The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier holds an unidentified member of the French armed forces killed during the First World War, to symbolically commemorate all soldiers who have died for France throughout history. It was installed in Paris under the Arc de Triomphe on 11 November 1920, simultaneously with the interment of a British unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey, making both graves the first examples of a tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the first to honour the unknown dead of the First World War.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lays wreath during 70th anniversary VE Day commemoration in Paris, 8 May 2015.
Choosing the Unknown Soldier (reconstruction at Verdun).
Photo from 11 November 1920.
Liberation of Paris
Videos
The liberation of Paris was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Germany since the signing of the Armistice of 22 June 1940, after which the Wehrmacht occupied northern and western France.
Parisians line the Champs Élysées for a parade conducted by the French 2nd Armored Division on 26 August 1944.
A truck painted with the marks of the FFI and the V for Victory
25 August – Armoured vehicles of the 2nd Armored (Leclerc) Division fighting before the Palais Garnier. One German tank is going up in flames.
German soldiers at the Hôtel Majestic, headquarters for the Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich, the German High Military Command in France. They requested that to made prisoner only by the military and surrendered to Battalion Chief Jacques Massu of the 2e DB.