Marraines de Guerre

Clémentine Vidal-Naquet (1)

1 CHSSC - Centre d'Histoire des Sociétés, des Sciences et des Conflits - UR UPJV 4289

The institution of wartime pen pals to assist isolated soldiers who were unable to receive mail from their loved ones was made official in 1915. The system, which paired up lonely soldiers with a female pen pal, was a great success. And yet, despite being initially heralded as a sign of the goodness, union and patriotism of French women and their allies, it later came to be seen as immoral – a pretext for flirting with strangers or even a convenient way to be spied on by the enemy.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Histoire

Clémentine Vidal-Naquet. Marraines de Guerre. 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 2016, ⟨10.15463/ie1418.11015⟩. ⟨hal-03643745⟩