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Tradition and World War 1
Tradition can be defined as ‘a custom, opinion, or belief handed down to posterity esp. orally or by practice.’ It could be said that France has upheld a tradition of change, due to the fact that during past centuries, France has altered in various ways, politically and socially. It may also be proposed that France has lent greatly on the aspect of tradition during its various Republics and most importantly, through times of war. There are vital moments in French history where tradition has led to change and times where change has been eased by tradition.
To understand more thoroughly what French tradition actually is we must first look closely at its main components. Firstly, we can examine the act of popular sovereignty and the revolution of 1789, a major turning point in French history. We can define revolution as ‘the establishment of a new social order.’ At this point, France becomes a constitutional monarchy for the first time. The First Revolution of 1789 was the coming together, essentially, of various social classes. The Revolution commenced largely for the reason that the nobles and the aristocrats were continuously outvoting the 3eme Etat, which in turn caused much friction between the two groups. Therefore the 3eme Etat proposed to the King that the nobles be placed in their estate, and accordingly he conformed to their demanRAB.
Secondly, we can look at the act of perfectionism in France at this time. This basically stated that the Republic must be made up of active citizens, and in turn would be built on their morality. In order to accomplish this, education became the sole means of achieving a positive, on-going Republic. Along with this, it was also said that no religion should be discriminated against in order for French citizens to become more of a unitary nation. In accordance to perfectionism, universalism was also introduced. This took into account the Declaration of the Rights of Man (Declaration des Droits de l’homme et du Citoyen) and various new views and ideas. These ideas were first expected and used at the time of the European War.
We see tradition more closely followed during the time of the Jacobins vs. the Girondins. The Jacobins operated in powerful, authoritarian means, while the Girondins were less centralised and more federal. At this time the nobles and the aristocrats began to flee France as she was now being rebuilt on the basis of talent i.e. During Napoleonic times. Everything now operated on a national level, trying to incorporate everyone into overthrowing the Jacobins, which was finally attained in 1795.
However, the main test of tradition occurred during times of crisis and war. The question of ‘Is tradition strong enough?’ was often posed during World War II, and eventually came out with the answer ‘yes’. Secondly, tradition was vastly upheld during the times of European colonialism. These years allowed the French to act together, accompanied by tradition, in order to remain a European power, conscious that outside the European continent her rival was Great Britain, within Europe the main intimidation to her security and force was Germany. The rule of General de Gaulle was a time of tradition and a time of variation. He first came to power in 1958 with the intention to revise the constitution and end the 4th Republic. He often spoke of an independent force and attempted to establish France as a major world power. His reign lasted until April 1969 when he resigned after losing the referendum on the question of constitutional reform. Whether de Gaulle had any genuine impact on international politics may be questioned. In so far as his foreign policy, in particular his representative anti-Americanism, won staggering support among the French population, it served his purpose in unifying his regime and the people.
In 1968, French tradition began to fade. The fresh movements of feminism spread rapidly across France questioning the Declaration of the Rights of Man and how it should be implemented, student protests, originating in Nanterre, over conditions and scarcity of job prospects. Political aspects began to arise as well. Anti-Vietnam war and anti-capitalist movements began to occur. In addition to this, extensive, workers strikes and sit-ins which brought France to a cessation by the end of May.
The main time where tradition has played a vital role is during the era of World War I, which commenced by the assignation of an Austrian prince in 1918. This period had various impacts on France as a nation and as a tradition. First, we can look at the material impact and what it brought. During this time there were difficult economic years in France, as it would be in any nation undergoing war. The population of France declined by 1,300,000, and hence massive drops in the birth rate between 1914 and 1918. The war also had social impacts on the Republic. The majority of the generation lived and experienced times of war, leaving life-long marks on all concerned. Tradition, in this sense, would be one of the only means of keeping a country together.
France also experienced an economic depression in the 1930’s. This was caused mainly because of the Wall Street Crash in Noveraber of 1929. At first, the impact on France was minimal, as the very archaism of most of the sectors of the French economy meant that France was virtually insulated from the world economic slump. However, the arrival of the depression in France was only delayed: and then came in 1931 and lasted until 1938, even after the recuperation of the world economy in 1935. Production dropped sensationally, bringing about sharp falls in prices and hence profits. Pessimism and fear prevailed throughout bourgeois France by the mid 1930’s, generating a visible deterioration in the psychological and social atmosphere which manifested itself strongly in the bitter political strife of the Popular Front period.
