent debates in France over resistance to the German occupation, read our article The Aubrac Controversy

French Polish at Waddesdon

by Charlotte Crow

The love of French fine and decorative arts and the Rothschild family tradition for collecting such pieces is celebrated this season at Waddesdon with a special display centred on a newly acquired portrait ‘Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul at his desk’. Painted in 1786 by the female court artist Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749-1803), the portrait was commissioned by the sitter and though Choiseul died before it was completed, it shows a fresh-faced and lively man at ease in the study of his Parisian home.

Choiseul, born Comte de Stainville in 1719, was a powerful figure at the court of Louis XV (r.1715-74) playing a key role in French foreign policy as a diplomat and minister at a turbulent time in European affairs dominated by fierce colonial rivalry between Britain and France. He fought as a soldier during the Austrian War of Succession (1740-48) and became Ambassador to Rome in 1753. In 1758 he was made Minister of Foreign Affairs, acquiring the dukedom the same year. His early advancement was partly due to having earned the gratitude in 1752 of the king’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, whom he helped to avoid a potentially scandalous intrigue. He subsequently served as a naval minister (1761-66). When the Treaty of Paris brought the Seven Years War to an end in 1763 with humiliating colonial losses for France, he sought to reduce its impact. As minister of war from 1766 he instigated military reforms that he hoped would enable France to redress defeat. Eventually, however, he fell victim to court factionalism and was dismissed by Louis in 1770 after calling for war with Britain and retired to his estate at Chanteloup in the Loire.

The duc himself was an avid patron of the arts and his taste for exquisitely crafted objects, a quality shared by many in the Rothschild family, is reflected in this display. One of the highlights is a tiny but stunningly detailed enamel-painted gold box by the Van Blaremberghes that shows in miniature scenes of Choiseul’s spectacular chateau (destroyed in 1823) and gardens at Chanteloup and on loan from the Metropolitan Museum, New York. But the pièce de resistance is the magnificent desk depicted in the portrait and referenced in its title. The desk made by the master ebeniste Simon-François Oeben (c. 1725-86), was at one time owned by the English Rothschilds and was displayed at Mentmore, another of their family homes. Oeben, together with his brother Jean-François made many pieces for Madame de Pompadour and members of court. The desk is reunited with the portrait for the first time in 150 years and to be able to view the two together is a vivid and exciting experience.

This exhibition and the new acquisition gives visitors to Waddesdon an insight into Choiseul the man and his times. It also demonstrates how the French Renaissance-style Buckinghamshire home to four generations of Rothschilds is not simply a monument to the past as so many historic houses can be. Instead, with the present Lord Jacob Rothschild living on the estate and actively involved with the National Trust in its management, the manor actively sustains the spirit of its creator Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild who built it in the 1870s as a home in which to entertain lavishly and as a showcase for his many French ‘gimcracks’ – as he liked to refer to his fabulous objets d’art.

The Choiseul exhibition can be seen at Waddesdon until November 1st.
Waddesdon Manor
Near Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire HP18 0JH
Tel: 01296 653211
http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/

Pictures:

- portrait 'Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul at his desk' by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

- aerial view of Waddeson Manor

The Tiny Enemy that Caused the Failure of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign: The Louse!

by Kathryn Hadley

According to the latest research published in a new book by the American author, Stephan Talty, Napoleon’s Russian campaign in 1812 failed primarily as a result of the spread of typhus amongst the ranks of the Grande Armée. The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army was published last month by the Crown Publishing Group. The author reconstructs the medical history of Napoleon's Russian campaign and concludes that its failure was in reality caused by an epidemic of typhus exanthematicus spread by lice.

Napoleon’s Grande Armée, larger than the population of Paris at the time, with over 600,000 men and 50,000 horses, embarked on its march to Russia in the spring of 1812. It invaded Russia on June 24th, 1812. Before the fighting began, however, many soldiers had already died.

