Victory Day celebration, July 14, 1919 - Arch of Triumph, France

On this great day Paris was almost delirious with joy and pride. The terrible war which had strained the resources and taxed the spirit of France almost to the limit had ended in glorious victory ; the dreaded enemy beyond the Rhine whose threats and menaces had for half a century hung like a black cloud over the nation, was humbled in the dust. Today the victory celebration ; today countless thousands are out in holiday attire, lining the sidewalks as the veterans who have won the war march by ; today, for the first time in the history of France, foreign soldiers, allies in the glorious struggle, march in triumph under the Arc de Triomphe. This famous arch is in one of the most splendid quarters of Paris. From it ten great avenues radiate as the spokes of a wheel. From its summit 155 feet high, one has a wonderful view—the city spreads out interminably in every direction, at one's feet these magnificent avenues lined with stately buildings and bordered with handsome trees ; near by the Seine, its winding course spanned by bronze, stone and marble bridges ; in the distance the great cathedral of Notre Dame, the stately Palace of the Louvre and other great buildings. The Arc de Triomphe was erected to commemorate the victories of the Great Napoleon. It is a really magnificent structure, a triumph of French art, 140 feet wide, 70 feet thick. The whole edifice is embellished with exquisite sculptures, some of colossal size. On the inner side of the arch are inscribed the names of those great victories which made France so powerful and which stamped Napoleon as the greatest military commander of his age