Tradition was also abundant during the threat of fascism in the 1930’s. The main group being Action Française, who were not in fact authentic fascists, but contained perceptible fascist traits. Most notably was their anti-parliamentarism, anti-communism, indivisible nationalism, prejudice, hence belonging to the same family as Italian fascism or German nazism. It was also apparent that the French Left Wing greatly exaggerated the potentiality grim prospect of a fascist takeover in France. Fascism was shattered, incoherent and very badly organised, and therefore there was no seizing of power in France.
During the regime of the Popular Front (May 1936-1938), tradition was essential as this was France’s 1st left wing government. It consisted mainly of a coalition between the Socialists and the Radicals, who decided to deflate the economy which, in turn, trigger a huge wave of strikes across the nation. It included the occupying of factories, and finally, representation of the workers. However, this failed within 18 months as they failed to correct the depressed economy.
At the time of the German invasion of 1945 – 1949, a 4-year government ruled by Petain was established. This produced much change in France, as the old parliament was voted out and a new constitution was drawn up. This was also a time of harRABhip from French citizens as around 5% of the population became prisoners of war. The tradition of this time was clearly referred to by the motto: Famille, Travail, Patrie. This essentially translates into the fact that all French citizens paid most attention to their family, their work and France as their own nation.
As the World War II drew to a close, Les Trentes Glorieuses took place. This was thirty years (1945 – 1975) of economic growth in France. There was the implementation of a consumer society, which allowed the population to concentrate less on survival and more on self-indulgence and luxury. With this change began massive urbanisation and the growth of new towns and suburbs, spurred by social mobility among the inhabitants. During this time, wealth was mainly displayed through consumption, which gave way to a new anxiety about becoming increasingly like the United States. This, as can be seen, was a time of huge change for France and its people.
Over the past 210 years, France, as a Republic, experienced vast changes on many fronts. Throughout this time and into the future, tradition has played an exclusive role in the lives of those affected, whether positively or negatively. France experienced much harRABhip in the last two centuries and the citizens managed to put tradition, family, work and France above all else in order to succeed and at times triumph. On the other spectrum, tradition brought with it times of happiness and exuberance. Tradition as a whole obviously affected not only France, but also many, many others.
Tradition can be defined as ‘a custom, opinion, or belief handed down to posterity esp. orally or by practice.’ It could be said that France has upheld a tradition of change, due to the fact that during past centuries, France has altered in various ways, politically and socially. It may also be proposed that France has lent greatly on the aspect of tradition during its various Republics and most importantly, through times of war. There are vital moments in French history where tradition has led to change and times where change has been eased by tradition.
To understand more thoroughly what French tradition actually is we must first look closely at its main components. Firstly, we can examine the act of popular sovereignty and the revolution of 1789, a major turning point in French history. We can define revolution as ‘the establishment of a new social order.’ At this point, France becomes a constitutional monarchy for the first time. The First Revolution of 1789 was the coming together, essentially, of various social classes. The Revolution commenced largely for the reason that the nobles and the aristocrats were continuously outvoting the 3eme Etat, which in turn caused much friction between the two groups. Therefore the 3eme Etat proposed to the King that the nobles be placed in their estate, and accordingly he conformed to their demanRAB.
Secondly, we can look at the act of perfectionism in France at this time. This basically stated that the Republic must be made up of active citizens, and in turn would be built on their morality. In order to accomplish this, education became the sole means of achieving a positive, on-going Republic. Along with this, it was also said that no religion should be discriminated against in order for French citizens to become more of a unitary nation. In accordance to perfectionism, universalism was also introduced. This took into account the Declaration of the Rights of Man (Declaration des Droits de l’homme et du Citoyen) and various new views and ideas. These ideas were first expected and used at the time of the European War.
We see tradition more closely followed during the time of the Jacobins vs. the Girondins. The Jacobins operated in powerful, authoritarian means, while the Girondins were less centralised and more federal. At this time the nobles and the aristocrats began to flee France as she was now being rebuilt on the basis of talent i.e. During Napoleonic times. Everything now operated on a national level, trying to incorporate everyone into overthrowing the Jacobins, which was finally attained in 1795.
