A History of Modern France offers a framework to understand modern French history through a survey of the dramatic events that have punctuated its history from the eighteenth century to the present day.
Covering events such as the French Revolution, the two World Wars and the more recent election of Emmanuel Macron and the "yellow vest" movement, the book takes a balanced approach to the competing interpretations of modern France inspired by its history. This edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the most recent scholarship on topics including French imperial history and the empire’s postcolonial legacy, the history of women and gender, and the French experience of World War I. A new section extends the narrative into mid-2019, and additional emphasis has been given to the role of historical memory in the making of French identity. Taking a chronological approach, the book is approachable for students and provides a clear and understandable picture of the history of modern France.
Supported by further reading that has been updated to include the most recent publications, the book is the ideal introduction to the history of modern France for students of this fascinating country.
List of Figures
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 "The Oldest Nation of Europe"
2 Eighteenth-Century French Society and Economy
3 Culture and Thought in Eighteenth-Century France
4 Government under Challenge
5 Collapse of the Old Monarchy
6 Successes and Failures of the Liberal Revolution
7 The Radical Revolution
8 The Return to Order
9 The Napoleonic Years
10 The Restoration
11 The July Monarchy and Its Critics
12 A New Social World
13 The Revolution of 1848: The Crisis of Bourgeois Society
14 The Second Empire’s Decade of Prosperity
15 The Second Empire in Difficulties
16 The Paris Commune and the Origins of the Third Republic
17 The Republicans in Power
18 Economic Depression and Political Crises
19 The Dreyfus Affair and the Bloc Républican
20 Culture and Society at the Fin De Siècle
21 The Belle Époque
22 The Plunge into War
23 Crisis, Victory, and Disillusionment
24 France between the Wars
25 The Illusion of Normality
26 From the Popular Front to the War
27 France in the Second World War
28 The Road to Liberation
29 The Revival of the Parliamentary Republic
30 From the Fourth to the Fifth Republic
31 Politics and Economy in De Gaulle’s Republic
32 Society and Culture during the "Thirty Glorious Years"
33 May 1968 and the End of the Gaullist Era
34 The Mitterrand Years
35 France Enters a New Millennium
36 A New Age of Instability
Appendix: For Further Reading
Index
Biography
Jeremy D. Popkin is the William T. Bryan Chair of History at the University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky, USA). In addition to his new comprehensive history, A New World Begins: The Story of the French Revolution, he has published Revolutionary News: The Press in France, 1789–1799; You Are All Free: The Haitian Revolution and the Abolition of Slavery; and A Short History of the French Revolution.