The Forgotten Heroes of the Great War, exhibit presented by Et Voilà Théâtre in 2019

The Forgotten Heroes of the Great War

Curated by Florence Vitel

Presented by Et Voilà Théâtre in 2019

The exhibit "The Forgotten Heroes of the Great War" offers to reveal three little-known or misunderstood aspects of the Great War, the secondary yet crucial resources of the "war effort". This war effort, denounced by Clémenceau as insufficient starting in 1914, too often remained focused on men, industry, weapons, mortality and damages, calculated in cubic feet of ruins, millions of francs, thousands of white crosses in cemeteries and memorials, and the cost of reconstruction after the conflict.

In 1918, Clémenceau's France was proud of her soldiers, who died en masse and without a murmur for their country. France seemed to have forgotten that this gigantic industry of war and death benefitted from a cheap workforce, rarely used up until then in times of conflict. This workforce had several faces: those of women, soldiers from the colonies, and the innocent gaze of animals engulfed in a madness that was not their own.

This exhibition pays them tribute by telling their story and their sacrifice.

2019 French Cultures Festival official event.

This event was supported by a grant from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

This event was awarded the Centenary Certification by the Mission Centenaire.