The Long Silence - Helen McPhail

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Résumé :
The horrors of the Western Front are widely known, but what was life like on 'the other side of the trenches' in World War I? Helen McPhail here shows how the rich agricultural and industrial areas of northern France were invaded by the Germans, then occupied and exploited by them, between the summer of 1914 and the Armistice in November 1918. Factories were stripped, household furniture and fittings requisitioned, food supplies taken, the population mistreated and malnourished and even taken to forced labour camps - the people lived in terror. Starvation loomed and contact with the outside world vanished. Based on original sources, including diaries, letters and journals, this fascinating account describes how - in the struggle to survive - French civilians responded in ways familiar in World War II: escape networks, espionage, producing clandestine newspapers and attempting to help British soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. It provides a unique viewpoint on a forgotten aspect of World War I.

Biographie:
Helen McPhail

Sommaire:
Illustrations
Chronology
Acknowledgements

Introduction
Invasion
Occupation
Food
Requisitions and Regulations
Secrets
'My Girl Guides'
'The Will of the German Authority'
Liberation
Rebuilding

Appendix 1 Industrial and Agricultural Production Lost through German Occupation
Appendix 2 Agricultural Losses
Appendix 3 The Legacy f War
Appendix 4. The Cost of Reparation
Bibliography
Index