>> [ Tribute ] Inaugurated on 11 November 2019 by the President of the Republic [ Speech ]

- [ Web series ] Episodes – Memorial to French soldiers killed in overseas operations: background to the project

- Database of soldiers killed in overseas operations (1963 to the present): www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr

- Remembrance site brochures to view online

A symbol of the Nation’s gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice made by servicemen and women deployed in the different theatres of operations since 1963, the Memorial also offers a new place of contemplation for the defence community and the families and loved ones of service personnel.

A symbol of the Nation’s gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice made by servicemen and women deployed in the different theatres of operations since 1963, the Memorial also offers a new place of contemplation for the defence community and the families and loved ones of service personnel.

Since the end of the Algerian War, hundreds of thousands of men and women have been deployed to protect their fellow citizens and, beyond our borders, to defend French interests. To date, 549 servicemen and women have given their lives across 17 overseas theatres of operations and, until now, no national monument had been erected in their honour. It was only natural, then, that the planned tribute to this new generation of service personnel, commonly known as the quatrième génération du feu (“fourth generation of combatants”), should consist of a memorial bearing the names of all those who have died for France in overseas operations.

A tribute to the “fourth generation of combatants”

This tenth Major National Remembrance Site has multiple layers of meaning:

• To service personnel deployed on overseas operations, it means that the Nation does not forget those who make the ultimate sacrifice, showing the degree of their commitment;

• To the families of deceased service personnel, it expresses the Nation’s gratitude and offers a place of contemplation and remembrance;

• To the public, it serves as a reminder that the freedom they enjoy only exists because of those who are prepared to give their lives to defend it.

Its role will also be as a place of contemplation for comrades-in-arms, the military community and veterans’ associations, and as a reminder of France’s ongoing engagements around the world.

The construction of a historic monument

The Memorial consists of a sculpture depicting six service personnel – five men and one woman – bearing an unseen coffin, whose faces show expressions of pain, contemplation and determination. A wall of 37 plaques bearing the names of the 549 servicemen and women killed on overseas operations, theatre by theatre, completes the work.

As well as being used for commemorative ceremonies, it is also the vocation of these places of contemplation to be open to the public. The changing needs and expectations of visitors have made it necessary for some of these sites to develop more of a focus on passing on the remembrance message to young people. The Major National Remembrance Sites are continually undergoing maintenance and improvement works.

The ten Major National Remembrance Sites of the Ministry of the Armed Forces:

• National Cemetery of Notre Dame de Lorette (Pas-de-Calais)

• National Cemetery of Fleury-devant-Douaumont and the Bayonet Trench (Meuse)

• Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp (Bas-Rhin)

• Mont Valérien (Hauts-de-Seine)

• Memorial to the Martyrs of Deportation in Île de la Cité (Paris)

• Montluc Prison Memorial (Rhône)

• Memorial to the Allied Landings in Provence at Mont Faron (Var)

• Memorial to the First Indochina War (Var)

• Memorial to the Algerian War and the fighting in Morocco and Tunisia (Paris)

• Memorial to French service personnel killed in overseas operations (Paris)

Image source: Ministry of the Armed Force - DICoD / Caption: The Memorial consists of a sculpture depicting six service personnel – five men and one woman – bearing an unseen coffin, whose faces show expressions of pain, contemplation and determination. A wall of 37 plaques bearing the names of the 549 servicemen and women killed on overseas operations, theatre by theatre, completes the work.

AERI has been working for more than ten years to produce CD-ROMs (or DVD-ROMs) on the local Resistance.
It has set up a dynamic network of several hundred people throughout France (teachers, resistance fighters, archivists, historians, students, academics, curators, representatives of local authorities and associations, etc.); acquiring know-how using a methodology for working in a network through a website and skills available to the teams (jurists, cartographers, foreign researchers, etc.); gathering a considerable documentary collection of more than 30,000 documents (posters, tracts, letters, newspapers, photos, audio documents or film archives, etc.), 25,000 historical records (thematic, bibliographical), 50,000 names, 19,000 events, and more than 6,000 places referenced, 20,000 archive and bibliographical references.

