Open Air Exhibition: Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris

The Great War began on 4 August 1914.  On the eve of war, the Foreign Sec- retary Sir Edward Grey reportedly said, ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life time’.  On 4 August Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan to capture Paris quickly by attacking through neutral countries.  

Germany declared war on France on 3 August 1914.  As one of the guarantors of Belgian neutrality under the Treaty of London in 1839, Britain declared war on Germany.

An open air exhibition in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, gives a French perspective to the centenary commemoration of the Great War.  

The large map was surr- ounded by photo- graphs of the First World War as well as a time- line of key events.  Visitors could walk on the large map which showed the extent of the German invasion of France, the key battles and the land lost or gained during the course of the conflict.  The allies halted the Germans progression just outside Paris.