New research into the causes of the demise of the Grande Armée began in 2001, following the discovery of a mass grave containing 2,000 bodies in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. Belt buckles and inscriptions of regimental numbers on the uniform buttons of the corpses revealed that the men were not victims of the KGB, nor were they Jews who had been killed during the German occupation; they were soldiers of Napoleon’s Grande Armée. The analysis of DNA samples taken from the teeth of the bodies showed that they carried pathogens of typhus exanthematicus, known in Napoleon’s era as ‘war plague’, and spread by crawling parasites.

It is believed that in the first week of the campaign, 6,000 men a day fell ill. In field hospitals along the route contagious soldiers were not isolated from their reasonably healthy comrades and the disease spread rapidly following an outbreak of lice. The only remedies used at the time were bloodletting, herbs and a mixture of wine, water and a bit of lemon juice. By the time Napoleon’s army reached Moscow, his men were far too weak to conquer the city and on October 19th, 1812, Napoleon turned the Grande Armée back towards France.

The Belgian physician at the time, J.L.R. de Kerckhove, was quoted in an article published on the website of Der Spiegel:

‘The numbers of the sick grew in overwhelming numbers, and they crawled along
the road where many of them died’.

The Westphalian batallion commander Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg was also quoted in the same article in a letter to his wife:

‘Napoleon doesn't give a damn how many of his soldiers are collapsing on the
road’.

For further information on Napoleon’s Russian campaign and the responses of Russian populations, read our article Napoleon in Russia: Saviour or Anti-Christ?

250,000 medieval soldier service records published online

by Kathryn Hadley

A searchable database containing 250,000 service records of soldiers who saw active duty in the latter phases of the Hundred Years War was published online yesterday, July 20th. The database is part of a research project about soldiers in English royal armies between 1369 and 1453 led by Dr Adrian Bell at the ICMA (International Capital Market Association), Henley Business School, University of Reading, and Professor Anne Curry from the University of Southampton. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Based on the study of historic records such as the proceedings of the Court of Chivalry, muster rolls records in the National Archives at Kew and archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris) researchers have created complex profiles of individual soldiers in what is now considered England’s first professional army. The database notably includes the names of many archers who served with Henry V at Agincourt, details of where individual soldiers fought and for how long, which campaigns they fought in, how much they were paid, who was ill and unable to fight, who was knighted and who advanced in rank as a result of military success.

Thomas, Lord Despencer, began his career in arms in 1385, aged twelve, for example. Thomas Gloucestre, esquire, was a soldier in the English royal army for 43 years. He fought at Agincourt, in Prussia and Jerusalem. Robert de Fishlake enlisted in 1378, aged 16. He participated in John of Gaunt’s military campaign to St Malo in 1378, the Duke of Buckingham’s expedition to Brittany in 1380 and in Richard II’s campaign to Scotland in 1385. He progressed from being an archer to eventually being called a witness, aged 46, by Sir Edward Hastings at a Court of Chivalry.

It is traditionally assumed there was no professional army in England until the early modern period. The later phase of the Hundred Years War from 1369 to 1453 was, however, one of the most highly militarised periods of the medieval era. One of the aims of the project was to determine when a professional soldiery developed and whether or not the soldiers who fought between 1369 and 1453 were part of a professional army. The study ends in 1453 with the loss of Gascony, which marked the end of intensive military activity overseas. The main campaigns of the period were to France, but there were also expeditions to Flanders, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Garrisons were also maintained within England, the Channel Islands, Wales and the marches, at Calais and in Gascony. During the 15th century stage of the war, troops were stationed in Normandy and the surrounding regions.

Officially, there existed no standing army in England at the time. Researchers therefore considered as professional soldiers those who saw repeated service or served continuously. In order to determine who those men were, it was thus necessary to compile a database of the soldiers who saw active service between 1369 and 1453 including details such as how long they served for and which campaigns they fought in.

Dr Adrian Bell described some of the sources used to complete the project:

‘The service records survive because the English Exchequer had a very modern
obsession with wanting to be sure that the Government’s money was being spent as
intended. Therefore we have the remarkable survival of indentures for
service detailing the forces to be raised; muster rolls showing this service and
naming every soldier from Duke to Archer; accounts from the captains
demonstrating how the money had been spent; and entries showing when the
Exchequer made the requested payments. It is the survival of the muster roll
evidence that allows us to begin to reconstruct the service of soldiers. This
allows us to look for repeated service in the retinues of particular captains,
and also service alongside a network of colleagues and family members. We can
see that careers in arms regularly lasted over 20 years, and soldiers served
from their teenage years to their 60s and older!’

