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Pétain (1856-1951) remains one of the most controversial figures in the history of modern France. He was saviour of his country at Verdun in 1916 during the First World War, but tried for treason as head of state of the collaborationist Vichy government after World War II. Were his actions those of a traitor? - or a patriot facing the total disintegration of his country? In exploring the actions of this controversial figure, Nicholas Atkin also reveals the divisions and uncertainties of France herself.
At the time of its founding, few predicted that the Fifth Republic would survive. It is a regime whose obituary has been written several times over, but which stubbornly refuses to die. Adopting a chronological framework, this up-to-date study examines how the regime emerged out of the chaos of the Algerian crisis, how its political evolution has been very different from that envisaged by de Gaulle, and why it has endured. Nicholas Atkin explains the success of the Fifth Republic but likewise illustrates the underlying problems within it. As the 2002 presidential elections have shown, although there is little prospect of regime change, liberal democracy is not in a particularly healthy state. While the political narrative takes centre stage, Atkin also explores the key social, economic and international developments which have shaped the modern history of France and affected its standing both in Europe and the rest of the world.
The years 1934 to 1944 remain the most contentious and dramatic decade in modern French history. Covering the Occupation, the Vichy regime, the Resistance and collaboration, Nick Atkin provides an important introduction to this key period. Accessible and concise, the book offers a wide-ranging synthesis of key themes and events. Looking ahead to the present day, the book also examines how the French establishment and public have coped with the legacy of Vichy, and explains why the occupation is still ever present in French politics and everyday life.
Expert contributors write on the experiences of civilians who lived through occupation and bloodshed in the First World War; the Russians who lived or died during the the devastating civil war in 1917-1922, leading eventually to the terrors of Stalinism; the Spaniards of many factions who fought against each other in bloody civil wars; the ordinary people of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and other countries who faced the hardship and horrors of the Second World War; and the ethnic- and religious-based fighting and atrocities, often targeted at civilians, in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 into the twenty-first century. Carefully selected sources for further research help users find additio...
"[This book] charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity"--Amazon.com.
Catholicism, once the protean monster, still functions as a complex component of French identity. No consideration of modern France would be complete without reference to the enduring impact and influence of Catholicism on the life of the nation. This volume sets out to capture some of the variety and significance of the Catholic phenomenon in twentieth-century secular France, and to express something of its extraordinary vitality and interest. Each contribution focuses on a specific theme or period crucial to an understanding of the role played by French Catholics and their Church. Collectively, these studies reveal that Catholics were involved in almost every event of consequence and voiced an opinion on almost every issue. Equally, the volume offers a collage of insights which reflects the fragmentation of Catholic activity and attitudes as the century progressed. Being Catholic in modern France no longer means the espousal of a particular political or social agenda. Nor does it necessarily mean regular and traditional religious observance, or even strict adherence to the dictates of the Church. Modern French Catholicism truly has many mansions.
Who were the senior generals who took France through the First World War, and why do we know so little about them? They commanded the largest force on the Western Front through both humiliating defeats and forgotten victories; they won international respect and adoration, but also led their army to infamous mutiny. Nevertheless, the French and their allies, under a French General in Chief, would eventually achieve final victory over Imperial Germany. It is extraordinary that this remarkable group of men has been so neglected in histories on the war. Previous studies are outdated and haven't tapped the wealth of primary source material in France's military archives. It is this gap in the literature and in the understanding of the conflict that this thought-provoking and original volume is designed to address. It takes a collective biographical approach to the leading French soldiers who ran the war on the Western Front.
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After serving two and a half years as a stretcher-bearer on the Western Front, Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote that he would “a thousand times rather be throwing grenades or handling a machine gun than be supernumerary as I am now.” Mobilized by military laws dating to 1889 and 1905 that opened the clergy’s ranks to conscription and removed their exemption from combat, Teilhard and his fellow men of the cloth served France in the tens of thousands—and nearly half of them served in combat positions. Patriot Priests tells us how these men came to be at war and how their experiences transformed them and French society at large. The letters and diaries of these priests rev...