This was the source of the idea to create a reference portal site in cooperation with many partners (foundations, ministries, local authorities, museums, archive centres, associations, research centres, etc.) on the period: the on-line Museum of the Resistance (1940-1945). The computer tools used demonstrate the Internet’s contribution in terms of presentation and analysis of documents as well as their educational use.

Thanks to the Internet tool and the related technologies, the on-line Museum of the Resistance has become a site for the general public that is visible because it has a domestic and international dimension, showcasing digital cultural content bringing together resources, diffusing information and guiding the visitor to the appropriate contact.

Since January 2012, the “AERI department” has been pursuing its missions within the Fondation de la Résistance.

The on-line Museum of the Resistance has been open to the public since January 2011, with:

Regional exhibitions: an exhibition on the Drôme has been on line since January 2011.

A provisional exhibition on the Resistance in PACA was posted on line in December 2011.
The definitive exhibition will be ready at the end of 2012 or at the beginning of 2013. For the Ile-de-France region, work is underway on places of remembrance with a smartphone application.

An exhibition of photos and documents on the clandestine newspaper “Défense de la France” was posted on line in February 2012.

A virtual exhibit on the Libération Nord Resistance movement is being prepared with the “Musée du Général Leclerc de Hauteclocque et de la Libération de Paris-Musée Jean Moulin”.
Work is underway on other exhibitions: the Resistance in the Jura, Ardèche, etc.

Thematic exhibitions: an exhibit of gouaches by Albert Fié (resistance fighter from the Drôme département) presented since January 2011, an exhibit on Serge Ravanel, a struggle for unity since August 2011 and the Eysses, a prison in resistance (1943-1944) exhibit since January 2012; a chapter on the itinerary of resistants from Eysses will be added in 2012. A provisional exhibition on the Jewish Resistance Organisations will be put on line in 2012. An exhibition is being prepared on the history of the Vercors (2014), Resistance insignia and armbands (2013), etc.

Beyond the “Exhibitions” spaces, the virtual museum has a media centre, “media base”, where all the documents exhibited in the virtual museum are listed. Educational workshops for teachers and their students are proposed in the form of a blog. They can work on topics related to the exhibitions, school programmes and the “Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation”.

http://www.museedelaresistanceenligne.org/

AERI - 16-18 Place Dupleix - 75015 Paris – Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 66 62 72 - Fax: +33 (0)1 45 67 64 24

E-mail : musee@aeri-resistance.com

ALGERIA

Algeria holds a distinct place in the 20^th century history of the French Empire through its long-standing ties, its close proximity to mainland France and the considerable numbers of Europeans who moved there from 1830 onwards to live and work alongside the local population. The country’s role was intensified during the First World War, when it contributed to the French military effort, and above all during the Second World War, when Algiers became, in spring and summer of 1944, the capital of France Libre. Large numbers of French and Muslims from Algeria played a part in liberating the country. The official assimilation policy in place nevertheless seemed to contradict the political inequality that existed between both groups of the population. Similarly, Algerian nationalism gained ground and demanded that political autonomy and equal rights be recognised for Muslims. The uprising of May 1945, which was harshly suppressed, came as a prelude to the war for independence which broke out on All Saints’ Day 1954, principally in the Aures. In a context of global decolonisation, at a time when the neighbouring protectorates of Tunisia and Morocco were to achieve independence, the image of a prosperous and pacified French Algeria seemed false. The gap widened between the millions of Europeans, mostly city-dwellers attached to a land they considered both their own country and an extension of France, and the eight million Algerian Muslims. The majority of Algerian Muslims lived in rural areas and were threatened by impoverishment, poor access to schooling and inadequate public administration. The integration and social and economic modernisation policy introduced for Algeria in 1955 was an affront to both the European population who wished to maintain the status quo and the Algerian nationalists assembled within the FLN (the National Liberation Front). Far from being quelled, the conflict intensified and grew, the FLN demanding each member of the Algerian population to choose a side. Meanwhile, France stepped up its military action by sending a contingent to Algeria in 1955. The French army patrolled the country, carried out administration, conducted psychological operations, provided social aid and hunted out members of the ALN (National Liberation Army). However, no solution was in sight.

The Reform Act of February 1958 recognised the Algerian personality while affirming that Algeria was an integral part of the French Republic.

