!No pasaran!
"They shall not pass" (French: Ils ne passeront pas; Romanian: Pe aici nu se trece; Spanish: No pasarán) is a slogan, most notably used by France in World War I, to express a determination to defend a position against an enemy. It was also used during the Spanish Civil War by the Republican faction.
Origin[]
The widespread use of the slogan originates from the 1916 Battle of Verdun in the First World War when French General Robert Nivelle urged his troops not to let the enemy pass.[2] The simplified slogan of "they shall not pass" appeared on French war propaganda posters, most notably by French artist Maurice Neumont in the last year of the war after the Allied victory at the Second Battle of the Marne.[2]
Later during the First World War, the slogan was used by Romanian soldiers during the Battle of Mărășești, with the Romanian translation of the phrase being "Pe aici nu se trece", translating as "One does not pass through here".
The slogan was adopted on uniform badges by French units manning the Maginot Line.
Léon Blum, in 1934, used this sentence "ils ne passeront pas!" against the Ligue's demonstration of the 6 February.[3] "Ils" ("they") designated the fascist protesters.
It was also used during the Spanish Civil War, this time at the siege of Madrid by Dolores Ibárruri Gómez, a member of the Communist Party of Spain, in her famous "No pasarán" speech on 18 July 1936.[4] The leader of the Nationalist forces, Generalísimo Francisco Franco, upon gaining Madrid, responded to this slogan by declaring "Hemos pasado" ("We have passed").
"¡No pasarán!" was used by British anti-fascists during the October 1936 Battle of Cable Street, and is still used in this context in some political circles. It was often accompanied by the words nosotros pasaremos (we will pass) to indicate that communists rather than fascists will be the ones to seize state power.[5]
The phrase was brought to the public consciousness again following action in December 1943 by French-Canadian officer Paul Triquet of the Royal 22e Regiment; his action included his use of Nivelle's phrase "to win a key objective at Ortona, Italy, in the face of overwhelming German opposition."[6]
In the 1980s, the phrase ¡No pasarán! was a theme in the civil wars in Central America, particularly in Nicaragua.[7] Nicaragua no pasarán is also the title of a 1984 documentary by David Bradbury about the events in Nicaragua that led to the overthrow of Somoza's dictatorship.[8][9][10]
In popular culture[]
- The name of the 1975 Romanian historical drama Pe aici nu se trece is based on the Romanian version of the slogan and follows the events around the Battle of Păuliș, fought during World War II.
- In The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien, a veteran of WWI who had fought at the Battle of the Somme, the wizard Gandalf shouts "You cannot pass!" at a Balrog.
- In Peter Jackson's 2001 film adaptation, Gandalf warns the Balrog first saying "You cannot pass!", before shouting "You shall not pass!".
- The 2016 WWI first-person shooter video game Battlefield 1 features a downloadable content update titled "They Shall Not Pass".[11][12]
- Author Max Brooks referenced the French phrase in his 2006 book World War Z, with a fictional oral history of a worldwide war between zombies and the living.
- The title of the 2018 Scottish documentary Nae Pasaran, which focuses on Scottish solidarity with Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, is a play on the phrase using the Scots word nae.
- The 2019 song "Fields Of Verdun" by the Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton includes lyrics which say "It was said, 'They shall not pass!'".
Gallery[]
On ne passe pas!, French medal for the Battle of Verdun
Red plaque commemorating the Battle of Cable Street
Tomb of the unknown soldier at the Mausoleum of Mărășești with the inscription "Pe aci nu se trece - Mărășești 1917"
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See also[]
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Awake iron!
- Molon labe
- Russian warship, go fuck yourself
- Order No. 227 (Stalin's "Not one step back" order)
- Venceremos
- Raised fist
- List of last stands
References[]
- ^ "Allied Posters of World War I: Par deux fois j'ai tenu et vaincu sur la Marne". Temple University Libraries. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ a b Robinson, Tony (September 2018). Battles that Changed History: Epic Conflicts Explored and Explained. DK. p. 197. ISBN 978-0241301937.
- ^ "1936, le Front Populaire et des lendemains qui chantent". www.franceinter.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ^ Ibárruri, D.; Ibárruri, I.D.; Partido Comunista de España (1966). They Shall Not Pass: The Autobiography of La Pasionaria. New world paperbacks. International Publishers. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7178-0468-9. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- ^ Audrey Gillan (2006-10-02). "Day the East End said No pasaran to Blackshirts". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- ^ "French Canadian Wins Victoria Cross". Ottawa Citizen. March 6, 1944. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
- ^ Kunzle, David (1995). The Murals of Revolutionary Nicaragua, 1979–1992. University of California Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780520081925.
- ^ Kallen, Stuart A. (2009). The Aftermath of the Sandinista Revolution. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 152. ISBN 9780822590910.
- ^ "Nicaragua: No Pasaran". Frontline Films. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ FitzSimons, Trish; Laughren, Pat; Williamson, Dugald (2011). Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres. Cambridge University Press. p. 267. ISBN 9780521167994.
- ^ "Battlefield 1 Update Notes – They Shall Not Pass Update". Battlefield. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
- ^ "Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass guide: trench raider class, new maps, tanks, weapons, release date – everything you need to know". VG247.com. Retrieved 2017-10-22.