The completed online database will be formally launched by Dr Adrian Bell and Professor Anne Curry at an international conference entitled England’s Wars, 1272-1399, at the University of Reading tomorrow, Wednesday July 22nd.

A pilot project database is available for searching at http://www.medievalsoldier.org/

For a selection of articles about the Hundred Years War, visit the Hundred Years War section of our Medieval Themes focus page and our military history focus page.
Also, in Why Men Fought in the 100 Years War Anthony Tuck considers the motives that led Englishmen to fight in France during the Hundred Years War.

Picture: the tomb of Sir John Cressy (1407-1445), parish church of Dodford, Northamptonshire (Prof Brian Kemp)

The History of Lace Making in Calais

by Kathryn Hadley

The Cite internationale de la dentelle et de la mode in Calais was inaugurated last Thursday June 11th. The museum is housed in the Boulart factory, one of the last surviving mechanical lace making factories in Calais, which has been renovated and extended over the past three years.
Industrial lace making techniques were imported from Britain at the beginning of the 19th century and Calais became, and remained, the French capital of mechanical lace making for over two centuries.
A series of displays chart the history of lace making, the development of lace making techniques, its impact on the social and economic history of the region and the ways in which lace has been used in fashion, from 1850 to the present.

Cite internationale de la dentelle et de la mode de Calais
Quai du Commerce
62100 Calais
Telephone : 00 33 3 21 00 42 30
http://www.citedentelle.calais.fr/

Pictures:
- view of the museum
- embroidery weaving loom in another Calais factory
- series of dress models from 1920, 1970 and 2004

Calvin 500th Anniversary

by Kathryn Hadley

John Calvin was born in Noyon in the Picardie region of France on July 10th, 1509. Commemorative events are being organised worldwide this year to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the life of the French humanist and supporter of the protestant reformation. The influence of Calvin’s teachings spread across the world and during his lifetime Calvin also travelled throughout Europe. Between 1525 and 1532, he studied in both the universities of Grenoble and Bourges in France. He returned to Paris in October 1533. Calvin then fled to Basel in Switzerland in January 1535. He subsequently worked on reorganising the church in Geneva with William Farel. Following disputes with the city’s council, however, he left for Strasbourg, in 1938. Geneva city council eventually called him back, in September 1541, where he remained until his death in May 1564.

Here is a selection of some of the exhibitions organised across Europe over the summer to mark his quincentenary.

Les lecteurs de Calvin
Until June 28th
Musée Calvin
Place Aristide Briand
60400 Noyon
Telephone: 00 33 3 44 44 03 59
http://www.ville-noyon.fr/
This exhibition explores the history of the book from the perspective of those who read and use books, showcasing, for the first time, a collection of printed works by Calvin that bear manuscript annotations by readers spanning four centuries, from the 16th to the 20th century. It includes the famous copy of the Institutes of the Christian Religion annotated by Sully, which has recently been acquired by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Calvinism. The Reformed Protestants in Germany and Europe
Until July 19th
Deutsches Historisches Museum
I. M. Pei Building
Unter den Linden
10117 Berlin
Telephone: 00 49 30 20 30 47 50
http://www.dhm.de/
This exhibition places the work of John Calvin in the context of the political and religious tendencies of the time, presenting it as an integral part of the social and cultural history of Europe and exploring Calvin’s enduring and wider influence on science, art, politics and the human frame of mind.

Post tenebras liber
Until September 30th
Geneva Library, Espace Ami Lullin
Promenade des Bastions 1 CH-1211 Genève 4
Telephone : 00 41 22 418 28 00
www.ville-ge.ch/bge
The exhibition illustrates the contribution of the Calvinist Reformation in four areas of the production of the Geneva presses in the 16th century: teaching material for instruction at the College and the Academy, a first Protestant historiography which illuminates the unrest of the century, polemical writings (disputations between confessions or churches, satires and polemics against the church of Rome, political pamphlets) and Bible exegeses (lectures and commentaries by Calvin).