The weakness of the Fourth Republic, which was unsuccessful in bringing an end to the Algerian uprising, the fear of the Europeans in Algeria of seeing their country lost to the FLN and the army’s desire to not surrender explain the crisis of May 1958 and General de Gaulle's return to power. At the same time as relaunching a military campaign, General de Gaulle offered a “peace of the braves” (paix des braves) and implemented an extensive economic development programme: the Constantine Plan. Its effects were limited. The war continued despite the setbacks suffered by the ALN. The cause for Algerian independence won new supporters daily internationally and in French public opinion. The change of de Gaulle’s Algerian policy, from a position of self-determination (September 1959) to one of an ‘Algerian’ Algeria (November 1960), radicalised the opposition. This was demonstrated most decisively in Algiers during the barricades (January 1960) and the putsch of April 1961. Comforted by the results of the referendum of January 1961 which garnered the support of three-quarters of the citizens of mainland France, General de Gaulle entered into peace talks with the GPRA (the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic), a series of long negotiations which concluded with the signing of the Evian Agreements on 18 March 1962. The proclamation of a ceasefire from 19 March did not bring an end to the violence, of which the harkis, killed in their thousands, were the principal victims. In amidst this chaotic situation, France recognised Algeria’s independence on 3 July 1962, which then led to the return of the Europeans to their home countries and the end of the French presence in Algeria which had lasted for over 130 years on the other side of the Mediterranean.

MOROCCO

In Morocco, a French protectorate since 1912, the 1940 defeat struck a harsh blow to French prestige, even though the recruitment of Moroccan units to the French service did not stop at that time. Nationalism gained support encouraged by the Istiqlal (Independence Party) and Sultan Mohammed V ben Youssef, who became the symbol of the call for independence. In 1952, anti-French demonstrations cropped up more and more. From that moment, a show of force became inevitable: distrustful of the progressive forces, the French government replaced the Sultan on 20 August 1953, a political action that did not stop nationalist terrorism taking place and even caused violent clashes amongst the European working classes.

After an imposed exile in Corsica followed by Madagascar (1953-1955), Mohamed V triumphantly returned to obtain the independence of Morocco from France, achieved on 2 March 1956.

TUNISIA

Made a French protectorate by the Treaty of Bardo (1881), Tunisia was, during the course of the Second World War, a stage for confrontations between the Axis army troops and the Allies (1942-1943), while the Tunisian regiments earned recognition in Italy and in France in 1943-1944. Tunisian nationalism, led by the Neo Destour Party under Habib Bourguiba, gave rise to acts of terrorism and a start of guerrilla warfare from 1952 onwards. For two years, the French army had to fight against an armed movement which committed several attacks in Tunis and other cities around the country.

After the agreements signed in June 1955 but which collapsed even before they were put into action, the protocol of 20 March 1956 abolished the Treaty of Bardo and recognised total independence for the Kingdom of Tunis.

The Republic of Tunisia was declared one year later and Bourguiba was appointed the republic’s first president.

EXCERPT FROM THE ARTIST’S NOTE OF INTENTION (Gérard COLLIN-THIÉBAUT)

Monuments to the dead are links to a past memory and, a century later, their forms have become part of our collective memory: testaments to history, they stand silent in every town, erected in homage to those who sacrificed their life to make sense of death and keep remembrance alive. They often reach up to the sky, whatever their shape, and are engraved with lists of names. When looking at a monument, our eyes are drawn from bottom to top, yet we read the names from top to bottom. For this project, I wanted to respond to this instinct for identification, keeping our eyes drawn from bottom to top, using columns, but also to offer a modern way of reading, by catching the attention of a patchwork public made up of pedestrians, regular passers-by, tourists and so on. Through this project I wanted it to be there for the people concerned, but also to grab any passer-by, caught up in their everyday thoughts, and to arouse an emotion, through a kind of freeze-frame, reminding them of the sacrifice these young people made in the name of patriotism; and to do this, you have to use the resources adapted to your time.?Together all of this will make it a memorial worthy of the third millennium.

General de Gaulle created the Order of the Lib In 1965, General de Gaulle, the President of the Republic, decided that the Order of the Liberation would be located in the Invalides, an important place of national military remembrance. Five years later, the Museum of the Order of the Liberation opened to the public.

