France

It is the year 1914 and Europe is fighting on the battlefields. The French army is recruiting soldiers to defend their country and in the French village of Cholet the entirety of the local football team is summoned to fight in the trenches of the First World War. A group of collège students from Cholet delved into the story of the young men of whom very few should return home and dedicated their contribution to the French EUSTORY competition to the men’s story.

At the Award Ceremony in the Alsace they were awarded a first prize. The ceremony took place in a very historic place, at the Mémorial de l’Alsace-Moselle. In the presence of the jury, the prize winners in the two age groups ‘collèges’ and ‘lycées’ received their awards and were invited to a guided tour through the memorial’s exhibition led by its director Barbara Hesse.

"Europe on the Battlefields – the Legacy of World War I for us Today" was the topic of the 2014/2015 EUSTORY competition in France. The students worked on the impact of the First World War on their region and the stories of the local people. They presented their results in different formats, ranging from a virtual guide of Québec, to a museum exhibition and a radio show. The prize winning collèges students from Nantes presented their findings on the gruesome war experience of the football team Club Olympique Choletais in an e-book. The jury praised their research efforts into the individual fates of the men and acknowledged the hard work that each student had put into their competition entry.

Out of the eleven contributions that were submitted the jury selected five prize winners who were presented their prizes during the ceremony in June. In each category the two First Prize winners received prize-money amounting to 1000€, with the three Second Prize winners being given 500 € each.