The unexpected and lasting resistance of Maubeuge during its siege in 1914 led to a controversy around General Fournier through the twentieth century.

Georges Lyon, the regional Chief Education Officer, facing the German invasion, decided in 1914 to remain committed to supporting school and university structures belonging to the occupied part of the Lille region in order to keep them alive. During the War, he wrote his Memoirs which can be considered as a precious testimony to better understand..