Photo, Print, Drawing Montfaucon Monument, Butte of Montfaucon, Montfaucon, Departement de la Meuse (France), FR Meuse-Argonne Memorial

Title

• Montfaucon Monument, Butte of Montfaucon, Montfaucon, Departement de la Meuse (France), FR

Other Title

• Meuse-Argonne Memorial

Names

• Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
• Pope, John Russell
• Cret, Paul Philippe
• U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA)
• U.S. Department of War
• U.S. American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)
• Noyer, Maurice
• Weinman, Adolph Alexander
• Fratelli Poli
• Baffrey-Hennebique
• Juge, J.
• General Bronze Corporation
• C.G. Peters
• Peters & Erdmann
• Ricci & Zari
• Gorham Company
• H. Rouard
• Ste. des Marbres, Pierres & Granits
• Etablissements Loisel
• Moisant, Laurent & Savey
• Bartoli, Aime
• Certoux, Charles
• Charles Milde & Company
• Delisle, Henry
• G. Fuller & M. Eymenaud
• Greber, Jacques
• Lavoie, Catherine C., historian
• American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), sponsor
• McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

• Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

• -  columns
• -  monuments & memorials
• -  war (World War I)
• -  Neo-Classical architectural elements
• -  architectural sculpture
• -  commemoration
• -  France--Departement De La Meuse (France)--Montfaucon

Latitude / Longitude

• 49.272757,5.141682

Notes

• -  Significance: Montfaucon Monument was built between 1929 and 1933 under the auspices of the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) as the premier monument in Europe commemorating the services of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Its primacy was based on its significance as the general location of the First Army's victory in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, a decisive battle that culminated in the Armistice of November 11, 1918 and Allied victory.The 180' tall Doric Column surmounted by an allegorical figure of Columbia was designed by well-known American classicist architect John Russell Pope.The column has been used since antiquity as a victory and burial monument to honor the most heroic leaders and their military achievements and was thus considered well-suited to the memorialization of the Meuse-Argonne. The monument represents the ABMC's use of classically inspired architectural forms to place America's World War I battle victories within the context of important events in world history. This form is also appropriate to the site in that the surrounding battlefield can be seen and the strategy of the battles more easily understood from the monument's viewing platform. Built on the Butte of Montfaucon, the column form also renders it a readily identifiable component of the commemorative landscape of the Meuse-Argonne. Montfaucon Monument commemorates the extraordinary victory of the American Expeditionary Forces and its allies in the forty-seven-day-long Meuse-Argonne Offensive, from September 26 to November 11, 1918. In the heights of the Meuse-Argonne the Germans had established an integrated zone of formidable defenses extending over ten miles deep. It included a network of railways that facilitated the movement of supplies and troops. The Butte of Montfaucon, which afforded an ideal observation point, was crucial to their operations. American forces advancing north between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest seized this vital location early in their offensive, compromising German forward defenses. The continuing offensive pushed on so deep as to cut supplies to German forces in northwest France and in Belgium, and hastened an end to the war. Remnants of German bunkers and lookouts still surround Montfaucon Monument, as do the ruins of a church that is all that remains of the old village of Montfaucon. The monument rises from these "vestiges de guerre," which are preserved by the French government as an object lesson in the destructive nature of war. Montfaucon Monument was part of a larger program of commemoration created by the ABMC, led by Chairman General John J. Pershing and Consulting Architect Paul Philippe Cret in concert with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The program removed control of military cemeteries and associated structures by the War Department and placed it in the hands of a civilian commission reporting directly to the President. Superseding an initial plan to create a series of tactically located relief maps to convey the complete history of the operations of the American Expeditionary Forces, ABMC's monuments embodied a far more imposing and artistic commemorative scheme. It represented a comprehensive approach to commemoration never before attempted by the federal government. Rather than allow potentially distorted interpretation of events through the unregulated construction of monuments by states, private organizations, and individuals, ABMC created a cohesive government sponsored program, controlling outside projects. It presented the American war effort with an emphasis on national unity and sacrifice. This marked the first major attempt by the federal government to employ architecture as a symbol of international diplomacy abroad, reflecting America's emerging place in the new order of the post-World War I era. The Commission of Fine Arts -which was given final design approval -favored classically inspired motifs in the design of government structures as being symbolic of federal authority within the nation’s capital, and sought to do the same in the first such foray abroad. Thus the ABMC's commemorative program can be understood as an expression of American nationalism introduced to the landscape of its European allies through art and architecture. To ensure the architectural quality and enduring relevance of the monuments, ABMC non-competitively hired preeminent architects well-versed in classical forms in the Beaux Arts tradition yet with a modern American sensibility. It was for that reason that John Russell Pope was selected to design Montfaucon Monument. Pope had already set a high standard for American interpretations of classicism through such noted structures as the Scottish Rite Temple (1916) in Washington, D.C. and, specific to commemoration, the Lincoln Birthplace Museum (1908) in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Pope would continue to have a significant impact on the architectural landscape and tone of the nation's capital through designs such as the Jefferson Memorial (1943), National Archives (1935), and the National Gallery of Art (1941). The designs of two other "commemorative" monuments were likewise given to noted American architects; the St. Mihiel Monument at Montsec was designed by Egerton Swartwout and the Aisne-Marne Monument near Chateau-Thierry by Paul P. Cret. The program also called for eight more modest "historical" monuments. Cret awarded these designs to "younger men," promising up-and-coming architects. Concurrent with monument building was the enhancement of the eight military cemeteries established by the War Department in 1922, where those soldiers who were not repatriated to the U.S. were interred. Here, the ABMC constructed non-sectarian chapels and other support structures, designed by noted architects in the Classical, Renaissance, and Medieval styles.
• -  Survey number: HABS US-2
• -  Building/structure dates: 1929-1933 Initial Construction

Medium

• Data Page(s): 98

Call Number/Physical Location

• HABS US-2

Source Collection

• Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Control Number

• us0014

Rights Advisory

• No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html

Online Format

• pdf