World War II "armistice" - French ignorance or error?

Is the decision by the press office of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to use the word "armistice" in its description of the ceremony marking the end of World War II hostilities in Europe a question of ignorance of history or political correctness?

That's the question that has been posed by some sectors of the media here this week after the services of the Elysée palace, the French president's office, sent out what it called "a message" to journalists informing them of "The 65th Anniversary of the Armistice of 1945" to be held in the eastern French town of Colmar next weekend.

Elysée palace (from Wikipedia)

May 8 is Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) marking the date when the Allies formally accepted Germany's unconditional surrender at the end of World War II.

It's a national holiday in many parts of Europe and in France there'll be ceremonies up and down the country including the one at which Nicolas Sarkozy will be present.

But for the second year in a row the office of the Elysée palace has decided to use the term "armistice" rather than "capitulation" or "surrender" in describing the ceremony.

And that's a mistake, as far as the French weekly news magazine Le Point is concerned.

"The Armistice of May 8 1945 never existed," it says. "It was an unconditional surrender that occurred in two stages."

A point also taken up by the left-of-centre news weekly Marianne, which digs deeper into history, consults definitions of "capitulation", "surrender" and "armistice" and comes to the conclusion that either the whole affair illustrates a lack of knowledge of history on the part of the Elysée or it's an attempt to rewrite the history books.

"Such a confusion of the terms is understandable, if inaccurate, among Internet users, but not by those working closely with the French president," it says.

"Are the services of the Elysée totally ignorant?' it asks. "Or are they attempting to be 'politically correct' and trying to soften a painful part of the Europe's recent history?"

To get to the bottom of the matter the daily free newspaper 20 minutes contacted the Elysée directly to be told that the so-called "message" was "not an official press release nor an invitation, but simply a reminder of the upcoming event."

Perhaps not the most convincing explanation of the intent behind the use of the word "armistice", but the one with which it looks as though the the French media will have to be content.

Sarkozy remembers France's forgotten WWI "heroes"

Say what you like about the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and since he took office in May last year plenty has been written and said.

But during yesterday's speech to mark the 90th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War One, he paid tribute to the forgotten few who were killed during the four years of fighting - French soldiers who had faced the firing squads after being courts martialled.

It was a first for a French president - acknowledging the stand some men had taken in refusing to fight and the price they had paid for that decision.

The remembrance service took place in Douaumont in the east of France, at the ossuary erected in the 1920s to commemorate the more than 250,000 men who died during the battle of Verdun in 1916.

The emphasis and tone of the ceremony was not on glorifying war, or on the victory of one side over another, but to pay tribute to those who died and mark the official end of WWI with the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918.

While Sarkozy paid tribute to those who had fought and laid down their lives from 1914-1918, he also made it clear that many of those who had refused to fight were far from being "traitors".

"I think of these men who were too exposed and of whom too much was asked," he said.

"Sometimes they were sent to certain death by ill-advised commanding officers, and I think also of those men who lost the will and the strength to fight," he continued.

"But 90 years after the end of the war, I solemnly declare on behalf of the nation that many who were executed did not bring dishonour on themselves. They were not cowards but had just reached the utter limits of their strength."

Remember French men at the time had no choice in the matter as to whether they served.

There was military conscription and France was a country in which the right not to serve on the grounds of being a conscientious objector wasn't recognised (until 1963).

Sarkozy's closing message also focused on those who had faced the firing squads.

"Let us remember that they could have been our sons, he said.

"Let us remember that they were also victims of a tragedy which took away the lives of so many men who had not been prepared to such for such a fight."

And that was a theme developed further in a report on TF1's prime time news on Tuesday, which told the tale of a whole company in northern France, which in 1915 refused to fight after 600 of their number had been killed in three previous attacks on German positions.

All 250 men were courts martialled, four of them were found guilty and executed (they were formally rehabilitated in 1934) and the rest sent back to fight on the front.

In total over the course of the four years from 1914-1918 around 2,400 French soldiers were tried for mutiny, desertion, or fraternising with the enemy, with around 600 of them being executed.

The rest were either forced into hard labour or sent back to the front to meet near certain death.

"Those soldiers were also the victims of war," historian Nicolas Offenstadt said.

"In other words they were serving in the trenches under extreme conditions and subject to continuous bombardments, many of them snapped - psychologically," he added.

"Some of them didn't want to serve and simply attempted to escape from the front."

