A cultural ambition
For the Ardennes departmental council, the Museum needs to become an entry point for accessing the memorial sites across the department.
The museum’s originality and distinguishing characteristic lies in the fact that it covers three major conflicts, whereas museums covering the history of contemporary wars very often focus on one conflict only.
The Museum therefore offers an account of the historical events that occurred in the Ardennes, an account that can be extended by the discovery of the “traces” that these conflicts have left on the land.
The Museum aims to share this history and related scientific studies with an extensive contemporary public from France and abroad, as well as teaching of military and social knowledge of the period and commemorating combatants and the honour for their country felt by those who fell.
A refurbished building and an updated museography
In 2003 a new building was created to house the museum in Novion-Porcien. It is situated 7 kilometres from the A34 motorway, halfway between the major towns of Charleville-Mézières and Reims.
Works have been undertaken to improve accessibility to the site and to offer an updated museography that better highlights the extensive diversity of the collections. These collections now include more than 14,000 objects (heavy equipment and machinery, uniforms and headwear, individual and collective arms, objects from daily life, iconographic and documentary resources…)
The new generation Guerre et Paix museum therefore plans to position the history of Ardennes within its general, national and international context to create an overview of all the relevant interactions and to further better understanding of these three conflicts.
History will be present throughout, from 1852 to 1945, in order to grasp fully the sequence of events over the time period in question and the notions of stability and disruption.
This information will be looked at in more detail with a multi-faceted presentation of the history of the wars, including the military, political and diplomatic aspects as well as the economic, technical, social and cultural elements.