A Day in the Life of John Calvin
Until November 1st
International Museum of the Reformation
4 rue du Cloitre
CH-1204 Geneva
Telephone: 00 41 22 310 24 31
http://www.musee-reforme.ch/
This animated exhibition, featuring a display of 16th-century artefacts including engravings and books, and in which Calvin appears animated and speaking, charts a typical day in Calvin’s life.

They had Calvin in their luggage – Calvin and the Huguenots
July 11th – October 31st
German Huguenot Museum
Hafenplatz 9 a
34385 Bad Karlshafen
Telephone: 00 49 5672 1410
http://www.hugenottenmuseum.de/
An exhibition devoted to Calvin and the Huguenots in France and Germany.

A series of lectures and conferences will also be held from June until the end of year. Again, here is a small selection…

June
Calvin and Capitalism
June 11th, 6.30pm
Swiss Embassy
16-18 Montagu Place
London W1H 2BQ
Telephone: 020 7836 1418
http://www.swisschurchlondon.org.uk/
Rev Dr Frank Jehle will both discuss Calvin’s works and address some more contemporary issues, in particular the possible relations between Calvinism and Capitalism, a thesis first put forward by Max Weber in 1904.

International Calvin Conference, Mainz
"Calvin and Calvinism - European Perspectives"
June 25th – 28th
Erbacher Hof
Akademie & Tagungszentrum Bistum
Mainz
Telephone: 00 49 6131 39 393 59
This international conference, in German, will focus on the European dimension of the Calvinist Reformation addressing three main topics: ‘Calvin's impact in Western and Eastern Europe’, ‘Expulsion – exile – rebuilding’ and ‘Spirituality and the media - the spiritual power of Calvinism’.

July
Conference: "Calvin500"
July 5th – 9th
St. Pierre Cathedral auditorium
Geneva
An international, interdenominational, and interdisciplinary commemoration of the life and work of John Calvin during which esteemed leaders, scholars, and ministers will discuss Calvin, his city, and the cultural, religious, political, and economic impact of his teachings.
A complete program of the Lectures and Sermons that will be given from July 5th - 9th in Geneva is available at http://calvin500blog.org/speakers-2/

September
John Calvin and the Reformation in Italy
September 4th – 6th
Centro Culturale Valdese
Via Beckwith 3
Torre Pellice
Turin
Telephone: 00 39 12 193 27 65
http://www.studivaldesi.org/
An international historical symposium, in Italian, organised by the Waldensian Studies Society that will consider and evaluate current studies on the relationship between Calvin and Italy, which Calvin is believed to have visited for the first time in 1536.

The Dutch Church of London will also host two lectures in September.
Calvin on creation and redemption
September 27th, 12.45pm
Light and shadow of the reformation
September 28th, 7pm
Dutch Church of London
7 Austin Friars
London EC2N 2HA
http://www.dutchchurch.org.uk/

October
Calvin’s significance for today
October 6th, 7pm
Crown Court Church
Russell Street
Covent Garden
London WC2B 5EZ
Telephone: 020 7836 5643
http://www.crowncourtchurch.org.uk/

Modernité de Calvin
October 8th, 7pm
Institut Français
17 Queensberry Place
London SW7 2DT
Telephone: 020 70731350
http://www.institut-francais.org.uk/
A lecture by Jean-Paul Willaime, Max Engammare and Gilles Petel.

November
University colloquium in Orléans
November 12th – 13th
University of Orléans, Department of Law, Economics and Management
Rue de Blois
45067 Orleans
Telephone: 00 33 2 38 41 70 31
This colloquium, in French, will examine different aspects of the contributions of Jean Calvin and the Protestant Reformation in various spheres of spiritual, social, economic, literary and political life, through history and at the present day.