Fewer than 10 of the men who faced the firing squads during the war have since been formally rehabilitated.

While Sarkozy's speech during Tuesday's ceremony was not in itself an official endorsement of that process, it could perhaps be seen to some as a step in that direction.

Report suggests "remembrance overload" in France

On Tuesday, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will lead a service to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that marked the formal end of World War One.

But on the eve of that remembrance service, and the many others that will be held in villages, towns and cities around the country, a report released by a parliamentary commission is creating quite a stir.

It suggests there has been almost a "remembrance overload" in the number of days in France commemorating too great a range of separate historical events, and that it would be in the best interests of the nation to regroup them under just a handful of days throughout the year.

November 11 is Armistice day here in France and indeed it's one of the few European countries that marks the day with an official holiday.

As always there will be remembrance services up and down the country, and the main event this year will be held in Douaumont in the east of France.

It was a village destroyed during WWI, and today is home to an ossuary, or a memorial, containing the remains of some of the more than 250,000 plus men who died in the 10-month battle of Verdun in 1916.

The ceremony, which will be led by Sarkozy and attended by international dignitaries such as Britain's Prince Charles and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso will be broadcast live on national television.

But there will be no French WWI veterans - or "poilus" as they're called here - present, as the last surviving one, Lazare Ponticelli, died in March this year at the age of 110 (click here to read about Ponticelli, France's "Italian" war hero, the story of an incredible man).

In the build-up to tomorrow's commemoration services there has been controversy surrounding the findings of a parliamentary commission headed by the French historian, André Kaspi.

It was asked by the junior minister of defence and veterans, Jean-Marie Bockel, to look into the number of national commemorations there are in France

Included in its findings is the suggestion that in recent years there has been an almost "remembrance overload" in the number of days on which events of national and historical significance are commemorated, with a doubling from six to 12 days in the space of just a decade.

The reports also puts forward proposals to reduce them to just a handful.

There are three official public holidays in France, to mark important events in this country's history. July 14 is the oldest, commemorating the storming of the Bastille in 1789. It was first celebrated in 1880.

During the course of the last century, two others were added to the calendar, November 11 of course to mark the end of WWI, when the Armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany in the town of Compiegne, 60 kilometres north of the French capital.

And May 8, to observe Victory in Europe day and the official unconditional surrender of Germany at the end of World War Two.

To those were added three other commemorative dates on which ceremonies are held - although none of them are public holidays - one to remember Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc) the 15th century Catholic saint and a national heroine, one to mark the deportation of Jews during WW II, and a third to honour Jean Moulin, a WWII French resistance fighter.

So in total, six days on which tributes were paid to a person or people on a national level.

But in the course of a decade, that number doubled during the two terms of office of Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, although just the same three remain public holidays.

Since 2006, May 10 has been a day to commemorate the abolition of slavery - France became the first European country to mark that day officially.

There is also a day (June 8) to pay homage to those (French) who died during this country's participation in the Indochina wars, and another (July 16) to pay tribute to those who those who helped the Jews during the WWII.

September 25 is to remember the contribution of the Harkis - Algerians who served with the French army during the north African country's battle for independence from 1954-62, and December 10 is a separate day to remember all those who died during the Algerian War.

And it's that doubling that has led to the report to conclude that there are, in its words, too many commemorative services.

"It's not reasonable that within 50 years the number of remembrance days should have doubled," says the report.

"It's not acceptable that the country should yield to the interests of different communities by increasing the number of 'repentance days' to such an extent, because it weakens the collective national conscience," the report continues.

Bockel insisted on national television that the report's findings weren't proposals to put an end to commemoration services, but he thought they would perhaps be better served by allowing regions to observe them as they thought appropriate.

"I'm not suggesting the suppression of one single commemorative service," he said. "On the contrary I think we should be trying to increase their profile on a national level - perhaps by including them as part of one of the three main dates (May 8, July 14 or November 11)."

But for some, the recommendations included in the report are an attempt to undo some of the progress that has been made in France over accepting and recognising the contributions and sacrifices of many throughout the years, and the proposals would represent a step back in time.

"The report seems to be saying that we shouldn't remember slavery or pay homage to the Harkis on a national level for example," said Patrick Lozès, the president of Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN - an association representing around 60 organisations to fight against discrimination and for equality of blacks in France.

"I'm opposed to the idea that there's some sort of "competition of remembrance" and I think this report is opening a Pandoras box."