The Arc de Triomphe, standing at the end of the Champs-Élysées in Paris, is a landmark no visitor to the French capital skips. Built at the center of a plaza from which avenues radiate in the shape of a star — étoile in French, hence its name, the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile — the monument was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate the victories of the French imperial army. It was not completed until 1836, long after his death, so the emperor himself never saw it. In June 1940, Nazi German troops who had occupied Paris hung the swastika flag on the arch, humiliating the French.
It was the Romans who began building triumphal arches to mark victories and symbolize the glory of power. The first is believed to have been erected in 196 B.C. by the general Stertinius after his campaign in Spain. Later, during the era of aggressive territorial expansion under the Roman Empire, arches showcasing imperial glory, military achievement and Roman supremacy went up across the empire, among them the Arch of Titus, the model for the Paris monument.
The Roman emperors' love of triumphal arches passed down to later rulers who dreamed of absolute power. Adolf Hitler sought to build an enormous arch in Berlin modeled on the one in Paris, but the plan collapsed with the outbreak of World War II. In North Korea, Kim Il Sung built an arch in Pyongyang 10 meters taller than the Paris original, timed to his 70th birthday in 1982, and used it for propaganda abroad.
The latest ruler fixated on triumphal arches is U.S. President Donald Trump. Last year he declared he would build the world's largest triumphal arch in Washington, D.C. Then on the 20th of this month he abruptly announced plans to use it as an advanced military facility, stationing snipers there and equipping it with drone installations. With the project facing public criticism and legal obstacles over its disregard for procedure and its damage to the cityscape, the move appears intended to push the plan through by invoking national security. Trump has made "security" an all-purpose justification whenever controversy flares, from sweeping tariffs to the construction of a White House ballroom. Will it work for his dream of an arch as well?
