Why should we remember?

Transcription

1 Why should we remember? The war was the first war which involved many countries such as France, Germany, England, USSR and more. As this war involved these countries, it also, and above all, involved their populations. There were more than 18 millions deaths and this number includes 9.7 million deaths for the military and 8.9 million of civilians. Now, one hundred years after it started, the question which stays in our minds is why do we remember these days of war? Firstly, commemorating allows to understand why war happened and to make sure that we will never do the same mistake so that it can no longer happening. Commemorating also makes us understand the mechanisms that triggered war so that we can fight them (for example foreigners hatred and economic problems). But we should not forgot that commemorate is very important for the souvenir. Thanks to commemorations, we can pay tribute to those who gave their lives to save their country. That gave a good memory to the soldiers and to those who were also engaged in the war, even in the back (women working in industries, in fields...). Thanks to these good memories of good acts for the country, that makes people think that fighting to save ours is very important. Because at this time, defending people and family was the first engagement. That will encourage men to enlist. But now that war is over, the main idea is to mentally overcome the war. That why we can see governments of Germany and France work together and share interests and economy. Living and working together in some kind of fraternity should be the universal case.

2 How should we remember? The best way to remember is to organize performances. During the year 2014, a lot of events were organized. We are going to talk about some of them that we saw during our trip to London. In the gardens of the Tower of London, there are plenty of poppies. One poppy represents one killed soldier. They make a red carpet which symbolizes every death. After seeing it, we had to ask some people to read a poem which was talking about the war. Some of the people that we asked were very moved and touched. This was our poem: In Flanders Fields In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt down, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If you break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders Fields Major John McCrae

3 On the other hand, we saw a play Private Peaceful in the center of London which told the story of two brother who had to go to the French lines to fight. This story was moving and touching. Thanks to it, we can really imagine the conditions and the feelings that they went through. This is another step in the way of remembering the war. Then, we visited the battlefields of the Somme in France. We saw the damages of all the weapons like shell and the trenches in which the soldiers were living and fighting. Then, we saw French, English and Australian cemeteries. But what we saw and did was not the only possible things to do to commemorate. Let us talk about some other ones: Kris, a famous comics writer, wrote Chroniques de notre mère la guerre, that it presented the 20th of November, 2014 during the Centre Mondial de la Paix, in Verdun. Kris has been touched by the memories of Era Brittain, an English woman who tells in her book Testament of youth how she lost two fiances and her brother, because of the war. She inspired Kris' main character. He wrote this book to pay tribute to those who left theirs marks of their experience during the war. This is a first way to remember, by writing. In this drawing that we took from the book, we can see the old man asking to the younger why one hundred years after are you still crying in your deathbed? and the younger answer Why grandpa, after one hundred years, you are still making us cry? To understand, I have to tell you the story That is the best way not to forget the war, testimonies are very rare so they are important.

4 A lot of collects have been made in France, for example in Lyon where plenty of people gave their memories to the Departmental Archives of the Rhone, which is a building dedicated to the WW1 souvenir. This second edition of collect, the 14th and 15th of November 2014, was an important event because thanks to it, we can now, by reading the soldiers diaries in the front, retrace their past and understand their live by entering into them. An other way to celebrate is involving government in the event, because it has a real impact. It gives the centenary a real meaning, which is increasing thanks to government, because it gives sense. That is why François Hollande made a speech for the Victory Day (11th of November). In this speech, he said that commemorate isn't only remembering death people, but also remember our duty for peace, security, human rights and democracy. This was a diary written by Maurice Genevoix that he gave to the collect of Lyon. To remember, we all need to feel and see the places where war destroyed countries. That is why, Joël Day, the guardian of Verdun forest, explain in a testimony that we read in Le Monde that now we can visit this forest to see the damages caused by the war (trees are riddled with scrap). On our bike, we can go around the park, guided by educational panels, GPS and tablets.

5 The Centenary Commemoration These are plenty of examples that marked us. But there are a billion. That is showing us that people does not want to forget, we all want to understand, we do not want to do the same mistakes so that war begins again. We can now be sure that events, research projects and commemorative ceremonies will be taking place during the four years of 2014 to 2018, marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War Louise EDREI and Noémie LONGUET

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