From 22 September 2007 to 20 April
2008
Early on 16 April 1917, more than 15,000 Senegalese infantrymen
launched an assault on the ridge of the Chemin des Dames. Paralyzed
by the cold, mowed down by machine gun fire, they died by the
hundreds in the first hours of the offensive.
Who were they? Where did they come from? What brought them to fight
in a war that was first and foremost a war of "Toubabs”, or
white people?
Duration: 30 minutes
From 16 April to 2 September 2007.
The year 1917 brought great changes to the world, with the Russian
Revolution and the intervention of the United States in the First
World War. And, after almost three years of war, 1917 saw the
failed Nivelle Offensive at the Chemin des Dames and the ensuing
mutinies.
This exhibit presents a retrospective of the events that took place
along the Chemin des Dames, in France and in the World in 1917, and
relates the stories of a few anonymous soldiers among the hundreds
of thousands that fought in the war, and who, marked by the
experience of the war, later became famous in various
ways.
Duration: 30 minutes
From 26 September 2006 to 31 March
2007
This exhibit is an example of “geohistory”, dealing
with the interaction between human societies and forest
environments along the Chemin des Dames. Using sounds, scents,
photos, objects and archive documents, the exhibit plunges visitors
into the heart of the forest environment before, during and after
the First World War.
Due to the battles fought here, the trees were crushed or riddled
with machine gun fire, and the soil was churned up and polluted. At
least an entire generation would be spent rebuilding the forests
and restoring the devastated areas, some of which are classified as
red zones. Today, the landscape still bears the scars of the
conflict, as testimony to the events and periods. This provides an
opportunity to address the issue of the memorialization process
surrounding the Chemin des Dames.
Duration: 30 minutes
From 24 October 2005 to 30 April
2006
During the Great War, the overwhelming majority of French and
foreign soldiers, whether under duress or as consenting
combattants, bore arms and fulfilled the missions assigned to them.
However, some soldiers disobeyed or deserted and were sentenced to
death. This exhibit tells the story of some of these soldiers who
were executed in the Aisne.
Diration: 30 minutes