This monument commemorates Aristide Briand (1862–1932), the French politician and diplomat renowned for his efforts towards disarmament and peace. Situated beside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 37 Quai d’Orsay, it serves as a symbolic reminder to reflect on the past while remaining vigilant in the face of present challenges. Through both its inscriptions and the figure it honours, the memorial exemplifies a pacifist theme: it was conceived in response to the trauma of the Great War and the mounting anxiety provoked by the rising tide of violence during the 1930s.

Aristide Briand’s Profile

Briand was among the most influential French statesmen of the interwar years, an advocate and promoter of international arbitration and peace. In 1926 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in fostering reconciliation between France and Germany. He initiated the Paris Pact of 1928, also known as the Briand–Kellogg Pact, which committed signatories to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. In 1929, acting on behalf of the French government, he presented to the General Assembly of the League of Nations a pioneering proposal for a European federation.

History of the Creation of the Monument

The monument was inaugurated on 30 May 1937, more than five years after the idea had first been conceived. It originated with the Association of Friends of Aristide Briand, which in 1932 amended its statutes in order to transform itself into a committee dedicated to erecting a memorial to the statesman. From the outset, the project encountered strong opposition from a group of deputies of a different political persuasion. The committee, however, persevered and in November 1932 launched a public subscription for donations. That same year it secured the approval of the municipal council to erect the monument at the Quai d’Orsay, together with financial support from both the city and the département. A design competition for the sculpture was announced in 1933. The jury included Georges Huisman, then director of the École des Beaux-Arts, his predecessor Paul Léon, and the architect and professor Paul Bigot. From among the submitted models, two proposals – by Paul Landowski and Henri Bouchard – were selected, with the possibility of combining elements from both. To coordinate the undertaking, Bigot was made responsible for the overall composition. The frieze was entrusted to Bouchard, while Landowski designed the central figural group.

Description of the Monument

At the centre stands a free-standing sculptural group representing Peace personified as a woman with a shield, watching over a young mother and her child who kneel at her feet.

This group is framed by a rectangular structure bearing a relief that depicts a procession of women symbolising different nations, including France, advancing towards Briand. Above the hieratic frieze appears the inscription “PAX”, accompanied by agricultural scenes – ploughing, sowing, and the grazing of horses and sheep – evoking the fruits of peace, the central theme of Briand’s oratory. Briand himself presides over the crowd, among whom appear a First World War veteran on crutches and a labourer with a hammer. Below these two figures are a woman holding an infant and a girl carrying a flower, both listening attentively to the statesman’s words. The composition as a whole conveys ideals of social harmony and enduring peace.

Inscriptions

On the two pilasters flanking the bas-relief are extracts from Briand’s pacifist speeches.

On the left pilaster, beside the relief, appears a quotation from the Inter-Parliamentary Conference of 1927: “Si vous avez su écouter ce murmure que fait la France aux champs, à l’atelier et dans les docks, vous connaissez la voix d’un grand peuple au travail et vous pouvez témoigner tout haut de son ardent désir de paix.” (“If you have heard the murmuring that rises from France in her fields, her workshops and her docks, then you know the voice of a great people at work and can bear witness aloud to their ardent desire for peace.”)

Beneath it is an extract from a speech delivered before the Chamber of Deputies in 1929: “Il ne suffit pas d’avoir horreur de la guerre. Il faut savoir organiser contre elle les éléments de défense indispensables. Mon pays peut le faire sans avoir à abandonner une politique de paix.” (“It is not enough to feel horror at war: one must know how to organise the indispensable elements of defence against it. My country can do so without abandoning a policy of peace.”)

Further down is a passage from his address to the Senate on 25 March 1930: “Il importe essentiellement en politique internationale de ne jamais démunir son pays des moyens dont il peut avoir besoin, non pas seulement pour lui mais pour la communauté des nations solidaires.” (“In international politics it is essential never to deprive one’s country of the means it may require, not only for itself but for the community of nations bound together in solidarity.”)

The final inscription on the left pilaster comes from the Eleventh Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva on 30 September 1930: “Non les peuples ne doivent pas désarmer pour que se préparent de nouvelles guerres, mais ils doivent continuer leurs efforts de désarmement dans des conditions de sécurité telles qu’il n’y ait pas de dupes ni de victimes.” (“Nations must not disarm in such a way that new wars are prepared; rather they must continue their efforts at disarmament under conditions of security such that there will be neither dupes nor victims.”)

The right pilaster begins with a statement of 1927: “Il s’agit de fonder la paix du monde sur un ordre légal, de faire une réalité de droit de cette solidarité internationale qui apparaît comme une réalité physique.” (“The task is to establish world peace upon a legal order, to make the law itself a reality born of that international solidarity which presents itself as a tangible fact.”)

Next is an excerpt from his speech of 5 September 1929 at the Tenth Assembly of the League of Nations: “Les hommes se sont donnés des juges pour éviter de se battre sur des questions d’intérêt. Les nations peuvent bien s’en donner pour éviter d’ensanglanter des champs de bataille. (…) Il n’y a pas de honte pour un pays qui croit avoir raison à proposer d’aller devant des juges qui diront où est la vérité, où est la justice. Chaque fois qu’une nation peut faire l’économie d’une guerre, elle remporte une victoire.” (“Men have given themselves judges in order to avoid fighting over matters of interest; nations may equally do so to prevent the bloodstaining of battlefields. (…) It is no disgrace for a country that believes itself in the right to propose submission to judges who will determine where truth lies, where justice resides. Each time a nation spares itself a war, it gains a victory.”)

This is followed by Briand’s words in the Chamber of Deputies on 13 November 1930: “Telle est la portée de notre politique d’organisation de la paix qu’elle tend à assurer non pas seulement la paix entre nations mais aussi la paix sociale.” (“Such is the scope of our policy of peace-making: it seeks to secure not only peace among nations but also social peace.”)

At the base, to the left, are lines from a speech to veterans at Gourdon on 14 June 1931: “Des savants luttent chaque jour pour nous préserver de la tuberculose, du cancer. Et la guerre, l’horrible guerre serait le seul mal contre lequel l’humanité se déclarerait impuissante? Je ne veux pas le croire.” (“Scientists fight daily to protect us from tuberculosis and cancer. And war – that terrible war – should it alone be the evil against which humanity declares itself powerless? I cannot believe it.”)

To the right is an extract from Briand’s address to soldiers of the French Eastern Army in 1927: “La France ne se diminue pas quand, libre de toute visée impérialiste et ne servant que des idées de progrès et d’humanité, elle se dresse et dit à la face du monde : Je vous déclare la paix.” (“France is not diminished when, free of all imperialist ambition and serving only the ideals of progress and humanity, she stands forth and declares before the world: I proclaim peace to you.”)

The pedestal bears the inscription “PAUL LANDOWSKI”, while the relief panel carries “H. BOUCHARD” (l.d.) and “PAUL BIGOT ARCHITECT 1937” (p.d.), together with the foundry stamp “FONDERIE DES ARTISTES PARIS” (p.d.).

Related Objects

• Design for the monument, preserved at the Musée des Années Trente, Espace Landowski, Boulogne-Billancourt