Today is Armistice Day, the end of World War I. It is a very solemn day in France, which commemorates the 1,327,000 soldiers who died and 4,266,000 who were wounded out of a population of 39 million. These losses devastated the economy as there were not enough workers for the farms or factories.
In the 1920s the government asked the people to build war memorials in their cities and towns. Below are some examples. On most of the inscriptions it says:
"To the children who fought for France 1914-1918."
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I, was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.
Unfortunately, France fought three more devastating wars: World War II, Vietnam, Algeria. The names of the fallen were added to the war memorials.
Here are some war memorials in cities and towns I've visited over the past three years.
St. Flour
Capdenac-en-Haut
Le Puy-en-Velay
Marseille
Yssingeaux
Saugues
St Didieron
