French commemoration: The centenary effect and the (re)discovery of 14–18

Abstract

A centenary effect is bringing the First World War back into the public sphere in France, even though state authorities have struggled to generate momentum around its national commemorations. First, this article synthesises France's memory of the First World War, comparing it with Australian commemoration, arguing that it is generally consensual and that, to date, there has been an absence of debate over its commemoration. Second, it examines the Mission du Centenaire, France's official board for the commemoration of the centenary of the Great War, the key commemorations announced and the articulations between local, national and international commemorative events. Finally, the article analyses the economic rationale behind the French authorities’ desire for an internationalised centenary, the political messages articulated through the memory of the conflict and the level of popular interest in the centenary commemorations since 2013.

在法国，一战的百年效应就是让一战回到公共领域，政府当局大力营造国家纪念的声势。本文首先对法国的一战记忆做了综述，并同澳大利亚的纪念活动进行比较，指出法国的特点是普遍共识，至今关于一战的纪念并无辩论。本文还研究了法国官方的大战百年纪念委员会即“百年使命”，宣布的主要纪念活动以及地方、国家、国际层面的纪念活动的结合。本文最后分析了法国当局希望百年纪念国际化背后的经济理性、通过战争的记忆所传达的信息、以及2013年以来公众对于百年纪念活动热情的程度。

Keywords:

• commemoration
• First World War centenary
• France
• memory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The Mission has set up a very resourceful trilingual website: http://centenaire.org/fr.

2 In France, a département is an administrative authority, France has 101 départements. These committees comprise local officials and historians.