les jeunes historiens ont la parole - Centre for Historical Research ...

Jef ARTOIS
(KULeuven)
Studiedag voor jonge historici – Eerste Wereldoorlog – Tweede Wereldoorlog
Journée d’étude “jeunes historiens” – Première Guerre mondiale – Seconde Guerre mondiale
Between Congress Column and Yser Tower.
Armistice commemoration in Belgian newspapers (1920-2011)
This dissertation examines the evolution of the Belgian commemoration of the First World War
from 1920 until 2011. It tries to outline and compare the evolution of three different
commemorations: the Belgian-national, the Flemish and the Francophone. This has been achieved
through a comparative press study for which several Flemish and Francophone newspapers of
different ideological tendencies have been selected. These newspapers have been studied in
specific years (1920, 1930, 1950, 1968, 1980, 1993, 2010-2011) in the period around Armistice
Day. The goal was to examine which form the commemoration assumed in the press but also how
it varied in different newspapers. The focus lied especially on the comparison between Flemish
and Francophone press.
The research revealed that the Francophone press brought an exclusively Belgian-national
commemoration, while in the Flemish press there was both a Belgian-national and a Flemish
commemoration present. At first these two stood together but in process of time the Flemish press
moved further away from the Belgian-national commemoration and brought mostly a Flemish
commemoration. On the other hand, the Francophone press held on to the Belgian-national
commemoration and didn’t develop a Francophone commemoration. The main success of the
Belgian-national commemoration was that it could actualize itself throughout the years. For
example, it successfully integrated the experience of the Second World War. Today it seems to
have lost this skill of actualization, because its patriotic rhetoric conflicts with the pacifism and
contemporary democratic values that are associated with Armistice Day nowadays. This is the
result of a longstanding tension between heroism and mourning that has always been present. The
Flemish commemoration seems to have adapted better here because it always associated itself
with pacifism more clearly. When the Belgian-national commemoration doesn’t suffice anymore
for the Francophone press, it will realize that it has no regional commemoration left like the
Flemish press has. In anticipation of the centenary 2014-2018 the Francophone press will
probably seek a ‘Francophone’ commemoration, without completely abandoning the Belgiannational
one.
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