Programme of national events marking the centenary of the First World War

Exhibition

From the War of the Spanish Succession to the Algerian War, the coal basin in Northern France has not only been a battlefield but also an occupied territory. This exhibition recounts historic and military events and their consequences for the region and its inhabitants, in particular during the First World War. These conflicts, which took place over a period of 250 years, had serious and long-lasting consequences for the inhabitants of the coal basin who had to go about their daily work under the shadow of violence, restriction and privation. Despite their sufferings, they rebelled and resisted and did their best to live their lives. Another aim of the exhibition is to compare these conflicts with each other, place them in perspective, and look at their impact on the history of mining in the coal basin.