The Hope for Peace (''Espoir de Paix'') Monument is a monument in

Yarze Yarze () is a town in Baabda District southeast of Beirut in Lebanon. The headquarters of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense is located in Yarze. This facility includes the Lebanese Military Museum. In October 1990, following General Michel Aoun ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, made to celebrate the end of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

in 1990. It was designed by the French-born American artist

Armand Fernandez Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French and American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') t ...

. It is located near the

Ministry of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

. It was built in 1995. It is the official monument to commemorate the end of the civil war in Lebanon. The monument is unusual in that it contains 78 military vehicles, from a range of eras and nations. The monument resembles a bombed-out building, with the vehicles positioned in it. The guns of the tanks and military vehicles stick out of it, mostly pointing in one direction.Tribute To Peace Or Plain Tank Sandwich
/ref>

Construction

The various tanks and military vehicles were donated for the project by the Lebanese government. In the building of the monument, the former military hardware were welded to a large metal frame-structure. Large sandbags and concrete were combined together and then poured into the tall frame to create the overall appearance of the monument. It is constructed from 5,000 tons of concrete and stands 30 metres high. The tall memorial's range of decommissioned military vehicles comprises armoured personnel carriers (APCs), tanks, gun-trucks and self-propelled gun (SPG) vehicles, including Charioteer tank destroyers,

Sherman Firefly The Sherman Firefly was a medium tank used by the United Kingdom and some armoured formations of other Allies in World War II, Allies in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman but was fitted with the more powerful British cal ...

, M-50 and M-51 Super Sherman,

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

and

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American medium tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commande ...

tanks, as well as Saladin armoured cars, a

BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet armoured personnel carrier (APC) built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 utility truck. It entered service with a number of Warsaw Pact member states beginning in 1950, and formed the mainstay of Sovi ...

wheeled APC, a

Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks#Military vehicles, Re ...

armoured car, an

AMX-13 The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1952 to 1987. It served with the French Army, as the Char 13t-75 Modèle 51, and was exported to more than 26 other nations. Named after its initial weight of 13 tonnes, and featuring a tough and re ...

tank and a

Ferret armoured car The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler. It was widely us ...

References

Monuments and memorials in Lebanon {{Lebanon-struct-stub