World history: The exhibition, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Russian Special teams in France during the First World War, in Saint-Petersburg

The exhibition "Through the seas and oceans in France / Russian Special teams in 1916-1918" is opened on July 14, 2016 at the State Museum of Urban Sculpture (St. Petersburg).

The exhibition is timed to the centennial anniversary of the arrival of Russian troops in France and their participation in the fighting on the Western Front of the First World War.

Russian expeditionary force - the general name of four Russian special infantry brigades sent to the French and Macedonian fronts. The establishment of such units was discussed by Russian and French government more since 1915. Fulfilling allied duty, Russian government formed infantry brigades (about 10 thousand people in each), the French, in turn, pledged to take responsibility for their transportation and equipment. Throughout Russia, on the train to the Japanese city of Dairen (now Dalian) and from there by ship, several seas and oceans, having overcome the way of 19 000 miles on April 20, 1916, Russian soldiers of the first brigade arrived in Marseille. July 14 Russian troops paraded through Paris.

Visitors of the exhibition will get acquainted with the history of Russian teams on the French front and will be able to see the original items of equipment and uniforms of Russian and French armies, weapons, items, documents photographs. The electronic form will present two rare albums, released in France during the war, and telling of the journey ("Through the seas and oceans to France") and the life of soldiers at the front ("Life of Russian troops in France, 1916-1919"). A special place at the exhibition will take exhibits from the family archives of the descendants of Russian soldiers in France.  

The exhibition was prepared in collaboration with the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad with the participation of private collectors and the descendants of the soldiers of the expeditionary corps.