However, the main test of tradition occurred during times of crisis and war. The question of ‘Is tradition strong enough?’ was often posed during World War II, and eventually came out with the answer ‘yes’. Secondly, tradition was vastly upheld during the times of European colonialism. These years allowed the French to act together, accompanied by tradition, in order to remain a European power, conscious that outside the European continent her rival was Great Britain, within Europe the main intimidation to her security and force was Germany. The rule of General de Gaulle was a time of tradition and a time of variation. He first came to power in 1958 with the intention to revise the constitution and end the 4th Republic. He often spoke of an independent force and attempted to establish France as a major world power. His reign lasted until April 1969 when he resigned after losing the referendum on the question of constitutional reform. Whether de Gaulle had any genuine impact on international politics may be questioned. In so far as his foreign policy, in particular his representative anti-Americanism, won staggering support among the French population, it served his purpose in unifying his regime and the people.
In 1968, French tradition began to fade. The fresh movements of feminism spread rapidly across France questioning the Declaration of the Rights of Man and how it should be implemented, student protests, originating in Nanterre, over conditions and scarcity of job prospects. Political aspects began to arise as well. Anti-Vietnam war and anti-capitalist movements began to occur. In addition to this, extensive, workers strikes and sit-ins which brought France to a cessation by the end of May.
The main time where tradition has played a vital role is during the era of World War I, which commenced by the assignation of an Austrian prince in 1918. This period had various impacts on France as a nation and as a tradition. First, we can look at the material impact and what it brought. During this time there were difficult economic years in France, as it would be in any nation undergoing war. The population of France declined by 1,300,000, and hence massive drops in the birth rate between 1914 and 1918. The war also had social impacts on the Republic. The majority of the generation lived and experienced times of war, leaving life-long marks on all concerned. Tradition, in this sense, would be one of the only means of keeping a country together.
France also experienced an economic depression in the 1930’s. This was caused mainly because of the Wall Street Crash in Noveraber of 1929. At first, the impact on France was minimal, as the very archaism of most of the sectors of the French economy meant that France was virtually insulated from the world economic slump. However, the arrival of the depression in France was only delayed: and then came in 1931 and lasted until 1938, even after the recuperation of the world economy in 1935. Production dropped sensationally, bringing about sharp falls in prices and hence profits. Pessimism and fear prevailed throughout bourgeois France by the mid 1930’s, generating a visible deterioration in the psychological and social atmosphere which manifested itself strongly in the bitter political strife of the Popular Front period.
Tradition was also abundant during the threat of fascism in the 1930’s. The main group being Action Française, who were not in fact authentic fascists, but contained perceptible fascist traits. Most notably was their anti-parliamentarism, anti-communism, indivisible nationalism, prejudice, hence belonging to the same family as Italian fascism or German nazism. It was also apparent that the French Left Wing greatly exaggerated the potentiality grim prospect of a fascist takeover in France. Fascism was shattered, incoherent and very badly organised, and therefore there was no seizing of power in France.
During the regime of the Popular Front (May 1936-1938), tradition was essential as this was France’s 1st left wing government. It consisted mainly of a coalition between the Socialists and the Radicals, who decided to deflate the economy which, in turn, trigger a huge wave of strikes across the nation. It included the occupying of factories, and finally, representation of the workers. However, this failed within 18 months as they failed to correct the depressed economy.
At the time of the German invasion of 1945 – 1949, a 4-year government ruled by Petain was established. This produced much change in France, as the old parliament was voted out and a new constitution was drawn up. This was also a time of harRABhip from French citizens as around 5% of the population became prisoners of war. The tradition of this time was clearly referred to by the motto: Famille, Travail, Patrie. This essentially translates into the fact that all French citizens paid most attention to their family, their work and France as their own nation.
As the World War II drew to a close, Les Trentes Glorieuses took place. This was thirty years (1945 – 1975) of economic growth in France. There was the implementation of a consumer society, which allowed the population to concentrate less on survival and more on self-indulgence and luxury. With this change began massive urbanisation and the growth of new towns and suburbs, spurred by social mobility among the inhabitants. During this time, wealth was mainly displayed through consumption, which gave way to a new anxiety about becoming increasingly like the United States. This, as can be seen, was a time of huge change for France and its people.
Over the past 210 years, France, as a Republic, experienced vast changes on many fronts. Throughout this time and into the future, tradition has played an exclusive role in the lives of those affected, whether positively or negatively. France experienced much harRABhip in the last two centuries and the citizens managed to put tradition, family, work and France above all else in order to succeed and at times triumph. On the other spectrum, tradition brought with it times of happiness and exuberance. Tradition as a whole obviously affected not only France, but also many, many others.