ANNALES DE LA GUERRE 91 [Main Title]

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  • Title: ANNALES DE LA GUERRE 91 [Main Title]
  • Film Number: IWM 508-91
  • Other titles: THE WAR ANNALS 91 [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: French newsreel of President Poincaré in Strasbourg to accept Alsace back as part of France following the plebiscite, 9th December 1918.
  • Description: In a formal ceremony, surrounded by dignitaries and cameramen, Poincaré lays a wreath at the base of the statue of General Kléber. The camera is some distance away and the President is not easily visible. It is raining softly. The procession of dignitaries, in cars and carriages, moves through streets filled with cheering crowds to the town hall, and the dignitaries enter. The camera continues to focus on the people. Poincaré makes from the town hall balcony his famous announcement "Le Plébiscite est fait" (favourably to the French) and that "Alsace with tears of joy throws herself on the neck of her refound mother". The President is shown for the first time in close-up getting into his carriage to go on to the cathedral. Prime Minister Clémenceau and Marshal Foch join him in the carriage with a fourth man, possibly the Mayor of Strasbourg. The procession moves again through the streets and the crowds wait while the dignitaries enter the cathedral and shortly re-emerge, driving on to the Place de la République. Girls in regional costume are waiting there, and despite the anxiety of the soldiers controlling the event Foch goes up to talk to the prettiest. The great parade past the President's box is about to start and people cling to the branches of trees to get a better view. The parade consists at first of French Infantry with their bands and mounted officers, including a colonial unit and a party of Marines. Renault FT18 light tanks, turrets turned in salute, follow the Infantry. The parade continues on past the President's box as darkness falls, with civilians joining the soldiers. The young girls in local costume walk past, units of Chasseurs, of sailors, of veterans in their black frock coats, all march in salute past the box containing the President, the Prime Minister, and the Commander-in-Chief of France.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM (IWM 508-91)
  • Featured Period: 1914-1918
  • Production Date: 1918-12
  • Production Country: France
  • Production Details: Section Cinématographique de l'Armée Française (Production company)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Poincaré, Raymond (person) Clemenceau, Georges Benjamin (person) Foch, Ferdinand (person) Strasbourg, Mayor of (?) (person) French Army (regiment/service) French Army, [colonial troops] (regiment/service) French Navy, Marines (regiment/service) French Army, [Chasseurs] (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: ceremonies, French - state: reunification of Alsace (object name) delegations, French national - state (object name) buildings, French - institutional: town hall (object name) buildings, French - religious: cathedral (object name) society, French - fashion (object name) armour, French - tank: Renault FT18 (object name) First World War, Armistice & 11/1918 (event) Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, France (geography) camera (concept) rain (concept) half-light (concept)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: French Subtitle language: English
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 670 ft; Running time: 11 mins
  • HD Media:Yes
  • Notes: Titles: these and the subtitles are flashframes Production etc: see Notes to IWM 508-10 Remarks: a fine film in which the editor has obviously taken some trouble in selecting his scenes, and which shows a high degree of sophistication compared with most episodes of the series, produced under the pressures of wartime newsreel schedules. The emphasis on the crowds not only stresses in itself the importance of the masses in the victory of France but also provides genuine suspense up to the final appearance of Poincaré in close-up. The episode ends the series on a technical high point of film construction, and an emotional high point of French achievement in the war.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    IWM 508-91

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