Aspects militaires de «l’exil» des religieux français en Belgique (1901-1914)

From 1901 to 1914, roughly 10.000 French religious fled to Belgium in order to avoid the antireligious laws. A third of these were men, and some of them bound to conscription and military service in France. Even if they were in exile, many of them – the novices – did serve in the army as conscripts and had to go back to their country. Their superiors feared to lose these young men submitted to the barracks life and its promiscuity. Moreover, two religious institutes (the Jesuits and the Lasallians) kept on receiving officers. These officers came to support them, they attended ceremonies or the... Mehr ...