December
Calvin & Hobbes
December 14th – 17th
Institut Protestant de Théologie
83, Boulevard Arago
75014 Paris
Telephone: 00 33 1 47 07 56 45
http://www.iptheologie.fr/
A colloquium, in French, organised by the Institute of Protestant Theology and the International College of Philosophy.

For a full list of the events organised throughout the year to mark the Calvin09 festival, visit http://www.calvin09.org/

Party for Paine!

by Kathryn Hadley

Events are planned across the country this summer to mark the bicentenary of Thomas Paine’s death on June 8th, 1809.

A seven-month festival of events will notably run in Thetford in Norfolk, Thomas Paine’s birthplace, throughout the month of June until November 7th. The festival begins with a special celebratory Re-enactment and Heritage weekend this weekend. Events will include exhibitions, talks, plays, concerts and street entertainment. It will end with a Bicentenary dinner on Monday evening.

Here is selection of some of the displays, exhibitions and talks organised over the weekend.
- Thetford’s Thomas Paine
Ancient House Museum, White Hart Street
A new exhibition featuring the Dabos portrait of Paine on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.
- The Thomas Paine collection: an archive display
Thetford Library
A display of items from the library’s Thomas Paine Collection and the Norfolk Records Office.
- Paine the Engineer
Charles Burrell Museum, Minstergate
A display celebrating Paine as a bridge-builder.
- Tom Paine’s Plain Words
St Peter’s Church, White Hart Street
In this informal lecture Andrew Barlow will discuss the success of Paine’s writing in terms of his style and his ability to reach out to a wide audience.
- Made in England: Paine’s Radicalism
Tanner House, Tanner Street
Ted Vallance will consider Paine’s experiences in England, arguing that they were fundamental to the development of his radical political philosophy.

The festival will continue until November with a series of interesting talks and lectures.
- Trevor Griffiths: These are the times
Saturday June 13th, 7.30pm
United Reformed Church, Mere Street, Diss
Trevor Griffiths, whose play A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine, a musical dramatisation of Paine’s life and times, premieres at the Globe Theatre this autumn, will read and discuss extracts from his play.
- Autumn Lecture Series – Royalty and Revolution: The World of Thomas Paine
September 18th, 8pm
Williamson Hall, Thetford Grammar School, Bridge Street
In the first of the Autumn lecture series, Brian Way will provide an introduction to the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, which saw the birth of the modern world and the growth of industry, science, capitalism and socialism. The series will continue until November 7th, with a final lecture by John Keane who will discuss Paine’s pioneering visions of a new politics for the elderly.

Lewes in East Sussex, where Paine lived for many years, will also be holding a festival from July 4th to July 14th.
- Setting the Scene
July 4th – July 19th
Lewes Town Hall
An exhibition designed to provide a deeper understanding of Thomas Paine and his influence in the first rumblings of revolt in America and the United Kingdom.
- Taking Liberties
July 4th – July 14th
Lewes Town Hall
A display on loan from the British Library’s ‘Taking Liberties’ exhibition, which was on show until the beginning of March, showing the struggle for the hard won rights and freedoms that underpin the modern assumption of British liberty.
- The Tom Paine Forum
July 4th, 10am
The festival in Lewes will formally open with this open discussion featuring leading scholars of 18th-century political thought who will each discuss one aspect of Paine’s life and work. Speakers include Professor Gareth Stedman-Jones (University of Cambridge), Professor Jon Mee (Warwick), Dr Mark Philp (Oxford), Professor John Barrell (York) and Professor Iain Hampsher-Monk (Exeter).
- Thomas Paine, the Enlightenment and Dark Ages
July 10th, 6pm
The Sheriffs Room White Hart
As part of the White Hart Debate series which run form July 7th until July 11th, Sir Harry Kroto will share his thought on atheism, deism and freethinking questioning how close Paine got to absolute enlightenment.
- Presentation and discussion of new Thomas Paine research
July 10th, 7.30pm
Anne of Cleves, Southover, Lewes
Paul Myles, Colin Brent and Seth Gopin will present their latest research on Paine’s pamphlet The Case of the Officers of Excise, written and published in Lewes in 1773.
- Paine’s Progress – The Life and Times of Thomas Paine Esq
July 12th – July 14th
The Grand Marquee, Southover Grange Gardens, Lewes
www.lewesrep.org.uk
Set in New York State in the summer of 1808, the plays charts Paine's reflections upon the triumphs and tragedies, and the loves and losses of his life.
- In Lambeth
August 1st – August 8th
Lewes Theatre Club, Lancaster Street, Lewes
http://www.loveandmadness.org/

