‘No Vain Glory:’ Militarism, Diplomacy and Art in the American War Cemeteries in France

Abstract

Between 1948 and 1956, the United States government planned an enormous project to build fourteen overseas military cemeteries in Europe. These park-like burial grounds eventually would hold the graves of approximately 80,000 American soldiers and nurses killed during or immediately after World War II. Because much of the fighting took place in France, five cemeteries are located in this single country: two in Normandy; one in Provence; and two in Lorraine. The following article treats the murals of two cemeteries – the Brittany American Cemetery, located in Lower Normandy, and the Épinal American Cemetery, located in Lorraine – as significant contributions to a kind of diplomatic conversation between France and the United States during the postwar era. Upon close examination, it becomes clear that the two sets of murals, which showcase battle maps, prioritize an account of significant and noteworthy American military achievement. Given the polemic Cold War relationship between the patron (the U.S. government) and the audience (European, mostly French), two questions arise regarding these works of art: the first, why was the American government engrossed with communicating American military achievement in lands; and the second, how did a French politicians, with whom the United States maintained delicate relations during the early years of the Cold War, receive such a message? After considering these questions, this article argues that, if the effectiveness of art and design lies in their lasting impression, then material culture may be regarded as an important agent of diplomacy in international relations.