The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, commemorates this Monday, November 11, the armistice of the First World War. During a ceremony in Paris, under the Arc de Triomphe, they paid tribute to the Unknown Soldier. A look back at the history and symbols of this public holiday.
► What happened on November 11, 1918?
November 11, 1918 ended the Great War. In a wagon stopped at the Rethondes crossroads, in the Compiègne forest (Oise), the Armistice was signed between the Allied and German delegations at 5:15 a.m., after four days of negotiations.
In the victorious camp, Marshal Foch chose a symbolic hour to ratify the effective end of hostilities across the entire front line: it would be at 11 a.m., the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. The last victim of this First World War was private first class Augustin Trébuchon, liaison officer. He was killed at 10:45 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, all the bells in France rang to celebrate the ceasefire.
First concluded for thirty-six days, the Armistice was then renewed three times until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. This four-year war, the first to report such a scale of violence , will have left 10 million dead or missing (1.4 million for France) and more than 20 million injured (four million in France).
► What is the symbol of this day?
If the English wear a buttonhole on their buttonhole poppy (poppy) during the commemorations of the First World War, the French also have their flower symbol of the Great War: the cornflower. This flower echoes the color of the horizon blue uniform worn by the young recruits, therefore nicknamed the “blueberries”in opposition to their elders, the “hairy”. Blue also happens to be one of the colors of the French nation, the first color of the tricolor flag.
In 1925, this plant thus became the emblem of the Le bleuet de France foundation, an organization born from the desire of two nurses from the National Institution of Invalides to come to the aid of soldiers injured during the Great War.
By creating, at the end of the conflict, this workshop intended for making fabric cornflower flowers, they wish to make the mutilated forget their injuries, and provide them with an income thanks to the sale of these objects. Since 1934, the foundation, whose scope of action has expanded in recent years to include victims of terrorist acts, has been authorized to collect funds on public roads every November 11.
► Since when has this day been a public holiday?
November 11 was established as a public holiday by the law of October 24, 1922, dedicated to the commemoration of victory and peace.
By the law of February 28, 2012, the tribute of the November 11 ceremonies is extended to all those who are “died for France”, civilians or soldiers, who died in current or former conflicts. Thus, those who perished during external operations (Opex) are also concerned by these commemorations, organized throughout France.
► Who was the last hairy?
The last hairy died on March 12, 2008 at the age of 110. Born Italian, Lazare Ponticelli arrived in Paris at the age of 9, alone, fleeing his country where « (il) been starving since the death of (son) father and (son) older brother ». When the war of 1914 broke out, he joined the Foreign Legion. He is only 16 years old.
Until the end of his life, he participated in the commemorations of November 11 and wanted to bear witness to the younger generations, having promised to respect the oath that the men made before mounting the attack: “If I die, you will think of me!” »
He received a national funeral at Les Invalides, in the presence of the President of the Republic at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy, former President Jacques Chirac and the Italian Minister of Defense.
► Where does the President of the Republic lay a tricolor wreath?
It is a tradition: during the commemorations of the First World War, the President of the Republic places a wreath of tricolor flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, under the Arc de Triomphe.
The idea of such a grave emerged early in the conflict. As early as November 26, 1916, while the fighting was far from over, Francis Simon, president of the Rennes committee of French Remembrance, already spoke of the creation of a tribute from France to the unknown soldiers.
On November 8, 1920, the Chamber of Deputies took up its idea and voted unanimously for the burial of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. The following November 9, eight anonymous coffins were exhumed. They come from the sites most affected by the conflict: Flanders, Artois, Somme, Chemin des Dames, Champagne and Verdun. A ceremony presided over by André Maginot is organized, and the sixth coffin is finally chosen to be buried under the Parisian monument, in the presence of political figures of the time and a fictitious family.
Two years after the burial of the Unknown Soldier, the flame of remembrance is lit on the Place de l'Etoile. It has never been extinguished since, including under the Occupation, during the Second World War.
