INTERVIEW
Since 2012, November 11th is a day of homage to all the dead for France, not only to recall the Armistice of 1918, ending the First World War. A memorial for the French soldiers killed in outside operation is also inaugurated Monday, November 11 by Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
A choice that may be open to debate, but not for Jean-Yves Le Naour, historian and specialist in the Great War. "This day of remembrance is not really a problem. We can make laws, but the memory can not be decreed. For the French, November 11 is associated with the First World War, there were 1 million 500 000 deaths, injuries in all families. ", Explains the author of" 14-18, the integral "(Perrin, 2018).
"14-18 it was 900 dead per day!"
Jean-Yves Le Naour also recalls the violence of the clashes of the early twentieth century: "The 1st World War, it was 900 deaths per day! 14-18, he was a monster who devoured the country. Today, of course, everything has changed, the death of a single soldier makes headlines, because death is unbearable. In 1914, the sacrifice was put forward, while today we absolutely want to bring back his guys. "
Emmanuel Macron will inaugurate this Monday in the park André-Citroën in Paris a monument that pays tribute to the 549 soldiers killed in opex since 1964. On November 2, a soldier on mission in Mali was killed by an explosive device.