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France Proud to Belong to the Victors In 1944/45, before the War in Europe had come to an end, the French longed to restore their national unity and regain the glory of their honour. An important part of the key French narrative - especially in the immediate post-War period - therefore deals with the pride in belonging to the victors of the Second World War. This was all the more justified since the Allies acknowledged France as one of the victors. This view also helped to make it at least temporarily possible to repress the painful memory of the four years of German occupation. In this way the story of the French victory was accepted by most Frenchmen, even though they were not deceived about the story's function as pacification and basis for national reconstruction. |
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The most famous image of French victory shows General de Gaulle, head of the provisional government, striding triumphantly down the Champs-Elysées on 26 August 1944. He is followed by members of the "Conseil national de la Résistance"; on his right is General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc, who had marched into Paris with his troops the day before. The American soldiers who were present disappear on the edge of the picture. This photograph was proof that the terrible disgrace of 1940 was now blotted out by the victory of the French army and that the country stood united behind a military and political leader who respected democracy and the Republic. This pictorial act of liberation of the capital refers directly to the occupation by German troops. They too had presented themselves as victors on the Champs-Elysées. And now the continuity of the Republic and the unity of the people were evoked once again by the semi-spontaneous staging of the triumphal march on the Champs-Elysées, which took reference to the parades on the French national holiday and where the Arc de Triomphe recalled former greatness. A drawing reproducing the famous photograph by Robert Doiseau was published in schoolbooks already in the 1940s. An elementary schoolbook combines it with a picture of Résistance fighters who are attacking a German tank. |
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The collective narrative of victory was omnipresent in post-War France. For instance, it can be seen throughout one of the masterpieces of French comics: "La Bête est morte ou La Guerre mondiale chez les animaux". The famous painting "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix is cited on one of the last pages. The French Résistance on the barricades overruns the last conquerors. Next to this, the joy of the liberation of the capital by Leclerc is celebrated with the familiar motif of the tank and cheering masses. The book came into being in the underground during the occupation of France. It was first published at the time of the liberation. Many new editions were printed on up through the 1990s, proof of its undiminished popularity. |
The Victors / Great Britain 
