Historians suggest it may be normal for France to be always on the verge of crisis owing to the persistence of irreconcilable conflicts and a celebration and practice of resistance. They conclude that France may be ungovernable, noting that five presidents since 1981, frustrated and resisted, have accomplished very little. This course studies France under three republics and a dictatorship, beginning with defeat in war and revolutionary upheaval in 1870-1871 and concluding with current, sustained challenges to state authority and liberal democracy. We will survey this 150-year history, emphasizing political forms, ideologies and movements, social change, the economy, and cultural developments. Particular consideration will be given to revolutionary ideas and activities, working-class organizations, socialism and communism, conservative thought and action, extreme rightist movements, the degradation of rural life, the experiences of three wars against Germany, imperialism and decolonization, key personalities, and styles of authority and resistance. Times of emergency and crisis will command attention, specifically the Paris Commune of 1871; the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s; the Great War of 1914-1918; the Popular Front of the 1930s; the military defeat of 1940; the drama of collaboration or resistance, 1940-1944; the early years of the Fifth Republic, 1958-1969; the extraordinary career of General de Gaulle; and the "yellow vests" in 2018-2019. |