100th anniversary of the U.S. entry into WWI on April 6, 1917
- On June 26, 1917, the first American contingents set foot on French soil at Saint-Nazaire. Photo: ecpad.fr
A large number of French-American events are scheduled to take place in France to mark this anniversary, under the auspices of the French Commission for the Centenary of the Great War (Mission du centenaire) (http://centenaire.org/fr/les-etats-unis-dans-la-grande-guerre).
In the United States, the French diplomatic and cultural network has worked tirelessly to contribute to the program of commemoration events (https://fr.franceintheus.org/spip.php?article8046).
The "Patrouille de France" pilots will take part in the centenary ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 6, which will be attended by the ambassador of France to the United States.
The Embassy of France in the United States is jointly hosting a series of events in New York and Washington as part of the program entitled “How 1917 Changed the World.” These centenary events will continue throughout the year, from Boston to Chicago to Atlanta.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is conducting an ambitious project to translate and digitize almost 1,200 letters by Marcel Proust on World War I. The translated texts will be made available to the public in fall 2018.
In the context of French-American academic cooperation, six young researchers specializing in World War I will take part in an academic field trip in order to present their research to their American peers. In return, a selection of American doctoral students, recipients of the Chateaubriand Fellowship award, which will be presented to them in May, will be able to continue their research in France.
These commemorations reflect the deep ties of friendship between France and the United States.