History

From Detroit to Manchester and on to Boston, innumerable American towns, streets and rivers carry francophone names. Why? The rapper Biz and globe-trotter Jean-Michel Dufaux set off in the footsteps of those who travelled and dreamed of America in times gone by. The story of a history forgotten or erased.

December 1944. They thought that the war was over because Belgium had been freed three months earlier. But the families in Ardennes saw the Germans return by surprise. We look back at a terrible battle, through accounts, sequences from the archives and interviews with historians.

Wherever man is found, members of the crow family are nearby, watching. Since time immemorial, they have followed the hunters, farmers, soldiers and persecutors, scratching the soil in gardens, ploughed fields, battlefields... Crows and their cousins study us, passing on the knowledge gleaned to their offspring. Chronicle of an inquisition.

Press conference by the French President Emmanuel Macron closing the 19th Francophonie Summit in Villers-Cotterêts.

The Indian Taïno people, who are almost extinct, leave a culture full of legends, sculptures and beliefs, but also a way of living, in harmony with nature, and values of sharing and solidarity. So many aspirations that appeal to certain contemporary young people. Story of a rediscovery.

"I come from a people, the Fang, where the dead never leave the living. But since we have become Christians, we are no longer able to hear them." Lost between the here-and-now and the beyond, Natyvel Pontalier's spiritual quest in Gabon takes her back to her family's roots.

"Whether I wanted it or not Vietnam has forever accompanied me, every step along my path through life". Narrated in the first person, Mei-Chen Chalais recounts the story of a childhood steeped in war, her mother's courage, the flight to Hanoi, Saigon and then to France...

The interwoven portraits of mountaineering enthusiasts, each heading for the heights.

April 2018. At 3,000 metres above sea-level a group of experienced mountaineers find themselves caught in a storm on the Haute Route, near Pigne d'Arolla. Seven die of hypothermia, three survive. Despite an in-depth investigation and legal proceedings, innumerable questions remain unanswered. We take a look back at the tragedy.

Between 1931 and 2002, Switzerland issued six million seasonal residence permits to migrant workers, a status that prohibited them from entering Swiss territory with their families. In a series of open letters, former beneficiaries and their children, talk about the impact that status had on their family lives.

Why did the cinema remain morally backward for so long? Despite its pioneers' insistence on modernity, why did this new art form find itself imprisoned in the moralism of the French Belle Époque and America's narrow-minded Puritanism? From total exclusion to a precarious tolerance, the story of an uncertain war.

2024 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and the People's Republic of China. A look back at the most memorable events from this dialogue between the two countries.

In the 20th century, what was life like for the mountain farmers? Accustomed to the Alpine meadows, how did they get through the harsh winters? Which other professions did they exercise to help them survive? Samuel Dupasquier and his sister Lucie Beaud continue this Swiss tradition, whilst also questioning it.

The story of a pioneer, Germaine Le Goff (1891-1986). After World War I, the Breton teacher left Douarnenez for adventure, with a journey that led her to Senegal. In 1938, she founded and directed a teacher training college in Rufisque, near Dakar, the first for primary school teachers in Africa.

22 July 1871. Lucy Walker (1836-1916) is the first woman to successfully climb the Matterhorn. A hundred and fifty years after the British climber's exploit, Marie-France Hendrikx, a mountain-loving historian, follows in the pioneer's footsteps and sets off, in 19th century clothing, to climb the Matterhorn.

Where do Swiss-made weapons end up? This investigation traces the path taken by guns, planes and tanks, from the factory to the war-torn territories around the world. It is the opportunity to show, for example, that planes intended for civilian transportation are used in Afghanistan for intelligence missions.

From all four corners of the world, they are the last surviving witnesses who directly experienced the First World War. They recounted their stories between 1996 and 2008. Personal accounts that are both rare and remarkable, with additional material provided by the French historian Jean-Pierre Verney.

Tamatave, eastern Madagascar. Cut off from their families, young men from different regions work at a car wash. With no identity papers and exploited by their boss, they are regularly suspected of stealing by the neighbours. Michaël Andrianaly offers us a different view of them.

South Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan: "African Empires" sets out to explore the greatest kingdoms and empires in Africa before colonisation. It shines a historical spotlight on the heritage handed down to our contemporary world.

A look back at an incredible challenge that combines human adventure and historic exploit. In 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel, propelling aviation into the modern era. 110 years on, a team of enthusiasts attempt a mad-cap gamble, to fly a replica Blériot XI.

1960: the beginning of the end of the empires in Africa. France disappears from the map, leaving behind the CFA franc (CFA for "Colonies Françaises d'Afrique" then "Communauté Française d'Afrique"). December 2019 sees the currency replaced by the ECO. A look back at the little-known story of the CFA franc.

2015, eleven students from the Maisonneuve Secondary School, Montreal, are arrested for trying to join the jihad in the Middle East. The events led to a 2017 documentary, covering a pilot project intended to encourage a rapprochement between communities. Today, students and teachers remember the identity crisis of those years.

The fascinating story of the Parisian newspaper kiosks, veritable emblems of the French capital. For over 150 years they have been part and parcel of everyday life in their neighbourhoods but 2018 saw all that begin to change, a reflection of our changing relationship with the written press.

For the first time in Belgium's history, a princess will become queen. Before her, the destinies of ten daughters of kings were occasionally glorious but more often tragic. Family dramas, broken hearts or broken ambitions... From Charlotte to Élisabeth, heir to the throne, we look back at Laeken's royal princesses.

