=Metz after the signing of the Armistice.=
When the Armistice was signed on November 11th, the American
artillery was within range of the forts of Metz which they had
already bombarded several times, and the troops were all in position
for the offensive fixed for November 16th.
[Illustration: DISTRIBUTION OF THE FIRST FRENCH NEWSPAPERS ON
NOVEMBER 19TH, 1918.
_The Place de la République and the corner of the Rue Serpenoise._
(Cliché Prillot, Metz.)]
[Illustration: THE TROOPS MARCH PAST MARSHAL PÉTAIN (NOVEMBER 19TH,
1918).]
By the terms of the Armistice, invaded countries, including Alsace
and Lorraine, had to be evacuated by the 26th. So on Tuesday November
19th 1918 the French troops made their solemn entry into Metz,
evacuated by the German soldiery, amid scenes of indescribable
enthusiasm.
[Illustration: THE PLACE D'ARMES: THE ENTRY OF MARSHAL FOCH.
_In the background, the statue of Marshal Fabert; on the right, the
Cathedral._
(Cl. Prillot, Metz.)]
Then the march past took place on the Esplanade in front of General
Pétain who was appointed Marshal the same morning.
On a white horse and in his large blue cloak he took up his position
in front of the statue of Marshal Ney: he was supported by General
Fayolle, commanding an army group and General Buat, major-general.
General Mangin, commanding the 10th army, owing to an accident
on his horse, was unable to be present, his place being taken by
General Leconte for the parade. On the same day there took place the
induction of M. Mirman, commissary of the Republic, who was received
by General de Maud'huy, governor of Metz.
[Illustration: THE PEOPLE OF LORRAINE SURROUNDING THE FRENCH FLAG.
_On the Place d'Armes, in front of the Cathedral._ (Cl. Prillot,
Metz.)]
Salvos of guns and the sounding of the "Mutte" in the Cathedral
heralded this festal day.
On the following Sunday, November 24th, the chief men of Metz
appointed the new municipal council and decided that the streets
should revert to the names they held before 1870 and that the
new streets should be named after generals and great men who had
distinguished themselves during the War. The list was settled by a
by-law on December 7th.
On Sunday, December 8th, President Poincaré, with a retinue
consisting of the Minister for War, the President of the Council, G.
Clemenceau, the Presidents of the Chambers, Ministers, Marshals and
French and Allied Generals came to announce the definite restoration
to France of the lost provinces.
It was an unforgettable day. Girls in Lorraine costume lined the
streets and flowers were thrown from windows on to the procession.
The review took place in the morning on the Esplanade, and also
the presentation of the star-studded baton to Marshal Pétain. The
ceremony was opened with a speech by the President. Then followed a
touching scene, when M. Poincaré and M. Clemenceau approached each
other and joined in a long embrace.
In the afternoon there was a reception at the Hôtel de Ville when
President Poincaré conjured up all the history of Metz concluding
thus:
"The years have passed on Metz, and Metz has not changed.
"The protests which her great Bishop, Mgr Dupont des Loges, used
formerly to carry to the Reichstag in the name of all the people of
Metz, in the name of all the inhabitants of Lorraine, have continued
after his death with the same quiet firmness, you, inhabitants of
Metz, have repealed them, year by year, in your pilgrimages to
Mars-la-Tour, in your visits to the cemeteries, in your worship of
the memory of France.
"Beloved town of Metz, your nightmare is past, here is France back
again opening her arms to you".
The procession was then received with great ceremony by Mgr Fell at
the Cathedral and visited the cemetery of Chambière to pay homage to
the dead of 1870.
On October 27th, 1919, the Croix de Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
was bestowed on the town of METZ with the following inscription:
_Town whose persistent loyally to France never faltered during a
captivity of 48 years;_
_Rich in a past glorious and without stain, unsullied by her
misfortunes, exposed for centuries to the covetousness of a near
enemy, she has richly deserved to be honoured because she has
suffered so long._
_She symbolises, in her deep affection for her Mother country,
Lorraine, at last wholly restored as a French province._
[Illustration: THE EMBRACE OF THE TWO PRESIDENTS AFTER THE
PRESENTATION OF THE "BÂTON DE COMMANDEMENT" TO MARSHAL PÉTAIN
(DECEMBER 8TH, 1918).
_Behind Marshal Pétain, from left to right: Marshal Joffre, Marshal
Foch, Marshal Douglas Haig, General Pershing, General Gillain,
General Albricci, and General Haller._]
[Illustration: METZ CATHEDRAL AS IT WAS BEFORE THE GERMAN OCCUPATION.
_The cathedral used to finish, on the left, with a Doric porch
erected in the 18th century by Blondel who had in mind a similar
style of architecture for the whole Place d'Armes. The Germans
destroyed this porch in 1903 (See p. 179) and erected in its place a
pseudo-Gothic construction which would undoubtedly have been better
in keeping with the rest of the edifice, had it not been carried out
in a stilted and unskilful manner._]