Across this very boulevard, the Monument aux Morts 14-18 stands as a solemn reminder of the devastating impact of the First World War on Paris. This isn’t just a monument; it’s a testament to the 94,415 Parisian lives lost during that brutal conflict. The Monument aux Morts 14-18 was inaugurated on November 11, 2018, during the centenary of the armistice.
Unlike many other French towns and cities that erected memorials soon after the war, Paris lacked a central monument listing all its fallen soldiers. Previous projects were considered in the interwar period, but none materialized. While national monuments like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Monument to the Glory of the French Army honored the war dead, they were neither nominative nor specifically Parisian. Individual districts, churches, and institutions erected their own memorials and plaques, but a city-wide tribute remained absent until the Monument aux Morts 14-18.
This memorial stretches 280 meters along the boulevard Ménilmontant, adjacent to Père Lachaise Cemetery. Its location on the cemetery wall symbolizes the boundary between the world of the living and the dead. The 94,415 names, etched on dark blue steel plates, are listed by year of death and then alphabetically. This vast scale reflects both the magnitude of the conflict and the immense sacrifice of Parisian soldiers. The blue-steel color of the monument evokes the uniforms worn by the “Poilus,” the French infantrymen.
The creation of the Monument aux Morts 14-18 was a complex undertaking. The initial list of names came from the Golden Books kept in each district’s town hall since the 1920s and 1930s. These books recorded the names, dates of death, places of death, and regiments of soldiers declared “dead on the field of honor, or as a result of their wounds.” Information was gathered from various sources, including death certificates, death notices, family declarations, and lists from the Ministry of Pensions. Researchers from Paris 1-Panthénon Sorbonne University, led by Professor Jean-Louis Robert, painstakingly transcribed and cross-referenced these records.
The project faced numerous challenges. The Golden Book for the 3rd arrondissement was missing, requiring additional research in civil records. Discrepancies between the Golden Books and the national “Mort pour la France” database had to be resolved. The monumental task involved deciphering old handwriting and identifying errors, omissions, and duplicate entries. Finally, in June 2018, the definitive list of 94,415 names was finalized.
The Monument aux Morts 14-18 provides more than just a list of names. It restores individual identities to those lost in the anonymity of industrialized warfare. It allows us to connect with their sacrifice and remember them not just as statistics, but as individuals who lived, fought, and died for their city and country. The monument concludes with a poignant quote by Guillaume Apollinaire, “Who will ever know how many times I have wept for my generation over your sacred death,” reflecting the enduring grief and remembrance of a generation scarred by war.