The remembrances

Germany and France fought one another three times in 75 years, but the inherited memories of those conflicts are by no means identical. Indeed, the account of the victors cannot be compared with that of the defeated. The Franco-Prussian War was a truly traumatic experience for the French, whereas the Germans saw it as a crushing victory. For each conflict that followed, the watchword would often be to remember the successes, the sacrifices, the key battles in which the armies fought heroically, or to pay tribute to the many victims. Occasionally, the chosen path would be that of repentance. This dissonance of accounts can also be explained by the fact that some were “endorsed”, either by a strategic State or just by popular enthusiasm. Lastly, it is the result of a phenomenon whereby some memories are written in the present. This second section aims to shed light on the development and distinctive characteristics of remembrance of contemporary conflicts in France and Germany, while also setting out the commemorative challenges of tomorrow.