On 11 November 1918, after a war lasting for more than four years, representatives of the German Empire, France and Britain signed an armistice agreement in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne.
Reconciliation between peoples was made difficult by the magnitude of the losses, with 10 million dead. What role did the Catholic church play in the peace efforts?
Antoine Arjakovsky believes it is necessary to pool memories in order to truly bring peace after the wounds inflicted by the conflict in Europe, especially in the east.
The Great War is still perceived today as a sheer military confrontation. However, it largely affected the civilian populations too and profoundly changed the nature of humanitarian activities.
The reflections of Teilhard de Chardin can help us to perceive how God is present at the heart of situations as tragic as war, as he ventured to put his own experience into words.
The European past is marked by a liability of mutual violence that has yet to be sufficiently discussed. French philosopher Jean-Marc Ferry asserts that part of that past “will not be consigned to the past”.
