La guerre en héritage
The Lasting Legacy of World War I

Summary/Abstract: The impact of the First World War goes far beyond those directly involved in the conflict and leaves its mark on the generations to come. In his book Quelle histoire. Un récit de filiation (1914-2014), the French historian Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau looks back at his own family lineage in order to tell the story of the war the way that it was lived by (not so) ordinary people and their relatives, during the conflict itself but also decades after the official end of the confrontation. The essay thus analyses the heritage of the Great War, as it stands out from the personal experiences recalled in the book : the difficult transition from military to civilian life for the soldiers who survived, the lack of dialogue and comprehension from those closest to them, the incapacity of leaving the war behind and redefining one’s reasons to live ; the mourning of the dead, but also of the society and life that the survivors will never find to be the same ; the impact of the conflict on the generations that followed those who directly took part in the armed confrontation.

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