The documents presented below are linked to the articles accessible here.
We know that the mobilization of students left room in the amphitheaters that young women were quick to fill. Like what was happening in the rear, in the faculties, the testimonies of support to the fighters were multiplying, as well as the aid to the student prisoners of war. Throughout the war, the faculties also had to settle the question of their foreign students ; at the end of the interminable conflict, they would receive demobilized foreign students for a few months. Above all, they would prepare to meet their former students, now veterans.
Between mobilization and daily life
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
In these deserted places where those who had died for France were counted, it was time for tributes, patriotism and the safeguarding of the nation. In spite of everything, some professors are worried about the consequences of this war on a science that has come to a standstill.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Source: Department archives of Haute-Garonne, class. no ADHG 3160W247, p. 283.
Born on July 18, 1881, Fernand Bastide obtained his doctorate in law in Toulouse and became a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Toulouse. Mobilized in 1914, he was wounded on May 13, 1915. During his convalescence, he was informed by a letter from Professor Cézar-Bru that his thesis (Étude théorique et critique de la délégation en droit pénal français et les commissions rogatoires) had been awarded a silver medal by the Academy of Legislation of Toulouse. He returned to the front, notably in the Aisne in 1917 and the Somme in 1918. He was attached to the Ministry of Justice in January 1919 and continued his career in the judiciary, becoming an attorney general in Paris. He died on November 24, 1948.
Source: Department archives of Haute-Garonne, class. no ADHG 3160W248, p. 350.
A letter from a former student of the Toulouse Faculty of Law, Henri Lescure, contained in the file of Joseph Chal (1887-1914), which brings to the attention of Dean Hauriou the death of two students - Chal and Louis Salgues (1883-1914). The information was thus circulated among former faculty members. It provides information about their university education in Toulouse.
Transcription : « M. M. Le Livre d’or de La Faculté de Droit [ajouté : de Toulouse] s’allonge de plus en plus et déjà bien des noms y sont couchés. Aucun ne nous était plus cher que celui d’Abel Muratet. Il nous rappelait beaucoup plus qu’un bon élève brillant. Il nous rappelait le charme de la jeunesse car si un enfant jamais un adolescent eût du charme, de la séduction et, autour de lui, comme une atmosphère d’affectueuse sympathie, c’est bien celui-là. Si la mort l’eût traîtreusement atteint en pleine paix, nous eussions célébré ses succès scolaires et nous eussions dit la perte que faisaient en lui les carrières juridiques. Mais que sont signifient les carrières devant une implacable guerre qui couche pêle-mêle dans la fosse des hommes de tous les métiers, de toutes les professions, de tous les ministères, de toutes les vocations ! Voilà que l’étudiant en droit, l’avocat, l’avoué, le notaire accomplissent leur sacrifice à côté du médecin, du prêtre, de l’instituteur, de l’ouvrier, du laboureur ! Il n’y a plus de professions, puisqu’elles sont toutes confondues devant la patrie comme devant la mort. Abel Muratet, ce dont la Faculté de Droit est fière, au même titre que tes vos parents qui pleurent, c’est d’avoir fait de toi [surchargé : vous] un Français ! Tu as Vous avez exprimé le meilleur de toi vous-même, le fond de ton votre cœur dans tes [surchargé : vos] gestes de soldat, tu as [surchargé : Vous avez] été l’un des « Saints de France » tu vivras [surchargé : vous vivrez] dans notre légende dorée ! [Ajouté d’un seul trait de plume, de la main du doyen Hauriou] Étudiant Muratet ! Adjudant Muratet ! Votre âme à qui nous adressons notre adieu, ne se souvient plus des tristes livres, elle s’élance dans les plis glorieux du drapeau ! C’est de là qu’avec les âmes des autres martyrs elle nous écoute en frémissant ; Les trois couleurs en sont vivifiées et de leur déploiement descend sur nous une consolation et une paix parce que votre sacrifice nous a mérité la victoire. Adieu, cher enfant et merci ! »
Source: Department archives of Haute-Garonne, class. no ADHG 3160W247, p. 296-299.Digitalized document available here.
