Armistice -- 100 Years

© Collections BDIC/Delasalle, Angèle | Une scène de l'armistice, 11 novembre 1918

The Armistice declared the end of World War I on November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m., and there was, of course, great jubilation. Ten million soldiers and 8 million civilians were killed, the greatest devastation the world had ever seen at the time. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. I feel privileged to be able to celebrate this anniversary in France where the effects of that war are still deeply felt.


According to an article by University of Paris Professor Dominique Kalifa in Histoire & Civilization magazine (October 2018) France alone lost 1.4 million French soldiers with a quarter of them between ages 18-27. Among civilians, 300,000 were killed and 240,000 died of Spanish flu. Four million soldiers were wounded or mutilated including 15,000 whose faces were severely disfigured (a.k.a. gueules cassés).

There were countless others who suffered from psychological troubles, now known as PTSD, that included hallucinations, melancholy, mental breakdown, sleeping difficulties, mood swings, sexual pathologies, and speechlessness. 

Every family was touched by the war. The war produced 600,000 widows and one million fatherless children. The nation's birth rate subsequently declined severely because of the loss of so many young men. Many soldiers who returned home were not recognizable by their children. Other soldiers were unable to resume their place in society or the workplace; they suffered from complete bitterness as a result. 

The devastation to human beings was matched by the physical destruction of 550,000 houses and 20,000 public buildings, 3 million hectares (7.5 million acres) of agricultural land, 60,000 kilometers (37,300 miles) of roads, 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) of railroads, 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) of canals. 

In the northern and eastern parts of France, whole forests disappeared, the land was covered with gaping holes and trenches, and the soil was made toxic from millions of tons of scrap iron, debris, and cadavers. Dozens of villages remained abandoned because the wreckage was too difficult to clear. Manufacturing and mining were halted or greatly diminished until the mid-1920s. The cost of reconstruction was 35 billion francs or more than the entire national budget of France at the time. Inflation was rampant, and the economy took more than 6 years to recover. 

War memorial in St. Didier

Most towns have a war memorial in the center square. In fact, 36,000 memorials were erected in France between 1920-25 with the inscription "à nos morts" (to our dead).  

War Memorial in the local church at St. Julien Chapteuil

Churches also display marble war memorial plaques that alphabetically list the names of local citizens who had fallen. It is plain to see the multiple losses of sons that many families endured. 

Many cities have planted trees in city squares to remember the dead, like this one in Le Puy, which is located across from the City Hall. This tradition that signifies both victory and remembrance to the fallen started after the French Revolution (1789-99). 








Every year on the morning of November 11, veterans, mayors, local authorities, gendarmes, and military officials pay tribute to the fallen in war. 

Gendarmes of Le Puy 

Eternal Rest Granted Unto WWI Hero

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War, and the French media has recognized and solemnly memorialized it with stories about the war and many of its people. L'Éveil, the local newspaper of Le Puy and the Haute-Loire region, ran a story about Corporal Auguste Sabatier, a 25-year-old army nurse of the 121st Regiment, whose body was exhumed from the military cemetery in Nanterre (near Paris) to be interred in his family's plot in Saugues, a village in south-central France about 50 minutes west of Le Puy. 
An interment ceremony took place there on November 10 with all the honors due his rank. He will now be more than a name on a church wall dedicated to the 130 fallen soldiers of Saugues. This all happened thanks to Auguste's great nephew, Rolland Sabatier.

Rolland wanted to bring his great uncle home again on this 100th anniversary of his death after he learned about his life through the French military archives. He also went through a complex process of working with the National Office of Former Combatants and Victims of War and by gaining the support for his plan through the mayors of Saugues and Nanterre. 

Auguste was killed on August 20, 1917, at 5:30 a.m. rescuing wounded soldiers on the front lines of Verdun less than an hour after the battle to re-take Côte 304 had started. 

It turns out that Sabatier was one of the war's heroes having been cited for two Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) medals, which were posthumously given to him in 1921 by Paul Deschanel, the president of the Republic of France. He had previously received the St. Georges medal, a Russian decoration, for saving the lives of Russian soldiers in numerous battles. His bravery had also been cited on numerous other occasions. 

As was the custom at the time, talking about a deceased soldier was considered a taboo subject, so they were often forgotten. However, Rolland remembers his grandmother being extremely sad every November 11, the day of the Armistice. The wound of her loss of Auguste had never healed. 

