The story

“The Three Vows” recounts the significant events of the First World War and the occupation of Belgium by the Germans, through the story of François, a young Belgian soldier who was 22 years old in 1914. Events force him to take three vows, of duty, of the heart and of remembrance. 

This documentary-fiction film plunges its audience into the heart of the fighting and allows it to experience the full force of the four-year-long war. It is illustrated with archive material from the period, by re-enactments of events, with images of remembrance sites today and by interviews with historians from several different countries. 

“What is the value of a vow when you are no longer master of your own destiny, when your small, peaceful, neutral homeland is invaded by the most powerful army in the world, when its population is martyred, occupied, humiliated but not beaten?” 

The DVD is in four languages and is extended and complemented by five bonus features which shed light on various aspects of the Great War: “Visé, the Martyr Town”; “The Loncin Fort” ; the significance of the commemoration of the First World War for historians and “The Effect of the First World War on Industry” with Professor Robert Halleux.