This year, the Historial du Paysan Soldat is dedicating a temporary exhibition to women’s commitment during the two world wars, highlighting their active participation in the war effort, both on the front lines and in civilian life.
During the First World War, women worked in factories, hospitals, and agriculture, supporting the war economy. Their commitment intensified during the Second World War: occupying diverse positions from industry and healthcare to espionage and resistance missions, they made a decisive contribution to the military effort, permanently transforming their traditional role in society.
Photographs, testimonies, objects, and archival documents bear witness to their contribution, illustrating both their presence in weapons factories and medical services and their involvement in domestic and agricultural spheres. By overcoming the challenges imposed by these periods of conflict, they profoundly disrupted social norms and redefined their status, thus marking a significant shift in the history of gender relations. Through portraits of often little-known Bourbonnais resistance fighters, the exhibition reveals journeys marked by courage and sacrifice, bearing witness to an essential commitment that has long remained in the shadow of history.
