Department of History

Paul Jankowski Publishes Feature Article in Le Monde

May 29, 2016

Paul JankowskiAs part of a series of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the battle of Verdun, Paul Jankowski wrote a feature article for Le Monde which was included in a special section devoted to this storied battle. Entitled "The myths of Verdun", the article traces the ways that French and German legends about the battle depart from historical realities. They pervaded subsequent decades and shaped popular thinking about the why? and the how? of the battle, about its origins and the way it was fought. Rejecting the notion that such legends were deliberate fabrications, the article insists instead that they show how contemporaries and their descendants made sense of an otherwise incomprehensible event, and invites historians to respect the myths as well as restore the facts.