In thirty years the unquestionable prestige of the Order has allowed a great wealth of collections to be assembled in a single place. Its magnificence owes much to the diversity of the 1,061 Companions of the Liberation, which unites all sectors of the active resistance movement, bringing together teachers and military chaplains, African tirailleurs and Army Generals, students and workers, as well as 18 fighting units and 5 French towns. These collections - comprising mainly of personal objects and documents donated by the companions and their families - bear witness to their commitment and the ordeals they endured. A veritable showcase of the Order, the museum has more than 4,000 items in its permanent collection which, covering three areas (the France libre, the Resistance movement on the home front and the Deportation), illustrate the companions' journeys. Although several objects are remarkable because of their rarity, they are equally so because of the people to whom they are linked. Of particular note are Jean Moulin's civilian clothes and sub-prefect uniform, the would-be Commander General Leclerc's jacket, pennants taken from the enemy on the battlefields of Africa and Europe, Pierre-Henri Clostermann's flying jacket, the first flags of the France Libre's navy, original drawings made in the concentration camps and secret pamphlets, diaries and radio sets etc.
The museum's main hall is devoted to General de Gaulle, the founder and Grand Master of the Order. It houses personal objects, all of his French and foreign decorations, his only surviving full uniform and some of his most important war manuscripts, amongst which is the original text for the "A tous les Français" (calling all French people) poster, which was given UNESCO status in 2005. As a museum of objects, the Museum of the Order of the Liberation is an obvious complement to the renovated Museum of the Army and the Charles de Gaulle History Museum, a thoroughly modern concept, based uniquely on images and sound. A place of remembrance and history As the companions gradually die, the museum has become the focus for the Order of the Liberation's remembrance work. Because of its good position in the Invalides, it receives an average of 100,000 visitors a year and has developed several educational programmes (preparing for the national competition of the Resistance movement and the Deportation, commentated tours for 3rd, 1st and final year pupils and questionnaires for primary school pupils etc.). A place of remembrance and history, the museum is also a research and documentation centre, managing the Order's archives and the companions of the Liberation's files, a library (4,000 titles) and a photographic library (10,000 photographs). The Museum is also on the internet, thanks to the Order's website, where of particular interest is a biographical note on each Companion of the Liberation as well as a selection of some of the most significant objects and documents from the Museum's collections
Museum of the Order of the Liberation Visitor reception and tickets through the Museum of the Army Hôtel national des Invalides 129, rue de Grenelle (northern entrance) or Place Vauban (southern entrance) Telephone & fax: + 33 (0)1 47 05 04 10 Email: musee@ordredelaliberation.fr Opening times (cash desks close I hour earlier) From the 1st April to the 30th September: Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10 am to 6.30 pm From the 1st October to the 31st March: Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, Sundays and Bank Holidays from 10 am to 5.30 pm Closed: the first Monday of each month (except in July, August and September) and the 1st January, 1st May, 1st November and the 25th December Entrance charges Full rate: 8.5 € - Reduced rate: 6.5 € (students - under 26 years old, ex-servicemen and large families). The Paris Museum Pass is accepted. Free entry: under 18's, young people between 18 and 25 years old resident or born in the European Union, job seekers and those on benefits (on production of proof dated within three months), the disabled, students of history and Art history from the School of the Louvre, and ministry of defence personnel. Tickets provide entry to the Museum of the Army, the tomb of Napoleon the First, temporary exhibitions, the Museum of Relief Maps and the Museum of the Order of the Liberation. Guided tours available by appointment only (maximum 25 people). Access RER: Line C (Invalides station) Underground: Invalides, Varenne, Latour-Maubourg Bus: 28, 49, 63, 69, 82, 83, 92, 93 Centre of documentation Photographic library 18,000 photographs (reproduction on request) Library 4,000 works (by appointment only from Monday to Friday) Postal address : Museum of the Order of the Liberation 51 bis bd de Latour-Maubourg 75700 PARIS cedex 07

The Shoah Memorial was opened to the public on 27 January 2005 for the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp and the European Day in Memory of the Holocaust and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity.

Located in the historic Marais quarter of Paris, today it has become the reference institution in Europe for the Shoah.

Understanding the past to shed light on the future – that is this site’s mission as a place of remembrance, a museum and a documentation centre.

