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Primary sourceArtifact1940

Vive Clemenceau

E.H./S.O.1 · 1940

A printed British propaganda sticker dropped over France in 1940, showing Clemenceau in a military helmet with the slogan VIVE CLEMENCEAU!. It connects him to France's wartime resistance.

Clemenceau appears here as a symbol of French resistance, not as the author of anything; the sticker shows how his memory was used in wartime propaganda.

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Two identical side-by-side printed sheets of a propaganda poster. Each shows a black-and-white photo of an elderly man with a thick mustache wearing a military helmet and coat, set against a red background, with the bold black words VIVE CLEMENCEAU! across the bottom.
Propaganda sticker, Vive Clemenceau, dropped by the British over France, 1940. Creator recorded as E.H./S.O.1.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed propaganda sticker. Two identical sheets show a black-and-white photo of an elderly man with a thick mustache, wearing a military helmet and coat, against a red background. The bold words VIVE CLEMENCEAU! run across the bottom. The British dropped a series of four such stamps or stickers over France early in the Second World War, in 1940.

Why it matters

The British used Clemenceau's memory as a symbol of French resistance. He had served as Prime Minister of France from 1917 to 1920, leading the country through the end of the First World War. More than twenty years later, his reputation as a defender of France made him a useful figure to invoke. The sticker shows how wartime governments used famous leaders to reach ordinary people.

Look closer

  • What do the red background and bold lettering suggest about the message the sticker wanted to send?
  • Why might a sticker featuring a First World War leader be dropped over France in 1940?
  • What does the sticker leave out about Clemenceau's politics and about the people who read it?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Georges Clemenceau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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