Set in Britain in 1789, on the eve of the storming of the Bastille, the play tells the story of the meeting and ensuing debates about revolutionary change between Thomas Paine and William Blake. Jack Shepherd’s play was first performed at the Dulwich Tavern in July 1989. Twenty years later, the playwright will star in the current production, which will tour the UK and Eire from mid-January until mid-April 2010.

For further information on the festival of events in Thetford, visit http://www.tompaine200.org.uk/
For further information on events and exhibitions in Lewes, visit http://www.thomaspaineandlewes.com/

For further information on Thomas Paine and his enduring impact, read our latest free feature article by David Nash The Gain from Thomas Paine

For an insight into how Paine forms a link between the two great revolutions of the 18th century, read our article Tom Paine in France For further information about the impact of Paine’s American pamphlets published between December 1776 and December 1783 under the general title of The American Crisis, read our article Paine's American Pamphlets

Algerian Veterans Rewarded?

by Kathryn Hadley

On May 13th and 14th, last week, the French Secretary of State for Defence and Veterans, Jean-Marie Bockel, visited Algiers, to discuss the pensions of the Algerian veterans who fought for France during the Second World War. On Thursday, he awarded seven Algerian veterans a military medal in recognition of their contribution to the war effort and inaugurated a ‘Maison des Combattants’ (the French equivalent of a Royal British Legion Club) at the French embassy in Algiers. The centre is designed to provide medical and administrative assistance to almost 40,000 surviving Algerian veterans, who fought on the French side and participated in the Italian campaign from 1943 onwards, and the invasion of Provence, in August 1944.

The youngest veteran to be awarded a medal is 87 years old; the eldest is 93. One of the veterans, Tighzirt Mohand, allegedly speaks perfect French and was quoted in an article on the website of Le Monde:

‘J'ai combattu quatre ans dans l'armée française. Je ne regrette rien. J'ai
appris ce qu'étaient la peur et le courage. Et j'ai voyagé !’ (I fought for four
years in the French army. I have no regrets. I learnt the meaning of fear and
courage. I also travelled!)

The other six veterans did not all share Mohand’s enthusiasm and gratitude, however. Another 89 year-old veteran, Belkacem, argued that the medal was useless and explained that what he wanted, above all, was to be granted a visa in order to return to France. The ceremony was criticised for coming far too late, over 65 years after the events. It was also tainted by the painful memory of the Sétif massacre on May 8th, 1945, almost exactly 64 years before, which was a catalyst for the Algerian War.

Moreover, Bockel’s visit took place amidst current relatively tense diplomatic relations between France and Algeria. In the days leading up to the visit, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was re-elected on April 9th for a third term, had reiterated his demand for an official French apology for the detrimental effects and crimes of French colonialism in Algeria. Following his re-election, Bouteflika was invited on an official visit to France due in June. It remains uncertain, however, as to whether or not he will accept the invitation.

The ceremony brought lingering issues surrounding France’s colonial history and its official memory to the surface, once again. Over the course of the past year, steps have been taken towards granting increased recognition to the ‘victims’ of French colonialism and to the North Africans who supported France during the colonial era. In two interviews for Algerian newspapers published on the website of the French embassy in Algiers, Bockel addressed some of these issues. In 2007, moves began to increase the pensions of Algerian veterans to the same level as those of French war veterans. 47,000 war pensions are currently paid to Algerian veterans of the French army and to their families in Algeria. During the Second World War, 150,000 Algerian soldiers fought alongside French troops; 200,000 Algerians fought on the French side during the First World War.