Around the great arc formed by the Alps, Neolithic peoples built their houses on piles at the edges of lakes and marshes. Rising water levels eventually forced them to abandon their villages but also preserved the remains of the submerged buildings until the present-day. We explore these little-known archaeological treasures.

From Paris to Puducherry, via Rio, Buenos Aires and Tsiroanomandidy, to meet some of the men and woman continuing to spread the influence of the French language and francophone culture across the world. With personal stories from Irina Bokova, Bernard Cerquiglini, Laurent Fabius, Julia Kristeva, Erik Orsenna, Sebastião Salgado...

In Europe, witch hunts were responsible for 100,000 deaths. And it's Switzerland that holds the record for the highest number of victims: men, women and children. We look back at the history of this mass persecution and explore the imaginary world of witchcraft crimes.

Complicated borders, disputed land, strange status... sometimes the way the planet is shared verges on the absurd! Discover ten geographical oddities that illustrate the often grotesque character of international power games.

The radio, an invisible thread connecting people, irrespective of the distance between them. A powerful alchemy between technological innovation and human passion. From the first makeshift radio transmitters to the sophisticated filmed radio of the 21st century, a look back over a century of radiophonic adventures in Switzerland.

Reports, discussions and fun short videos are on the menu for this new magazine programme. Its aim? To look at the problems of our decade through a prospective approach and enable a clearer vision of the future to emerge.

We take an amazing journey through the history of skiing, carried by those who braved the stereotypes and prejudice of their time to invent a brand new sport. The future of skiing is now threatened by global warming. How much longer will we be able to skim over the snow?

Dixence, Hongrin, Rossens, Émossons: names that carry so much weight. Far more than simply concrete monuments in the Swiss Alps, these dams recount an unprecedented energy transition and a leap forwards towards modernity. We look back at the stories of those who were part of these mammoth projects.

At the bottom of Canadian lakes and rivers lie remains from the past, wrecks and treasures. Diver Mario Cyr and historian Samuel Côté, investigate these unexplored relics, remnants forgotten by history.

Shortly before his speech to the United Nations, Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Cyril Viguier to Kiev for an exclusive interview. Together they look back at the war shaking Ukraine since February 2022 and discuss international news. With the exceptional participation of Alain Delon, talking to the Ukrainian president via video link.

Artists talk about their 11 September 2001 and offer a very personal artistic performance. How did this event mark and influence an entire generation of young creative talent in Quebec who had their roots in the Arab world? Shared secrets, thoughts and reflection, between laughter and emotion.

A different way to visit the Château de Versailles, through the history of its objects. A vision of history by looking through the keyhole.

What happened on 1 December 1944 at the Thiaroye military camp in Senegal? West African soldiers, only just repatriated from the front, came under fire from French machine guns. Nearly 80 years later, three young artists from this Dakar suburb want to understand the reasons behind the massacre.

The TV presenter Claude Legault looks back at some of the most memorable events that took place in Canada during the Second World War. He collects the personal stories of men and women whose experiences were unforgettable, sometimes unimaginable.

From the 1950s onwards, many Swiss discovered Africa via the books, television programmes and films by René Gardi (1909-2000). Through them, the Bernese writer and filmmaker offered an enchanted pre-modern vision of the continent, an imaginary paradise. An absorbing exploration of his archives.

Light bulb, battery, aeroplane, television... so many inventions that turned our everyday life upside down and led to a veritable evolution in society. Behind each object are inventors, failures, unexpected developments and, above all, an unending quest for progress. "Primo" recounts their stories.

Born in Neuchâtel, Maurice Bavaud (1916-1941) was sentenced to death in1939 and guillotined in Berlin, after several attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler. A case in which the Swiss federal police went as far as to interrogate him on behalf of the Gestapo. Maurice Bavaud's name was cleared in 2008.

After the Second World War, over seven thousand Swiss joined the French Foreign Legion. Why, when their own country was hardly on its knees after the war? Those who directly experienced this little-known page of history recount their battles in Indochina and Algeria.

Swiss women obtained the right to vote on 7 February 1971, fifty years ago. Unimaginable for 18 year-old Kelly Santos da Costa. The young woman from the Vaud meets Élisabeth Copt, Béatrice Caspecha Aebischer and Gabrielle Nanchen, who were all part of the battle for gender equality.

And what if beauty YouTubers had always existed? In the Middle Ages, the roaring twenties, Ancient Egypt, the 19th century... These "Damoiselles" share their beauty tips with the camera and strip the make-up from the face of history at the same time! A darkly humorous glimpse of women's lives down the centuries. And, for each period, our history consultant separates the episode's fact from fiction in "L'Éclairage de Julien".

5 April 1971. 343 women, famous faces and unknown citizens, publicly acknowledge in the pages of the "Nouvel Observateur" having illegally aborted. Risking possible legal action, they consider they no longer have the choice: it's time to end the carnage and the diktats. Fifty years later, they recount their stories.

From Joan of Arc to Jean Jaurès, many major figures throughout history have paid for their commitment with their lives. But who actually killed them and why?

A date, a decision, an act or a moment of reality that left its mark on Africa. From the Berlin Conference through European colonisation to independence and its struggles, multi-party systems and their abuse, we take a journey through the sometimes less well-known pages of Africa's history.

Ulysse, Athena, Thor, Anubis, le roi Arthur, et bien d'autres... Quelle Histoire te fait découvrir les mythes et légendes du monde entier, comme tu ne les as jamais entendus.

Quebec yesterday and today! A series brimming with archive images, information and animated recreations, driven by the passion of historians, scientists and artists.

A documentary web series that sums up, in under five minutes, the events that have marked History.