100 Years Ago: November 1915

[George Thomas Wilson]

This is the eleventh in a series of very brief reviews of 100 year old National Geographics.

The first of the three articles in this issue is a tour of the old provinces of France.  A map of these provinces is on page 471 so the reader can follow the tour.

Photo courtesy of Philip Riviere.

It starts with Normandy and then goes counter-clockwise around the country to Picardy and finally into the interior of the country, briefly through Paris and ends in Touraine with its many chateaus.

The uniqueness of each province is discussed.  Its people, architecture (including building material and style), history, and geography are all covered in this article which takes up the bulk of the magazine.

It must be noted that while the article itself does not touch on "The Great War", the captions to many of the photographs do.

Embedded in the middle of the article is a patch of 16 color photos.  While a few are of France (one being reference in the article), the rest are scattered throughout Europe and the Middle East.  They include photos of Italy, Switzerland, "The Land of the Mamelukes" (probably Iraq), Jerusalem, and, as mentioned, France.

The second, albeit short, article is also about France but deals with its contributions to mankind.  It starts with its history from the revolution through the reign of Napoleon III.  It then goes on to discuss its contributions to literature including Descartes, Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Alexander Dumas to name a few.  Finally it discusses Frances contributions to science: Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease and the many lives it has saved; and the "science of radio-activity" and its promise of almost unlimited energy.

The third, also short, article is about Switzerland, more specifically its citizen soldiers.  The country's universal conscription into the cantons' (states') militias and the training in marksmanship beginning in childhood are but two of the aspects that assure the Swiss can maintain their freedom and their neutrality.

Tom Wilson

[George Thomas Wilson]

Here are six photographs from this issue courtesy of Philip Riviere.

[Scott T. Shier]

Thank you for this monthly installment.

[George Thomas Wilson]

Note: I just added a map referenced by the first article in this review.  (Thanks again, Phil.)