One day in 2004, Rolland found by chance a cache of old family photos that included several of Auguste. He considered it "a small miracle" that helped him learn more about his uncle and to "close the loop" of information that had been previously been suppressed. 

The newspaper shared these photos of him; his wife, Albertine who was 6 weeks pregnant at the time of his death; and his friends. The story helps to document the effect of the war on ordinary people and its haunting losses.

Annual Honey Festival in Aiguilhe

The Honey Festival is a celebration of the harvest. 

It starts out with a morning collection of vegetables from the neighborhoods. A man blows a horn (right) and neighbors emerge from their houses to give him something from their gardens. The vegetables are then put into a community soup that is eaten in the evening. 

Here is the collection point for all the vegetables that will go into the community soup. 


Citizens of Aiguilhe play the role as peasants. 

               


The French love to sing, and they seem to use any occasion to lead a crowd in song. They particularly like to sing about food. The Honey Festival, an agricultural fair, made this task easy.

This priest led the crowds in a song about beans.

The Honey Festival
The Auvergne area is a big producer of honey. Every year, the town celebrates with a festival in the central square of Aiguilhe, which is adjacent to Le Puy.  

           

Honey combs

Honey beer

Chestnuts mix well with honey.

Honey bread was one of the main attractions of the festival. It came in different renditions--and sizes.

             






Like most farmers in local markets, these French farmers exhibit a unique pride in what they have produced.

A honey wine-tasting room in the city hall building

                    
 There is always a good reason for a freshly-made crêpe be it a festival or ordinary street scene. 

 

All kinds of characters showed up at the Honey Festival.

These men were grilling up sides of pork for the afternoon meal.

The Honey Festival ended with a fireworks display.

Chateau de Bouzols

The Chateau de Bouzols was built in the 11th century as a fortress to protect the Loire River valley. There is nothing very beautiful about the building that we would expect from French Renaissance chateaus like the Chateau de Chenonceau or the Chateau de Chambord of north-central France. The later owners of the last quarter of the 19th century tried to spruce up the former military base by cutting out windows in the stone in order to make it a more genteel place of residence. Still, the rough-hewn basalt rock of the area's volcanic past make clear what the building was designed to be: an impregnable look-out and defensive rampart on the beautiful French countryside.

A view from the chateau of the countryside surrounding the Loire River. Today, as in the past, the valley is populated by farmers.  

The high arch was built to accommodate riders on their horses. After the fortress became a residence, such doorways were filled in with stone and smaller doors were installed at a more human scale. 









A intriguing winding stairway in a small space.

Three generations of architecture can be seen on this side of the chateau. The rough-hewn rock and towers signal its defensive military origins. The windows were installed when the chateau became a residence at the end of the 16th and early 17th centuries. The second renovation occurred from 1876-1905 by Albert de Brive and Rose de Nolhac where the external system of protection was replaced by gardens and terraces. The couple also sought to retain existing shapes and materials in a castle that was in a state of ruin.

Other adornments to make the chateau more of a livable residence include a simple tower signifying religious faith and a decorative door latch in the shape of a snake. 

   

This lithography designed by French Romantic artist Eugene Isabey (1803-86), shows the ruins of a great fortress in the first quarter of the 19th century. The second renovation of the chateau would take place between 1876-1900. 

Although the chateau was a military post, the soldiers assigned there numbered less than twenty-five. Below are photos of the ruins of their bare and rustic quarters. The castle was protected on the south and east by surrounding walls that enclosed the medieval village. The siege of 1400, penetrated the soldiers' quarters, the most vulnerable part of the chateau.

The stairway to soldiers' quarters.

A narrow passageway leads to the soldiers' quarters.

Kitchen oven on the lower right

Lookout window

The trapezoid-shaped keep was flanked by four solid, circular look-out towers like this one.

Even in the Middle Ages people lived in groups in caves located outside the chateau. The caves provided shelter from the elements and a place to sleep. 

The chapel at the chateau provides a simple yet stunning example of the importance of religion in the lives of the people of the Middle Ages.

Above the entrance to the chapel is a reference to the Blessed Mother through the symbols of the sun and the moon (upper left and right).











The interior of the chapel is simple and plain, yet inviting. These days, mostly weddings take place here.

This tapestry exhibits an exotic scene that no one really knows much about. The palm trees seem an odd sight in a European tapestry. Perhaps they illustrate how trade routes to the East both intrigued and inspired artists.





A seige on the chateau in 1400 toppled parts of the fortress. People then used the loosened stone to build their own houses near the chateau.