Ce blog est personnel, la rédaction n’est pas à l’origine de ses contenus.
November 11 is Armistice Day, it marks the end of the Great War in Europe, the war that would end all wars. François Hollande, the French Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 Presidential elections, visited the cemetary of the Bois de la Gruerie near the village of Vienne-le-Chateau in the Marne. During WW I this village was on the front line and it is here that some of the heaviest fighting in the region took place. French and German lines were only meters from each other and during the four years of war they hardly moved. Combat was so heavy and deadly that the soldiers called this place the Bois de la Tuerie ("the forest of death") instead of the proper name "Gruerie". Within an area of 24 acres, 36,206 bodies of soldiers who died for France were recovered. "At a time when we observe an increased amount of egotism and fear amongst nations, November 11th must be a reminder of the ravages of nationalism," said Mr. Hollande.
Mr. Hollande is not favorable to President Sarkozy's proposition of transforming Armistice Day into a sort of "Memorial Day" such as in the United States, where fallen American soldiers of all conflicts are remembered on the same day. "Each commemoration should retain it's specific signification," he said. "The President of the Republic must rally all citizens together, he must encourage "togetherness" rather than devisiveness," stated the Socialist candidate.
Ce blog est personnel, la rédaction n’est pas à l’origine de ses contenus.
