The Disoriented
Experiences of French soldiers in the Dardanelles and Macedonia, 1915-1918
30 €
Presentation
More than 80000 French soldiers were sent to the Dardanelles in 1915 by a reluctant government, in an expedition that was improvised and doomed to failure. When this failure became evident, the survivors were redeployed to Salonika for another even greater campaign in Macedonia; in total, more than 400000 French soldiers took part in this eastern Army. While the soldiers set out with apprehension towards the unknown, the words Constantinople, Orient and Greece brought to mind pleasant literary visions. Their accounts show that the realities were anything but pleasant, from natural conditions, climate and disease to the supply of provisions, equipment, and ammunition. However, their correspondence with France, censored and self-censored, says nothing of this and the press is silent. On the contrary, it spread the image of the the pleasures of Salonika. Among the soldiers there was great bitterness; they understood that taking Constantinople was impossible, and realized that Macedonia was nothing like the Greece of their dreams.
This book, based on the memoirs and moving recollections of these soldiers, testifies to their living and combat conditions, the crisis of morale they experienced, and life in Macedonia as they discovered its every aspect.
Author
Francine Saint-Ramond holds a doctorate in history. Her research primarily focuses on distant conflicts in the modern era. Its aim is to render the life and thoughts of the soldiers involved in these military expeditions that brought a brutal disruption in their everyday lives.
285 pages
16 x 24 cm
Publication: 01/04/2019
ISBN: 9782858313006