History of Russia abroad: Russia and France remember World War I

On June 21 during the official visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to France Paris is launching a solemn opening ceremony of the monument to Russian Expeditionary Corps.

In connection with this event as well as 70th anniversary of Great Patriotic War outbreak, the Historical Perspective Foundation (Moscow) and Institute of Democracy and Cooperation (Paris) are holding commemorative events in the capital city of France.

On June 16 the Center of Russian Language and Culture of the Embassy of Russia in France is hosting a commemorative evening “Forgotten War and Devoted Heroes”, dedicated to Russian Expeditionary Corps.

The program of the evening includes:

Show of the French documentary “From Moscow to Verdun” ("De Moscou à Verdun") and Russian documentary “They sacrificed their lives for France”. Films will be presented by authors – Marcela Feraru and Sergei Zaitsev.

Live and animated discussion of films will attract historians from France, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, staff members of archival agency of the Ministry of Defence of France, which has preserved a large number of materials about the Russian Expeditionary Corps since 1916-1917, descendants of participants of events of those bygone days.

On June 17 the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation (rue de Varenne) held a colloquium of European historians “European safety facing challenges of 20th century”. It addressed the following issues:

- World War I – prologue of the 20th century.

- Eastern front of World War II as a decisive factor in struggle against fascism in Europe.

- “Russian issue” and European security.

The discussion brought together experts from Russia, France, Great Britain, Canada, journalists and public organizations.

Events due on June 21 will be attended by the President of Historical Perspective Foundation (Moscow) and Director of the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation (Paris) N. A. Narochnitskaya, Russian Ambassador to France A. K. Orlov, Director of Russian History Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu. A. Petrov, famous experts in Russian studies Dominic Lieven (Great Britain) and François Coquin (France) and many others.