This letter is the only testimony preserved in the files of students gathered by the Faculty of Law of Toulouse for the making of the Golden Book. On July 12, 1917, writing to Dean Hauriou to acknowledge "receipt of the sum of 10 f, subscription 1917-18 to the Echo du Boyau" and to thank him "on behalf [...] of the entire editorial staff", he gives an overview of the internal and external situation: effects of the entry of the United States into the war on the morale of the French, allusions to the mutinies of soldiers refusing to go to the line after the catastrophic Nivelle offensive, strike movements and demonstrations in the rear, supposedly running out of steam in the German offensive spirit, Russian revolution and military collapse.
Source: National archives, class. no AJ/16/1799.
Transcription : « "Monsieur le Doyen, En mon dépot de Langres où, blessé une première fois, j'attends mon départ, j'ai lu dans "l'Echo de Paris" l'adresse de nos jeunes camarades les étudiants en droit de la "Revanche" Vous permettrez bien qu'à mon tour et au nom de quelques anciens étudiants de la Faculté de Paris je me joigne à leur protestation. Nous aussi, ceux qui sommes sous les drapeaux nous nous somme indignés en voyant nos ennemis fouler aux pieds les principes les plus sacrés du droit, tant de cynisme nous a revoltés et nous avons puisé dans notre indignation même une force nouvelle. Ne combattons nous pas pour la France et pour notre idéal ? Gens de loi de demain nous étions destinés à défendre le droit, nous sommes dans notre rôle, nous le d"fendons par les armes contre la plus monstrueuse des attaques Voilà ce que nous tenions à vous dire, Monsieur le Doyen, et ce que vous pouvez répéter en notre nom à ceux qui nous ont remplacé sur les bancs des amphithéâtres. Nous sommes de cœur avec eux. Ce fut toujours l'honneur de la Faculté de Droit de Paris d'être à la tête de tous les mouvements patriotiques ; elle identifiait la France et la civilisation. Jamais elle n'a manqué à sa tache et quand est venue la guerre tous ses étudiants ont répondu : Présent ! Comme il serait glorieux le livre où seraient inscrits en lettres de sang les noms de ceux d'entre nous qui ont déjà donné leur vie pour la Patrie et la Justice Les étudiants de "la Revanche" ont continué la tradition ; nous les en remercions profondément et c'est pour témoigner de notre gratitude que mes camarades ont décidé de joindre notre protestation à la leur. Veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Doyen l'hommage de nos sentiments respectueux. Signé Léon Julia." La faculté charge Mr le Doyen de répondre à Mr Julia dont la lettre sera insérée au procès-verbal de la séance. »
Source: La Contemporaine, class. no VAL 354/046.
Source: La Contemporaine, class. no VAL 354/048.
Source: Cujas library, class. no ARCHIVES 292-4.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Source: La Contemporaine, class. no VAL 385/076.
Source Ville de Paris / BHVP / Roger-Viollet, cote 1-AFF-001030.
Non-mobilised students of French Faculties of Law also took part in the war effort. This is an example, with the organization of an event at the Trocadero in support of war victims.
Source: Royal Library of Belgium
Another example of student mobilization in the rear, this time with Belgian students exiled in Paris who organized a fair to raise funds for their wounded countrymen.
Source: www.babordnum.fr / Digital library of the Universities of Bordeaux
Digitalized document available here.
Source: private collection
Another consequence of the influx of female students in the faculties is the multiplication of the houses for female students which are born in the various university cities of province. This photograph shows the one in Bordeaux created in 1932.
The case of foreign students
Source: Toulouse-Rosalis city library, class. no P5279.
Announcement of a rugby match in Toulouse between a team of foreign students and a team of French students.
Source: National archives, class. no AJ/16/1799.Digitalized document available here.
These reports show us the reflection carried out on the academic regime of foreign students, revealing a will to propose an adapted and attractive curriculum without devaluing it.
Source: Cujas library, class. no 51.178-18.
For the use of these Serbian students and high school pupils spread out in various French cities, the Franco-Serbian Committee published from 1916 to 1918 a magazine entitled La Patrie serbe which published articles on the history and ethnology of Serbia, tales, short stories, poems, as well as information on Serbian groups in France and tributes to French supporters and friends of Serbia.
