Like the European societies whose lives were disrupted by the First World War, higher education institutions were caught up in the fray of a conflict that involved not only men but also ideas and a culture that had to be defended. Law schools answered the call. They mobilized in what was to become for some of its actors nothing less than a “legal war”. It is understood as the expression used by jurists, more particularly the French doctrine that was an actor and heir to the scientific “revival” of the 1880s, having mobilized values and ideas (liberty, equality, individualism, etc.) to defend and promote a legal model opposed to the force and the “might makes right” mindset of the German enemy. However, the expression is not specific to jurists. It is of interest to other groups within French society and is also used outside of legal writings. A slogan for many, this legal war more specifically conveys an individual and collective commitment of jurists to the law as opposed to violence. As such, it should not be reduced to a simple manifestation of the “war culture” of jurists, according to the meaning given by S. Audoin-Rouzeau and A. Becker to this debated expression.
The ambition of this virtual exhibition is to grasp and understand the Great War through a community of jurists and their ideas within law schools. In relation to this specific medium, it participates in a renewed reflection on the First World War and the law, and more broadly, on a moment of French legal science in its European environment in the late 19th and early 20th. This exhibition proposes to focus on these institutions in the Great War, on the men involved in the conflict (students and professors), on their mobilization in the legal war as well as on their commitment to remembrance and to peace reconstruction. Through the cumulative possibilities offered by digital technology, this exhibition is also a call for contributions, in order to extend the presentation of the involvement of Faculties on the Legal Front to other law schools (see Call for collaborations).
This exhibition has obtained the label of the Centennial Mission, as have several other scientific activities carried out by the Toulouse Center for the History of Law and Political Ideas of the University of Toulouse-1-Capitole, with a book (O. Devaux and F. Garnier, Ceux de la faculté : des juristes toulousains dans la Grande Guerre, coll. “Étude d’histoire du droit et des idées politiques”, n° 24, Toulouse, 2017, 572 p.), an exhibition at the Arsenal Library in Toulouse (La faculté de droit de Toulouse pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Des juristes mobilisés, October-November 2018) and a series of 7 conferences : Sur le front du droit. Des juristes européens et américains pendant la Première Guerre mondiale (October 16 to November 19, 2018).
This exhibition has been selected in the framework of the CollEx-Persée 2020 call for projects.
Curatorship
Anne-Sophie Chambost, university professor at Jean Monnet University – Saint-Étienne (UMR 5137).
Florent Garnier, university professor at Toulouse 1 Capitole University, Toulousian Legal and Political History Center (EA 789).
Alexandra Gottely, head librarian, Cujas Library
Graphic design and webmastering
Alexandra Gottely, Head of the Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Nancy Raad, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Gwénaël Collet, IT department, Cujas Library
Iconographic research
Alexandra Gottely, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Nancy Raad, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
David Johanny, Purchases department, Cujas Library
Julien Mosca, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Geoffrey Haraux, Lille University Library
Pauline Bigiarini, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Julie Haslé, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Mégane Delporte, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Brice Prince, Legal History and Law Anthropology Center (Free University of Brussels)
Proofreading and titles
Nancy Raad, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Julien Mosca, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Sidonie Vicet, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Pauline Bigiarini, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Julie Haslé, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Digitization and photography
Nancy Raad, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Sandrine Limandri, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Amadou Cissé, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
David Johanny,Purchases department, Cujas Library
German translation
Benjamin Bernard, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Alexandra Gottely, Partnerships and Research support department, Cujas Library
Traduction anglaise
Léa Fréville, Heritage and Digitization department, Cujas Library
Emmanuelle Busignies, Partnerships and Research support department, Cujas Library
Cyrielle Danzin, Partnerships and Research support department, Cujas Library
And the participation of :
Mission Archives, Toulouse Capitole University
Arsenal University Library (SCD Toulouse 1)
Department Archives of Gironde
An exhibition realized with the support of :
The Toulousian Legal and Political Center (EA 789), la Mission centenaire, Cujas University Library, CERCRID UMR 5137 (Science, Innovation and Democracy department), Lille University Library, GIS CollEx-Persée.