The Symbolism of the Ceremonies of Signing the Treaty of Neuilly and Its Denouncement

The article interprets the ceremonies of signing the Treaty of Neuilly (27th November 1919) and of its denouncement (23rd July 1940). A typological parallel with the two Armistices signed near Compiègne (of 1918 and of 1940) and the two Treaties of Versailles (of 1871 and of 1919) between Germany and France serves as a prelude to the thesis that a high degree of quotation is a very characteristic feature of such ratifications. It has been argued that the winners usually shape the mise-en-scène of the ceremony (the chosen date and place play a particular role here) in such a manner that allows them to present their will from the position of power as a “righteous” retaliation for a suffered outrage in the past: this strategy can be called symbolic revanchism. When, at the whim of Fortune, the defeated get a war revenge, they respond to the challenge with revanchist gestures, such as taking as trophies the relics that keep the memento of their enemies’ triumph. Thus, the analysis succeeds in interpreting a variety of unconventional gestures of the hostile sides as lines in a meaningful dialogue held on a symbolic level.