Source: Cujas library, class. no 51.178-18.
Source: Cujas library, class. no 51.178-18.
Law students in battle
Source: Department archives of Rhône, class. no 1RP 1196.
Source: City archives of Lyon, Paul Lintier Funds, class. no 28 II6 and 28 II7
On March 15, 1916 Paul Lintier was killed by a shrapnel. Although they did not have the success of those of Dorgelès, Barbusse or Genevoix, his works made him a noted writer.
In Lyon, a street bears his name.
Source: numelyo.bm-lyon.fr / City library of LyonDigitalized document available here.
Ma pièce is the instantaneous account of the war lived by Paul Lintier within the 44th field artillery regiment where he was posted. Published the day after his death, the book was selected for the Goncourt prize, which that year would crown another war book: Le feu by Henri Barbusse. Nevertheless, Paul Lintier's literary skills and the strength of his testimony were recognized by his peers, the book was awarded the Montyon Prize of the French Academy. In the preface of the work, writer Edmond Haraucourt expressed himself in these terms: "No literature, no fiction, no eloquence, no lyricism but a perpetual accent of truth, a grandiose simplicity".
Spanish translation of Ma piece.
Source: Private archives
When the book was published, Marcel Audibert wrote in Le Crapouillot: "It forms with Ma Pièce an admirable diptych… In Ma Pièce one found a lovely youthful enthusiasm... Le Tube 1233 is a heavier book, far heavier..." This weight can be found in this page of Le Tube 1233, dated January 8, 1916, violently critical of both civilian and military authorities. It was cut for publication.
Transcription :« Bélivier était un beau soldat. On eut dit qu’il se croyait invulnérable. Mais peut-être cette insouciance sous le danger n’était-elle que l’effet d’une maîtrise parfaite de soi. Et voilà. Quinze mois de danger sans la moindre écorchure et la mort foudroyante, ce soir. Ah, est-ce qu’elle ne finira pas cette boucherie ? Nous en sommes tous las, terriblement las. Et puis de terribles rancœurs s’amassent. Si nous n’avons pas la victoire après tout ce courage, tant de misères consenties, c’est que nous avons été gouvernés par des incapables. Depuis un an les alliés se sont heurtés aux fronts ennemis avec une incroyable incoordination. Et chez nous ! Peut-on admettre que la responsabilité des gouvernants soit autre qu’une responsabilité capitale ! Les hommes qui décident de nos vies, s’ils se sont montrés incapables, tranquillement vont planter [...] »
Transcription :« [...] leurs choux ! Planter leurs choux ! Nos pères agissaient autrement et ils eurent d’autres hommes. Au lieu de perspectives horticoles, ils faisaient voir aux hommes qui prenaient dans leurs mains les destinées de la République, la grande ombre de la guillotine. Certes nos gouvernants sont des hommes de bonne volonté. Comme on dit, ils font leur possible. Mais il faudrait que l’angoisse du définitif les décidât précisément à faire l’impossible, qu’ils aient du génie ou qu’ils meurent. Oui, quand nous reviendrons, nous parlerons haut. Nous ferons taire les eunuques. Il faudra qu’on nous dise pourquoi c’est en juin 1915 qu’on découvrit qu’il fallait des canons et des munitions. Il faudra qu’on nous explique cette expédition d’Orient, cette lamentable expédition d’Orient, cette boucherie. Nous saurons si elle est le fait de traitres ou d’imbéciles. Et les uns comme les autres sont dignes de mourir ! »
Source: Le Temps online https://www.letempsarchives.ch/
Here is an article from the Gazette de Lausanne of December 17, 1917, in which the literary columnist Virgile Rossel pays a vibrant tribute to Paul Lintier, whose tragic fate he laments. He gives a laudatory presentation of his work and of the literary qualities of the young author, who was able to render the horror of the war in sobriety and poetry.
