National Identity and pacifsm: two sides of the same military memory

The article is devoted to the analysis of the memorializing strategy of the heroes and victims of the First World War in France. It is revealed on the examples of the history of several monuments in various provincial departments. The article shows that some of these monuments have been established not as the state agencies initiative, but by grass-route activists, and, in contrast to common militaristic messages, the commemoration of soldiers and victims by this monuments has frankly pacifist features.