ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on an analysis of representative visual documents of the period such as illustrated press, posters and postcards and their links with a wider popular culture which also encompassed texts and music. Two images were seized upon by war culture and became central to particularly rich visual networks. La Marseillaise appears as a pervasive presence in the whole range of visual media. The vision, which blurs the boundaries between the destinies of individuals and the historic destiny of France, revolves in particular around visualisations of the chain of generations. If previous generations of heroes were mobilised to give moral support to the war effort, the contribution of all fighting men whatever their generation is also an important dimension of the total mobilisation of the nation. The mobilisation generale applied between 18 and 46, so that within a family, men of several generations were affected, while the many volunteers, both younger and older, extended the age range still further.