Source: Department archives of Rhône
The eldest son of Professor Edouard Lambert, René Lambert was a student at the Faculty of Law in Lyon when he was called up for military service in 1916. Like his cousin, Paul Lintier, and many of his comrades, he did not return. In June 1918, he was reported missing.His diaries, in which he recorded his experience of the war, as well as his correspondence, constitute an enlightening testimony on the experience of students in the army. Excerpts from these books follow this portrait.
Source: private archives of the Lambert family, currently being sent to the Department archives of Rhône.
The excerpt from René Lambert's notebook followed by his letter to his parents is a representative testimony of what some student soldiers felt during the war.Condemning the embellishing speeches of those who stayed behind, René Lambert depicts the sad reality of his daily life in the army. In addition to suffering from the harshness of the conditions and the dullness of his daily tasks, his social difference seems to isolate him. His law books and his exams, like a link connecting him to his civilian and intellectual life of which he is nostalgic, are the only things that animate him.
Transcription : « … Romain, 14 novembre (1916) Je rentre aujourd’hui de permission. Ce n’est pas très amusant, surtout que je ne regrette pas le mauvais emploi de ma permission. Comme mes parents ont été rudement surpris de me voir ! Je les avais bien prévenu que je ne tarderais pas à aller en permission, mais je ne leur avais pas écrit le jour de mon apparition. Mon frère l’avait dit, le matin de mon arrivée, que je m’amènerai probablement le soir. Personne n’avait attaché d’importance à cette prophétie. C’est court, neuf jours de permission. On a juste le temps de goûter à ses anciens plaisirs, de se retremper dans la vie familiale. Mais on n’ose pas s’y habituer : on a l’impression que c’est trop instable. On se sent comme en voyage. D’ailleurs à Lyon, je ne retrouve aucun de mes anciens camarades. La rue de la République que j’aimais tant faire auparavant n’offre pour moi aucun intérêt. Les premiers jours, je n’y retrouve aucune figure connue, comme à la Faculté, à l’A.G. (Association générale des Etudiants), les types que je rencontre sont pour moi presque tous des inconnus. Je suis très heureux d’avoir rencontré un type que j’avais un peu connu au lycée ; Crozier, à l’heure actuelle aspirant au 133e d’infanterie. Nous causons avec lui des anciens camarades. C’est avec un peu de regret que nous constatons qu’ils sont presque tous embusqués. Ce qui est triste, c’est la mentalité des gens que la guerre n’atteint ni dans leurs intérêts, ni dans leurs affections. Une dame qui dînait l’autre jour à la maison ne nous a-t-elle pas servi cette phrase...[...] »
Source: private archives of the Lambert family, currently being sent to the Department archives of Rhône.
Transcription : « [...] « c’est curieux, notre ami P… qui est dans les automobiles a dit qu’il y avait des fantassins qui étaient très heureux d’être dans les tranchées. » Il est malheureux que les boniments des bourreurs de crâne à la Barrès prennent de cette façon. Les gens de l’intérieur se font trop souvent une idée absolument extraordinaire de la guerre. Je lui ai répondu que si la guerre durait, c’était la faute aux fantassins qui ne s’étaient jamais trouvés aussi heureux. Ce n’était pas très fort. Je ne sais pas si elle a compris. Mes derniers jours de permissionnaire se sont passés à faire des ballades (sic) avec ma marraine d’élection. Malheureusement, lundi matin il m’a fallu partir. C’est triste. Mes parents sont venus m’accompagner jusqu’à la gare. Mais je les ai prié de partir avant. C’est vraiment trop long et trop triste, ces adieux. Il vaut mieux brusquer un peu. Puis ça et le voyage de retour dans le train de permissionnaires, plein mais bien morne. Je n’ai songé durant tout le voyage qu’à me faire évacuer et le plus tôt possible. C’est bête de ne pas réagir plus fort. Seveux, la gare régulatrice, me rappelle déjà le front avec sa tour, ses baraques en bois où l’on débite du mauvais vin et diverses saletés comestibles. A Bayon, le cafard devient intense. On débarque à deux heures. Il bruine. Rien n’est ouvert, pas un café, pas un cantonnement. Pour attendre le matin, je me couche sur la banquette d’un camion. Il fait froid. 18 novembre Vraiment, j’ai toujours un peu le cafard. D’ailleurs, ce n’est pas la vie véritablement abrutissante que nous menons ici qui pourrait me le faire passer. Je n’ai en particulier rien à faire comme fourrier. Je suis resté ici soi-disant pour me mettre au courant ; en réalité je passe mes journées à écrire, à (un mot illisible) et à fumer d’innombrables cigarettes. Je me mets à boire du vin, sans grand plaisir d’ailleurs, mais j’y suis obligé pour ne pas me distinguer. C’est l’abrutissement presque complet. »
