Conrad, Philippe/Sevaux, Nicola Ils Ètaient cinq dans les Tranchées. De Gaulle, Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill et Patton en 14-18

Charles de Gaulle, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Winston Churchill and George Patton: five names inextricably linked to World War 2 and whose involvement is the global measure of that conflict. Before these five men were the great leaders of 1939-1945 years, they all experienced the struggles of 1914-1918 years.

The Saint-Cyr graduate de Gaulle experienced the hell of Verdun, where he was wounded and captured. Private Hitler, who made drawings and sketches between two attacks, was seriously wounded in the Ypres area by the use of poison gas; the common soldier Mussolini, a passionate pacifist at the beginning of the war, was wounded in the ranks of the Bersaglieri, the elite soldiers of the Italian army; Lieutenant Colonel Churchill was appointed Minister of Munitions after commanding on the Western Front; and fiery Cavalry Lieutenant Patton was the first American officer to become a specialist in a new type of weapon that would come to full fruition 20 years later, in World War 2. World War II: the tank. The experiences of these five characters in the trenches of World War 1 deeply shaped them and decisively influenced the course of their lives, but also the course of history. Enriched by an extraordinary selection of images, this work helps to better understand the events of 1939-1945 through the experiences of 1914-1918.