History of France

Twentieth Century

King Louis XIV

Prior to French Revolution (1789)

• ruled by kings

• Napoleon Emperor 1803-1815

• restoration of monarchy until 1848

• Napoleon III 1848-1870

French defeated easily by the Germans.

Democratic form of government after a period of anarchy.

Prior to French Revolution (1789-1793)

• France was an absolute monarchy.

• The nobility didn’t pay taxes.

• Taxes on the middle class and peasants kept being raised.

• The clergy had considerable power

After the Revolution

• Napoleon I Emperor 1803-1815

• restoration of monarchy until 1815-1848

• Napoleon III 1848-1870

French defeated easily by the Germans.

Democratic form of government after a period of anarchy (The Third Republic)

Second Empire (1852-1870)

• Period when there were “nouveaux riches”,

(people who had money but lacked taste)

• Architecture and furniture were very heavy and quite ornamental.

• Sartre chose this style for “hell”

Second Empire furniture

Paris Opera Garnier

Franco-Prussian War 1870

• France soundly defeated by the Germans in 1870– lost Alsace and Lorraine (two provinces)

• government crisis: Third Republic started

• democratic government with parliament

Nationalism developed

• in France, Germany, Britain strong sense of nationalism

• alliances drew France into World War I

World War I (1914-1918)

• long, difficult and bloody war

• many casualties on both sides

• many of the battles fought on French soil

• France was allied with Great Britain, Russia and the U.S.

• heavy debt from the war

• France took back Alsace and Lorraine

picture of WWI

another picture WWI

Between the two wars

• FRENCH WERE TIRED OF WAR• Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933• French didn’t take him seriously• allowed him to rearm the Rhineland (adjacent to

France)• allowed Germany to take over Czechoslovakia and

Poland• Maginot line (fortress built that was supposed to

prevent German invasion)

Maginot line

French defeat

• Germans attacked Poland in 1939

• France (ally of Poland) declared war on Germany

• Germans invaded France in June, 1940.

• Easily defeated the French

• Germans used French industry to continue the war

Occupation by Germans

• Northern part of France was occupied by the Germans.

• Southern part had a puppet regime favorable to Germans

• Some French collaborated with the Germans

• Underground Resistance movement(Camus, Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir)

map of occupied France

Charles DeGaulle

Leader of the Free-French army and the Resistance.

France liberated

• Normandy invasion by allied troops (many American)

• Troops landed on the shores of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and fought their way to liberate Paris from the Germans in August, 1944.

Post-war Mentality

• guilt feelings – collaborators– could have stopped Germans in the early days

of Hitler– many French Jews turned over to Nazis

• inadequacy (easily defeated)• discouragement

two world wars in a thirty year period

Existentialism

• literary and philosophical movement of the 1940’s and 50’s

• helped people to not dwell on past mistakes

• helped them to move beyond defeatist ideas

Bad Faith• Excuses used to avoid action.

“I didn’t have time”

“I intended to do it later.”

• Failure to take responsibility for actions

“ I was only following orders.”

“__________ wanted me to do it.”

• Guilt, regret, blame for past actions “ I should never have done that.”

“It’s ____________’s fault.”

Change

• Change can only occur when we decide to act differently.

• We need to accept responsibility for what we have done and move on.

• We give up the need for blame or guilt.

Situation of man in the universe

• ACTIONS define us– only the present moment counts– intentions, motives are irrelevant– not taking action is a choice

• action presupposes a choice– always a choice

• existence is a constant exercise of liberty

Denial of supernatural

• Good and Evil exist for men only by men.

• Universe is absurd

• A Human is basically alone

(relationships difficult)

Freedom

• Man is condemned to freedom, a freedom from all authority, which he may seek to evade, distort, and deny but which he will have to face if he is to become a moral being.

Threats to liberty

• torture

• “hell” state of mind where one is deprived of liberty, when one no longer has a choice

• presence of others ( I look to others and form opinions of myself based on their reactions to me)

• ensemble of myths, fiction

• status-quo