The Great War, as we call it, was the first globalized conflict in world history, leading numerous countries with intertwined destinies into the grip of war. Following the Industrial Revolution, France and Europe consolidated their domination over the rest of the world with their African and Asian colonies; meanwhile, tensions were growing amongst the colonial empires after the 1870 defeat of France against Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, leading to the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. The spark came in the summer of 1914 from Eastern Europe with the assassination in Serbia of Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, bringing Europe and the world into a 4-year bloodbath.

We will take a closer look at the French perspective on these dark events, from the implication of colonized peoples (like the Senegalese Tirailleurs), through famous battles and turning points (the trenches, la Somme, Verdun), to French life in and out of the bloody Western Front (letters from the Poilus, the 1914 Christmas Truce, the emancipation of French women entering the workforce).

This workshop is the second session of our Histoire de France Series. To see the full program, click here.

About your host:

Born and raised in the southwest of France, Keveen quickly relocated to Paris to pursue his passion for music. After teaching French and English in Peru, he settled in LA in 2011. He works as a language and music tutor and is also a touring musician and fixture on the LA music scene, playing in several local bands (CARRÉ, Dream Phases, Low Hum, Jane Machine, The Entire Universe).

THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE HELD ONLINE VIA ZOOM.
TAUGHT IN FRENCH, FOR LEVEL 5 AND ABOVE. IF YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY ENROLLED WITH US, SIMPLY TAKE OUR PLACEMENT TEST HERE TO DETERMINE YOUR LEVEL.