MO4962 France and its Empire in the Twentieth Century
   
Lecturer Dr Stephen Tyre  (St Katharine’s Lodge, room 2.21a)
   
Credits 60
   
Availability 2011-2012 - semesters 1 and 2
   
Class Hour  
   
Description In 1918, the French colonial empire was at its zenith. Yet the next fifty years were characterised by imperial decline and conflict, as the certainties of the ‘age of empire’ were challenged. This module will examine the nature of French colonialism and challenges to imperial power, focusing mainly on the crucial period between 1918 and 1962. Questions that will be addressed include the role of ideology in French imperialism; the effects of imperialism on colonised societies; the ways in which imperial rule was challenged and undermined; the complex relationship between French republican ideals and imperialism; and the legacies of empire in the post-colonial era.
   
Basic Reading

R. Aldrich, Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion (1996)
M. Thomas, The French Empire between the Wars (2005)
M. Thomas, B. Moore & L.J.Butler, Crises of Empire (2008)
   

Course Structure

Semester 1

  1. Introduction
  2. The French empire in 1918
  3. Ruling the empire: Ideology and colonial policy
  4. The colonies under French rule
  5. Colonial cultures in inter-war France
  6. The empire in France: Race, immigration and culture
  7. Challenging the empire (i); Protest and repression in the colonies
  8. Challenging the empire (ii); Search for French anti-colonialism
  9. The empire at war (i); The battle for the French colonies
  10. The empire at war (ii); The effects of war on empire
  11. Post-war reforms: The ‘French Union’ and ‘colonial consensus’

Semester 2

  1. Post-war unrest and French responses
  2. War in Indochina, 1945-1954: Ideology, strategy and diplomacy
  3. Contours of anti-colonialism, 1944-1960
  4. Sub-Saharan Africa, 1944-1960: A model of peaceful transition?
  5. Algeria: The decline and fall of the colonial idea
  6. Gobbet test
  7. After the empire (i): Neo-colonialism and Francophonie
  8. After the empire (ii): Post-colonial cultures in France
  9. After the empire (iii): History and memory
  10. Conclusion: themes in the new colonial history
   
Assessment 60% examination - two 3-hour papers
40% coursework
   

Learning Outcomes
  • Understanding of key conceptual and methodological debates in colonial and non-western history
  • Ability to interpret and identify key themes in colonial and anti-colonial discourse
  • Advanced skills in interpretation and evaluation of primary sources
 
   
Restrictions Available only to students in the second year of the Honours programme