Transcription : « Le 25 janvier 1918 Mes chers parents, Ma vie aux tranchées est heureusement si calme que je n’ai absolument rien à vous raconter. Le communiqué météorologique est excellent pour aujourd’hui : beau temps sur toute la ligne, on dirait une journée de printemps. Avec cela la nuit un splendide clair de lune qui facilite le travail. Les Boches d’autre part sont très calmes et n’envoient guère de projectiles qu’en arrière : cela permet de sortir dans le boyau et de respirer un peu. Car l’air de la sape est infect. L’eau qui tombe du toit a délayé la terre du fond en une vase infecte qui pue horriblement : ajoutez à cela 40 hommes qui vivent là-dedans et vous pouvez avoir une idée du parfum qui s’exhale : c’est loin de valoir ceux de Cotty (sic) ou de Bichara.[...] »
Source: private archives of the Lambert family, currently being sent to the Department archives of Rhône.
Transcription :« [...] J’ai presque fini l’étude de mon bouquin de droit civil. J’espère en être quitte à la fin du mois. Malheureusement, s’il se passe encore longtemps avant que je ne puisse me présenter à l’examen, et surtout si cette période est assez agitée, j’ai bien peur qu’il me faille une sérieuse révision avant de pouvoir me présenter. J’espère avoir mon bouquin de droit romain lorsque je serai au repos, comme cela je pourrai immédiatement l’entamer. J’ai reçu le Casanova et aussi le pâté de foie gras auquel j’ai déjà presque achevé de faire un sort. Merci bien. Bons baisers à tous, René Lambert »
Source: private collection
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France. Digitalized document available here.
Karl Le Coq de Kerland and Marius Ambrogi met during the war in the N90 squadron. The first one totalling 7 victories and the second one 14, both men reached the status of "Aces" of the French aviation. They are presented here in 1919 on the front page of the weekly magazine La Vie Aérienne which, like many other titles, attests to the popularity enjoyed by these knights of the air from the beginning of the conflict. Almost indecently, the newspaper's caption notes, "The signing of the armistice stopped them in their glory.".
Source Archives of the Université catholique de Louvain
Paul Demeur (1892-1973), a law student who volunteered in 1914, completed part of his studies by sitting the central jury examinations organized in June and September 1918 in Le Havre by the Ministry of Science and the Arts. He completed his studies at the University of Liège. After graduating in 1919, he became a member of the Brussels bar, and then a member of the Cour de Cassation. A professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, he taught commercial law and maritime law.,
Source: Archives of the publisher Larcier. Digitized documentavailable here.
Invited by the editorial board of the Journal des Tribunaux in October 1964, Paul Demeur wrote, from memory, an account of his four years at war. A law student and war volunteer from August 1914, he was assigned to the heavy artillery, known as the “fortress artillery”. After taking refuge in the Netherlands following the capture of Antwerp, he volunteered once again and joined the battlefront. He was posted to the 24th heavy artillery Regiment. In his diary, he described his daily life as a soldier and his encounters with those who were to become his fellow lawyers after the war, as well as the magistrates with whom he would later work at the Palais de Justice in Brussels.
Source: archives of the publisher Larcier. Digitized document available here.
Belgian War Dead Register. War Heritage Institute. Digitized document available here.
Joseph Basyn, born in Bruges on August 14, 1891, is the second son of the lawyer Arthur Basyn, and begins studying law at the Catholic University of Louvain before the war. In his second year of doctoral studies when the war breaks out, he enlists in the Belgian army. His younger brother, Jacques Basyn (1901-1982), will also study law, and in 1945 become Minister for War Damages.
