Museum of the Great War
Encyclopedia
The Museum of the Great War is in Péronne
, France
, near the heart of the World War I
Somme battlefields. The museum looks mostly at the Great War, and the years just before and just after. It strives to place war in a social context, stressing "the common suffering of the combatants" and "the civilians, who were equally mobilised by the war effort".
Additionally, it has two major permanent specialist exhibits:
According to museum research, 500,000 French, 160,000 British and (at June 1916) 85,000 Germans were prisoners of war. By including displaced and detained civilians, this figure rises to 6.6 million. The exhibition deals with all aspects of captivity: the food, for example, was insufficient and of poor quality; illness was rife; and prisoners of war were required to work hard.
For some, World War I was seen as a means of defending civilisation against barbarism, to protect the future of children. The image of the child was thus frequently used in posters, notably for recruitment. Children, too, were the subject of propaganda
. School books of the period often dwelt on patriotic duty for future soldiers and future nurses. Simplifed versions of soldiers, sailors and nurses became popular for children and toys took on a military air.
Péronne, Somme
Péronne is a commune of the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is close to where the Battles of the Somme took place during World War I...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, near the heart of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Somme battlefields. The museum looks mostly at the Great War, and the years just before and just after. It strives to place war in a social context, stressing "the common suffering of the combatants" and "the civilians, who were equally mobilised by the war effort".
Additionally, it has two major permanent specialist exhibits:
-
- Prisoners of War
According to museum research, 500,000 French, 160,000 British and (at June 1916) 85,000 Germans were prisoners of war. By including displaced and detained civilians, this figure rises to 6.6 million. The exhibition deals with all aspects of captivity: the food, for example, was insufficient and of poor quality; illness was rife; and prisoners of war were required to work hard.
-
- Children in World War I
For some, World War I was seen as a means of defending civilisation against barbarism, to protect the future of children. The image of the child was thus frequently used in posters, notably for recruitment. Children, too, were the subject of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. School books of the period often dwelt on patriotic duty for future soldiers and future nurses. Simplifed versions of soldiers, sailors and nurses became popular for children and toys took on a military air.