Historial de la Grande Guerre

The Museum of the Great War (French: Historial de la Grande Guerre) located near the heart of the World War I Somme battlefields, is housed within the Château de Péronne, a castle in the town of Péronne, France. Péronne was under German occupation during the war, and inhabitants of it suffered a lot because their town was almost completely destroyed. The museum looks mostly at the Great War, and the years just before and just after. It strives to place war in a social context, stressing "the common suffering of the combatants" and "the civilians, who were equally mobilised by the war effort". It is the biggest museum in Europe about the First World War. It represents the everyday life of the soldiers at the front during that harsh time as well as the life of the civilians and the huge social changes. The museum is well-nown for its efforts to present the battles at the Somme from the viewpoints of all nations that fought there. To do this it established an independent international research center. This association consists of a steering committee and a scientific committee that include many prominent historians and experts on the First World War.