Belgian War Dead Register. War Heritage Institute. Digitized document available here.
For many students at Belgian universities, the invasion of the country puts a stop to their studies. Being eligible for mobilization, most join the army. Joseph Basyn is assigned as a second lieutenant to the 4th Regiment of the Line. He is killed on July 9, 1915 on the Yser, near the Maison du Passeur, by shrapnel while defending his front-line position. During the conflict, he is made a knight of the Order of Leopold and awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Yser medal.
Source Belgian War Dead Register. War Heritage Institute. Digitized document available here.
Joseph Basyn is one of 114 Belgian law students who died during the war. All of them have a record attributed to the Service Sépultures militaires, which in itself is the first step towards the maintenance of memory by the living. The case presented here is a representative example of the deployment of the post-war memorial system: tombstone, name inscribed on a monument, in a book of remembrance, and so on.
American student soldiers
Source: Common documentation service of Toulouse-1-Capitole University, bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, class. no Res 400532.
In 1919, the University of Toulouse welcomed 1,200 American soldiers at the initiative of the American University Union and the Young Men's Christian Association in conjunction with the National Office of French Universities and Schools. On March 19, they published the first issue of their newspaper. It was a great success. Its circulation quickly exceeded the number of American students present in the city and the strong increase in printed copies suggested the wide reception of such a publication. Thus the third issue was published with 4000 copies and the last issues with 15000 copies. The publication ended with the 14th issue on June 30, 1919.
Source: Common documentation service of Toulouse-1-Capitole University, bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, class. no Res 400532.
This issue mixes articles in English and French, including a "history of America since its foundation". It reports on the activities of the student soldiers who visited the South of France (Lourdes). The rector of the university, Jacques Cavalier (1914-1922), specified in the first issue of the newspaper that this university visit should also allow the discovery of France and its inhabitants.
Source: Common documentation service of Toulouse-1-Capitole University, bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, class. no Res 400532.
This issue contains a reproduction of President Woodrow Wilson's April 23, 1919 speech to the Paris Peace Conference defining "the world's right to peace".
Source: Common documentation service of Toulouse-1-Capitole University, bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, class. no Res 400532.
The front page of the newspaper represents the Republic saluting and thanking an American soldier. As in the other issues, there are literary columns, sports columns, general information, reports of excursions and drawings.
Source: Common documentation service of Toulouse-1-Capitole University, bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, class. no Res 400532.
The rector of the University of Toulouse, Jacques Cavalier (1914-1922), at the time of the reception of the student soldiers, had expressed the wish for a "more continuous [academic] collaboration" between the two countries. The last issue of the newspaper, published on June 30, 1919, featured the Statue of Liberty on its cover as a symbol of the Franco-American relationship. It contains a portrait of Dean Hauriou as well as the names and photos of the Americans (including those at the Faculty of Law) who stayed in Toulouse for nearly three months..
Source: National archives, class. no AJ/16/1799.
The Parisian law school also welcomed American student soldiers. This report of the faculty assembly is one of the first documents to mention their arrival.
Transcription : « M. le Doyen fait connaître à l'Assemblée qu'il a répondu à la lettre de M. le Recteur relative à un projet de cours qui seraient faits en anglais, pour les étudiants américains, qu'il n'était pas possible d'organiser des cours de ce genre à la Faculté mais qu'il pourrait y avoir des conférences faites en français, avec explications en anglais. MM. Bourcart, Lévy-Ullmann, de Lapradelle, Collinet, seraient en mesure, la cas échéant, de faire des conférences de ce genre.
En ce qui concerne l'arrivée des étudiants étrangers à la Faculté, M. le Doyen pense qu'il faudra organiser des patronages à leur intention.
On devra s'occuper des étrangers plus qu'on ne l'a fait jusqu'à ce jour. Au sujet des cours-conférences projetés sur la législation de la guerre »
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.Digitalized document available here.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.Digitalized document available here.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.Digitalized document available here.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
The daily press also echoed this new Franco-American friendship. Here is an example with this article on a party organized by the Paris Student Association in honor of American students. Several personalities such as Ferdinand Larnaude were present at this event.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
The student prisoners
Of the millions of soldiers who were taken prisoner during the First World War, a significant proportion were students, either mobilised or voluntarily enlisted. Quite early in the war, and right up to its end, various forms of aid were put in place to provide them with both intellectual and material assistance.