Open to a wide, diverse public, it provides numerous spaces and activities: a permanent exhibition on the Shoah and the history of the Jews in France during World War II, a temporary exhibition space, an auditorium that schedules projections, conferences, debates, book presentations, etc., the Wall of Names engraved with the manes of the 76,000 Jewish men, women and children deported from France between 1942 and 1944; the Wall of the Righteous which bears the names of the 2,693 Righteous Among the Nations who protected or saved Jews in France during the Nazi occupation; the crypt, a place of contemplation where the ashes of victims of Auschwitz and the Warsaw ghetto are held; the Centre of Contemporary Jewish Documentation (one million documents archived, 90,000 photographs and 50,000 books) and its reading room, a multimedia space, pedagogical areas where workshops are held for children and activities for teacher classes, and a bookstore.

Intended for the widest public, the Shoah Memorial contributes to teaching about a crime that is unique in the history of humanity, but also takes part education and discussions on tolerance, freedom and democracy.

Shoah Memorial

17 rue Geoffroy l'Asnier 75004 Paris

Tel.: +33 (0)1 42 77 44 72 (switchboard and voice mail server)

Fax: +33 (0)1 53 01 17 44

E-Mail: contact@memorialdelashoah.org

Opening hours

The museum is open every day except Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm and Thursdays to 10 pm.

Closed on Saturdays, certain national bank holidays and certain Jewish holidays.

The reading rooms and the multimedia education centre are open every day except Saturdays from 10 am to 5.30 pm and Thursdays to 7.30 pm.

Mémorial de la Shoah

On the 22nd February 2008, the President of the Republic opened the Charles de Gaulle Historial at Les Invalides. This "audiovisual monument" is an avant-garde place of learning based on a strong preconceived museographical idea: using sound and images to retrace the route of a man whose own destiny became entwined with that of France.

Covering about 2,500 m², the Historial is a real "audiovisual structure" whose objective is to convey both the history and the memory of General de Gaulle. Created by the architects Alain Moatti and Henri Rivière, the Historial is housed in a concrete structure, invisible on the surface, beneath the Valeur courtyard of the Hôtel National des Invalides. There are no objects here, only still and moving images. In addition, the Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (ECPAD) has provided more than thirty minutes of archive films, allowing the production company special access to the original material so that it could make high definition copies. Conducted by the army museum in close liaison with the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, this production is part of the museum's large-scale modernisation programme.
Visitors are greeted on arrival by a mosaic of eighty portraits of Charles de Gaulle, before making their way into the heart of the monument, which is fixed in the ground by an inverted wooden dome. This self-supporting structure contains an enormous spherical auditorium with seating for 200 people, where five screens show a biographical archive film lasting twenty-five minutes and in eight languages. Directed by Olivier Brunet with a commentary written by Maurice Druon and read by actor Francis Huster, this film is an opportunity to find out more about the figure and his actions, set in a historical context. All around this multimedia auditorium there is a permanent exhibition divided into two areas: the history loop and alcoves. The loop is a place for wandering around, made of curved, fluted glass; visitors pass through an area filled with images and sounds recalling the major events of the 20th Century, from the Belle Époque up to the first man on the moon. The three alcoves are fitted with interactive equipment and are designed to allow those who wish to expand their knowledge of history to learn more about its complexity and consequences. The first is dedicated to the man of the 18th June; the second to him as liberator; the third as the founder of the 5th Republic, from the Constitution of 1958 until the events of May 1968.
In addition, all along the route, the bilingual French/English audio guide provided to visitors is an aid to interpreting the subject matter and the meaning of the images. A temporary 350 m² exhibition hall and a teaching workshop complete the collection. The originality of the Historial is in its use of audiovisual and sound archives to bear witness to a century on which Charles de Gaulle made his mark. The general public can personalise their journey through this innovative complex, where the emphasis is on interactivity. A spectacular journey that is both a scientific and artistic way of following De Gaulle's career.
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The collection of relief maps bears witness to more than two centuries of military siege history, from its creation in 1668, under Louis XIV, until the last quarter of the 19th Century when the fortified bastions were abandoned. The Museum of Relief Maps exhibits, at the Invalides in Paris and at the fine arts museum in Lille, an unrivalled collection of a hundred historical models of the forts or fortified towns that were spread along the former French borders. The practice of making relief maps and models of fortified towns for strategic purposes was the result of an initiative by Louvois. In 1668 the minister of Louis XIV was responsible for creating a collection that would continue to grow richer for more than two centuries. The king's engineers thus created relief maps not only of French places situated on the borders of the kingdom, but also foreign towns captured from the enemy. Apart from their military interest, they were valued as prestige objects, testament to the power of the monarchy and the kingdom, as well as being commemorative pieces illustrating important battles and great sieges. Their production only ended towards 1870, with the disappearance of bastion fortifications.

