Siege de Paris Jean Louis Ernest Meissonnier 1815-1991

To understand the resentment of French people to German people, we must study the year 1870. In 1870 France lost the battle of Sedan in the aftermath the second empire was slumped. After that Paris became a city where there were blood and starvation. France lost as well two of its best historically mining: the Alsace and a part of Loraine.
The resentment was feed by the Third Republic, Henri IV and Charlemagne were emblematic figures of the nation. In school children could read “you will be soldier”. So it was a generation who grew up in a spirit of anti-German xenophobia.

The First World War was trigger by the murder of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. Austria-Hungary then sent an ultimatum to Serbia. The 30th July 1914 Russia ordered mobilization to help Serbia. The War was world-leading due to the alliance system. The Triple Alliance declared war to Russia and France the third of August 1914. From this declaration governments were locked in the war, without measured the extent of the conflict. They were supported by public opinion. The war ended in November 1918 by the Armistice. During the war the atmosphere was gloomy; people became aware of human barbarity.

The after war was a period of economic prosperity; it was the second industrial revolution between 1922 and 1929. These years were impressed by the publicity and by the mass production. After the war, people required fun and liberty. It was the born of jazz and charletones.

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