Source: Royal Library of Belgium
Among the first to try to organize help for student prisoners were their families, but also their fellow students. An example here from the spring of 1915 with steps taken by students of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Source: National archives, class. no AJ/16/2589.
The University of Paris, after requests from French students imprisoned in Germany, entered into negotiations with Swiss universities to set up a form of moral and intellectual patronage and material assistance. This support allowed the student prisoners to consider pursuing their studies, insofar as was compatible with their situation. It continued throughout the war. The deliberation presented here marks a fundamental step in the construction of this assistance with the establishment of the Œuvre universitaire des étudiants prisonniers de guerre. Organized into committees, the Paris committee was chaired by the dean of the Faculty of Law, Ferdinand Larnaude, who was entrusted with organizing relations with the various Swiss committees.
Source: National archives, class. no AJ/16/2589.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Œuvre universitaire des étudiants prisonniers de guerre was definitively constituted on December 19, 1915, and was organized as follows: the Paris committee received from the Swiss the lists of requests for books collected in the German camps, and sent these books to the Swiss committees, which were responsible for forwarding them to the prisoners. To ensure this mission, an appeal for donations, in the form of subscriptions or book shipments, was launched to support the association. We find an example here.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Legally considered prisoners, the internees in Switzerland were those "lesser wounded" whose condition could be improved by a stay in Switzerland. To combat their idleness, they were invited to find an activity. To this end, Swiss universities open their doors to interested students, provided they can prove their academic background. This article by Antoine Rougier, professor at the Lausanne Faculty of Law, presents the measures taken by Swiss universities for interned students in order to facilitate the completion of their studies and the recognition of their training. Thus, in 1918, the University of Lausanne was able to offer French internees a complete cycle of courses for the three-year law degree, thanks to equivalences and the organization of teaching and examinations in accordance with the French program.
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Since 1915, the Œuvre universitaire had already spent 60,000 francs on the transport of 20,000 books. In 1918, it continued its efforts to support student prisoners in Germany and in March launched a new appeal for donations in the press, an illustration of which can be found here.
Source: Royal library of Belgium
This article relates Octave Maus' speech, attaché to the Belgian Legation, at a ceremony before the departure from Switzerland of a contingent of Belgian and French students, who were taken in while interned there. Expressing his fervent gratitude, Maus expressed the hope that these exchanges, forged during the war, could augur new relations between universities once peace returned.
Source: Royal library of Belgium
Demobilization : a legal framework and questions
Source: Royal Library of Belgium
In Belgium, too, the question of the organization of studies after the war, accentuated by the closure of the universities since 1914, was an important concern. This article from December 1918 outlines the content of the bill intended to respond to this. As in France, the main objective was to allow students to make up for the time of the war, and thus to be able to obtain their diplomas more quickly, essentially by adding an examination session. However, the programs were not affected.
Source: Royal Library of Belgium
But not everyone shares Mr. Duramé's preceding article's point of view. From Le Havre, where the Belgian government had taken refuge, the daily newspaper Le XXe siècle relayed the questions of a reader, a student at the front, about the condition of students when the war ended. The interruption of university education was a personal concern, but it was above all the question of the future of Belgium as a country that was raised. The condition of student soldiers was contrasted with that of those who remained in the country during the occupation. The reader denounces, without naming them, a generation of young people who have "benefited from the suffering of their former comrades" and who will be the only ones to have the necessary skills once the conflict is over to constitute the new elite of the Belgian nation.
Source: Royal Library of Belgium
This differentiation between students who stayed behind and former soldiers could even lead to moments of tension, as shown in this report of a meeting of Belgian students in Brussels on the eve of the reopening of universities in the country. A motion was first voted on behalf of all the students, before a student who had returned from the front intervened to denounce the legitimacy of this vote. It was finally decided to postpone any decision until all the students still serving in the military returned.