Historial de la Grande Guerre

Historial de la Grande Guerre (the Museum of the Great War) in Peronne, France is dedicated to exploring the social and cultural effects of the First World War.

History of Historial de la Grande Guerre

Based near the site of the Battle of the Somme, Historial de la Grande Guerre offers an in-depth insight into World War I from the perspective of the soldiers who fought in it and the civilians whom it affected.

The Battle of the Somme is remembered as one of the bloodiest events of the First World War. The amount of casualties on the first day alone is astounding, but there were over a million casualties once the battle was through. Made up primarily of a volunteer army, the Battle of the Somme was the largest military offensive that the British Army had launched in 1916.

Historial de la Grande Guerre today

Each room in the Historial de la Grande Guerre is divided into two parts. In the centre of each room are the uniforms of each type of soldier contained in sunken display cases together with weaponry and other relevant pieces.

Each room is then bordered by further displays, themselves divided into three segments to represent the French, English and German forces. Yet, despite the fact that it displays military pieces, Historial de la Grande Guerre does not aim to be a military museum or to commemorate those who died fighting. Instead, its aims are to look at the social effects of the war both on civilians and soldiers.

Historial de la Grande Guerre translates all of its exhibitions into English, French and German and contains tens of monitors showing silent films about the war.

Getting to Historial de la Grande Guerre

The address of the battlfield site and museum at Peronne is Château de Péronne – Place André Audinot 80200 Péronne. The town of Peronne is roughly 60 kilometres from Amiens (45-minute drive) and 50 kilometres from Arras (40-minute drive).