The Trials

Reconstruction relied on vast public trials which took place after the war. It was necessary, in the true sense of the word to bring justice to men of power whose actions were questioned: Colonel Pardieu and the defence of Lille, General Fournier and the defence of Maubeuge, amongst others.
The trials also showed the priority installed in the minds concerning defence of a position, of a movement. That’s forgetting the proper retreat of the Vth army commanded by General Lanrezac, a decisive element in the counter-offensive of the Marne.
Prefect Trépont was one of the fiercest opponents to any form of collaboration with the German authorities which earned him imprisonment in Germany. Liberated, he resumed his position as prefect in Dunkerque, in the department’s non-occupied zone. In 1918, with the Armistice, he was replaced at the head of the department having been unjustly accused of supporting the abandonment of Lille. After investigation and a change of government, he was raised to the level of Grand Officer in the Legion of Honour on August 13, 1920, and then re-established in his functions in 1922.