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Origin and history

The Pershing-Lafayette monument, located on the heights of Versailles (Yvelines), was designed to honour the American First World War Army and the French Army of the American War of Independence. The idea dates back to 1919, but its concrete realization began in 1937, in a context of Franco-American rapprochement. A national committee was then set up to erect this symbol, and an architectural competition was organised, won by Jacques Carlu. The monument, scheduled to be inaugurated on 6 October 1937 in the presence of General Pershing, remains unfinished at that date.

The statue of General Pershing, carved in plaster by Joachim Costa, was installed but deteriorated rapidly and was removed in 1941. The work by La Fayette, borrowed from the Carrousel Square in Paris, is a 1908 work by P. W. Bartlett. The site, including the monument, its esplanade, its wooded perimeter and the crossing road, was listed as historical monuments on March 7, 2007. After decades of partial abandonment, the Pershing-Lafayette-Versailles association relaunched the project and inaugurated the final statues of the two generals on September 8, 2017.

The memorial consists of two concrete bases, placed on both sides of the United States Avenue, supporting the equestrian statues of General Pershing and General La Fayette. These elements symbolize the historical and military ties between France and the United States. The monument is now managed jointly by the commune of Versailles and the French State, marking an important page in French-American history.

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