Used in military training, the collection of relief maps now represents an exceptional source of information for the history of the architecture, town planning and changes to the countryside. The models were created with great attention to detail, under the supervision of military engineers and with help from a large amount of written and graphic documentation. The collection, comprising 111 models, mostly on a scale of 1/600 (26 models, 21 other objects and 64 relief maps), first kept at the Tuileries, was transferred to the Louvre in 1700 and then in 1770 to the Hôtel des Invalides. Because of its eminent historical interest, it was classified as a historic monument in 1927. Today it is kept by the museum of relief maps (at the Hôtel des Invalides), created in 1943, where about a hundred models of French and foreign towns are displayed. Sixteen relief maps have been sent on loan to the museum of Fine Arts in Lille.
Hôtel national des Invalides 6 bd Invalides 75007 PARIS Tel.: 01 45 51 92 45 Email: pedagogie.relief maps@culture.gouv.fr Opening times 10 am until 6 pm from Monday to Sunday Unguided tours Full rate: 7.5 € Reduced rate: 5.5 € Conferences Group rate (over 25 people): 120 €

The project for a tower 300 metres tall was instigated during preparations for the World Exhibition of 1889. The two principal engineers from the Eiffel company, Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, had the idea in June 1884 for a very tall tower, designed like a large pylon consisting of four lattice-work girders, outspread at the base and coming together at the top, linked together by metal girders placed at regular intervals. On the 18th September 1884 Gustave Eiffel was granted a licence "new authorisation for the construction of metal structures and pylons over 300 metres tall". The curvature of the uprights was determined mathematically in order to provide the best possible resistance to the effects of wind. Erection of the supports began on the 1st July 1887, to be completed twenty-one months later. All the components were prepared at the factory in Levallois-Perret in the Paris suburbs, the head office of the Eiffel company: between 150 and 300 workers were involved in its assembly. The Tower was erected with the aid of wooden scaffolds and small steam driven cranes attached to the Tower itself. The assembly of the first level was carried out using twelve temporary wooden scaffolds 30 metres high and then four large 45 metre scaffolds. Started in January 1887, the project was completed on 31st March 1889. Gustave Eiffel was decorated with the Legion of Honour on the platform at the top.

A showcase for French industrial dynamism at the 1889 World Exhibition, the Tower would see more than two million visitors pass by during the event. Gustave Eiffel saved his work from demolition by promoting research into radio transmissions and suggesting that his tower could be used as an enormous radio mast. After the first radio signals were broadcast by Eugène Ducretet towards the Panthéon in 1898, Eiffel approached the military authorities in 1901 with a view to making the Tower into a long-distance radio antenna. In 1903 a radio connection was made with the military bases around Paris, and then a year later with the East of France. A permanent radio station was installed in the Tower in 1906, thus ensuring its continuing survival. During the Great War, the Tower provided many services by listening to enemy transmissions, which gave it the nickname "the big ear". It is thanks to the Tower that Joffre would be informed of the advance of von Klück's troops and decide to requisition all the taxis in Paris to send soldiers to the Marne. It was responsible, amongst other things, for the arrest of Mata Hari because, once again, the Eiffel Tower had kept an ear out and deciphered the spy's messages. In 1921 the first public radio broadcast in Europe would be transmitted from its aerials. The first television trials from the Tower date from 1925 and the first regular broadcasts from 1935. In May 1940, before the German troops arrived, a handful of patriots carried out acts of sabotage on the Tower, successfully enough to ensure that the lift did not work when Hitler came. A strategic place for commanding the city of Paris, the Tower was closed to the public between 1940 and 1945; it would not reopen until June 1946. Radio broadcasts were made from the centre at Allouis under the control of the occupying authorities, who took control of Radio-Paris. The top of the tower has been modified over the course of the years in order to accommodate ever more antennae. Today it accommodates several dozen antennae of all kinds, including a television mast that is 324 metres tall.

