Description of the attraction
The monument to the Marne taxis, who saved Paris during the First World War, is installed in the former suburb of Levallois, which is now within the city limits. The choice of the site for the monument was not accidental.
In September 1914, German troops, carrying out Schlieffen's plan to encircle the French army, were 40 kilometers from Paris. The commander-in-chief of the French, General Joffre, was inclined to surrender the capital and retreat across the Seine, in order to finally give a decisive battle there. The government left the city. An elderly, terminally ill military commandant Joseph Simon Gallieni remained to defend him - he demanded a blow to the flank of the attacking. On September 3, the commandant posted leaflets in the city: “I have received a mandate to defend Paris from invaders. I will fulfill it to the end."
Gallieni's incredible persistence yielded results - Joffre agreed to a counterstrike. At first he was unsuccessful: the French lacked strength. The reserve Moroccan division was in Paris, but it still had to be transferred to the front. And then Gallieni decided to requisition all the Parisian taxis in order to quickly transfer parts to them.
The police searched for taxis all over the city, dropped passengers and directed the cars to the House of Invalids. Gallieni personally supervised the formation of the column (“At least this is original!” - he said). All night, astonishing the surrounding peasants, six hundred taxis moved north-west of Paris, to the border of the Marne River. Two flights were made, about 6,000 soldiers were transported. The German offensive collapsed.
Memorial plaques installed along the route of the column are dedicated to the Marne taxis, one such car is exhibited in the House of Invalids. Already in our century, in the municipality of Levallois, on the square named after November 11, 1918 (the date of Germany's surrender in the First World War), a marble monument to the Renault AG-1 car was erected - it was these cars that then worked in Parisian taxis. The monument was sculpted by a young Italian sculptor Maurizio Toffoletti, famous for his virtuoso work with Carrara marble.
As for the site for the installation of the monument, it is determined by historical circumstances: at the beginning of the 20th century, it was on the outskirts of Levallois that most of the Parisian taxi companies were located.
