Switzerland during WWII.
How to illustrate a tiny neutral country surrounded by conflict crisis?
I decided to show how the Confederation worked on the population protection.
On a geographical matter, some on-site installations were built to deter enemy activity. The Ligne de Promenthouse, made of massive triangular cement blocks, was edified along a defined border to prevent from land invasion.
On a military side, the mobilisation of citizens to defend the country in the event of threat or war (the MOB as we call it) was launched in 1939. Men went off to serve in the army while women were left to run the businesses and farms on their own.
A radical change in the country’s both geographical and societal landscape.
Passé simple is a monthly magazine dealing with the French-speaking part of Switzerland’s past. Its vocation is to address all audiences and to invite a large number of specialists from all kinds of backgrounds. Apolitical and non-confessional, it aims to be both instructive and pleasant. It deals with various subjects, from the origin of wine in Valais to the fate of General Dufour, from the recipe of the Malakoff to the creation of the canton of Jura. The periodical devotes a large part to the history of art, mentalities, literature, wars, science, economics and politics. Passé simple also deals with events that ocurred from prehistory to the year 2000. The magazine favors narrative over demonstration. Its baseline says: « It happened close to yours, but slightly before. »
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