On 16 August 1944, 35 young people between 18 and 22 years old were shot behind the Reservoir pond after having fallen into a trap that led to their arrest. They belonged to three Resistance organisations and included 20 francs-tireurs and partisans from the town of Chelles, three members of the Civil and Military Youth Organisation and 12 Young Christian Fighters who wanted to participate in the liberation of Paris (25-26 August). They accepted a mission from a so-called intelligence service agent, who asked them to transport weapons, and showed up at the meeting place, Place des Ternes, without arms. Almost as soon as they did, they were encircled by the Gestapo and brought to its headquarters, where they were interrogated until 10pm before being taken to the waterfall and shot. Every year, this tragic event is commemorated on the spot where it occurred and where the old oak trees "still have the bullets that killed these teenage boys lodged in their hearts".

The Bois de Boulogne was bombed several times during the Second World War, but the most tragic incident took place on 4 April 1943, when six of the 38 bombs that fell on the 16th arrondissement hit the Longchamp racetrack on opening day, killing many civilians. In memory of that tragic day, coniferous trees were planted in the holes caused by the bombs in the forest, but a storm uprooted many of them in December 1999.
Bois de Boulogne Waterfall Bois de Boulogne Carrefour de Longchamp 75016 Paris

Built in the 18th century, the Hôtel de Brienne had several owners before it was purchased by the State in 1817. Today it is home to the Ministry of Defence. In 1725 a reputable businessman called François Duret bought some land, which is now situated between rue Saint-Dominique and rue de l'Université, on behalf of the Marquess of Prie, the mistress of the Duke of Bourbon, who wanted to have a large mansion house built there. After the Duke of Bourbon was disgraced in 1726, the Marquess of Prie gave up the idea of living in the hôtel that was under construction and it was then sold to Françoise de Mailly, the widow of the marquis of La Vrillière. In 1733 she sold the building to Louise-Elisabeth of Bourbon, princess of Conti, who had some major changes made to the interior decoration under the supervision of the architect Simonnet. Just before her death in 1775, the princess of Conti donated the hôtel to her grandson, Louis-François-Joseph of Bourbon, the Count of La Marche. He then sold it the following year to Louis-Marie-Athanase of Loménie, the Count of Brienne, who was named Secretary of State for War in 1787. L'hôtel de Conti thus took the name of the Hôtel de Brienne, which it retains to this day and was home for the first time in its history to a minister of war.

The day after the death of the Count of Brienne, guillotined in May 1794, the building was confiscated by the revolutionary administration, who installed the commission for commerce and provisions there. Returned to the Countess of Brienne in 1795, the hôtel was sold in 1798 to the wife of François Séguy, a general businessman in military subsistence, who had a lot of refurbishment work carried out under the supervision of the architect Lavoyepierre. The Séguys were to fall victim to financial difficulties and soon had to be parted from their new acquisition. In 1800, the hôtel was sold at auction by the civil court of first instance in the Seine département to Joseph Lanfrey, an employee at the office of military subsistence, who rented it to the then interior minister, Lucien Bonaparte. In 1802, Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, bought it and rearranged the interior of the building and the furniture, before reselling it in 1805 to his mother, Laetizia Bonaparte, née Ramolino. The building thus became "the Palace of Madame Bonaparte, the Mother of the Emperor". Bought back from Madame Bonaparte by the State in 1817, the Hôtel de Brienne from then onwards became the customary residence of the Minister for War. Because of this, the building has been witness to some great political events. It was here that Clémenceau organised the victory in 1917. It was also here that General de Gaulle had his headquarters, first of all as Secretary of State for War in June 1940 and then as head of the temporary government from the 25th August 1944 until the 26th January 1946. This site is not open to the public, except on Heritage Days.
This historic monument, allocated to the Ministry of Defence, comes under the umbrella of a Defence and Culture protocol signed on the 17th September 2005. Click here to see the list of other buildings ...
Ministry of Defence General Secretary for Administration Department of Remembrance, Heritage and Archives Office of cultural and museographic activities 14 rue Saint-Dominique 00450 Armées E-mail: dmpa-sdace-bacm@sga.defense.gouv.fr