As well as the veterans of both World Wars, the harkis fought alongside French troops during the Algerian War of Independence. By 1962, almost 200,000 Muslim auxiliaries were incorporated into the French army. The memory of the harkis is particularly difficult for various reasons. France and the French army were ashamed of their defeat and of their loss of a territory that had been a French departement for 132 years. Acknowledging the harkis, Algerians who had fought to maintain French rule, only exacerbated the shameful French defeat. After the ceasefire in March 1962, the French government forbade the repatriation of harkis and their families to France. It is estimated that approximately 150,000 harkis were murdered by the FLN, the Algerian independence forces. Those who were able to escape to France were placed in camps.

The Algerian War was only recognized as a war, as opposed to mere ‘operations de maintien de l’ordre’, in 1999. Ten years ago, France did not recognise that a war had been fought, let alone officially recognise the harkis. The recognition that the battles fought in Algeria between 1954 and 1962 constituted a war immediately raised questions and financial issues about compensation, pensions and rights for war veterans, both in France and Algeria.

In 2003, a decree was passed instituting a national day of remembrance for the harki soldiers. The government has also introduced measures to aid the integration in France of those harki veterans, their families and descendants who fled to France after the ceasefire. The majority of the archives relating to the Algerian War are now open and available to French and Algerian historians. France has also recently signed an agreement with the national Algerian archives to increase cooperation and facilitate the access to archives in both countries.

Many still follow Bouteflika's line, however, and demand an official apology for the crimes committed by the French authorities during the colonial era and the Algerian War. The war of memory, indeed of different and conflicting memories, is still being fought. The debate continues.

For further information on the difficult memory of the harkis, read Orphans of History
Numerous articles on the Algerian War from our archives are also listed on our History of France focus page.

Eiffel Tower marks 120th anniversary

by Kathryn Hadley

Studies and plans for the design of the Eiffel Tower began in 1884. Work on digging the first foundations began on January 26th, 1887. The construction of the tower lasted two years, two months and five days. It was inaugurated on March 31st, 1889, and was officially opened on May 6th for the first day of the 1889 Universal Exhibition. Between its official opening in May 1889 and December 31st, 2008, 243 376 000 people visited the Eiffel Tower and over the past 120 years it has inspired countless films, songs, books, poems and works of art, as well as sporting feats and challenges. It has received numerous visits from celebrities and political figures, including Thomas Edison, Dwight Eisenhower, Youri Gagarine, Rajiv Gandhi, Michel Platini, Hu Jintao and Michael Jackson, and has been the subject of numerous exhibitions both in France and across the world, from Venezuela, Mexico, Panama and the United States, to Europe, Japan and Shanghai.

This year, to mark the 120th anniversary of the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower, two exhibitions in particular are being held in Paris. ‘Gustave Eiffel, le magicien du fer’ is on show at the town hall until the end of August and tells the story of the construction of the tower and its creator through a display of photos, paintings, sketches and models. ‘Tales of the Eiffel Tower’ opens, tomorrow, on the first floor and the stairs of the Eiffel Tower. It includes a display of posters, photos, illustrations and interactive presentations, which chart the construction of the tower, how it has inspired artists throughout its history and has been replicated and represented throughout the world.

The official website of the Eiffel Tower includes a ‘Documentation’ section with statistics and information about the history of the tower, its maintenance and its legacy and influence over the past 120 years. For further information, visit http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/
For further information about the controversy and protest sparked by the construction of the Eiffel Tower, read our article Eiffel's Tower

Gustave Eiffel, le magicien du fer
Until August 28th
Hotel de Ville
5, rue de Lobau
75004 Paris
http://www.paris.fr/

Tales of the Eiffel Tower
May 15th – December 31st
5 avenue Anatole FranceChamps de Mars75007 Paris
http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/

New Exhibitions in France!

by Kathryn Hadley

I have just updated our French history page with some exciting new exhibitions!
From the history of jazz in the 20th century, to the story of the allied occupation of Berlin between 1945 and 1989, and from Napoleon III's role in the foundation of the kingdom of Romania in the 19th century, to the cultural exchanges between France and China in the age of the Enlightenment, these exhibitions may be worth a visit if you are planning a trip to France in the coming months!

For more information, visit the French history resources section of our French history focus page.