Expiation

image: a French 'poilu' holds a kneeling and defeated Kaiser by the shoulder, the Kaiser's hands tied behind his back and his helmet and broken sword lying on the ground. They stand beside a French 75mm field gun, one of the workhorses of the French artillery of the First World War. Above them, Joan of Arc, a line of French kings and the towers of Rheims cathedral emerge from a cloud of smoke. These were all common symbols used in French First World War imagery, combining themes of religion, history, heroism and patriotic national identity. Rheims cathedral was where many French kings were crowned, the facade a masterpiece of medieval architecture. It was badly damaged during the First World War, an outrage that was exploited in French propaganda.

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