Nov 18, 2004
Damn French, always standing in our way
No one in America appreciates a Gallicist. Claiming to know and understand the French is a step backward from being a Germanist (and I can claim to be both). The parade of books and articles that have been published in the last two years have armed the public with straw men arguments that form the basis of American familiarity with France. Each one claims that the nation is full of ungrateful contrarians bent on undermining American will.
Our Oldest Enemy is no exception. I have read reviews by conservatives who describe its argument as simplistic. Critics (willfully) ignore the contributions and assistance that France has provided to the US. The universalism, an exaggerated aspect of French political culture, is a legitimate target for criticism, but it is hardly different from the universalism of American democracy that is currently forced onto the world.
However, the notion of France being our oldest enemy is simplistic as well. How many states could claim that status? Very few were sufficiently organized and powerful to project their interests in a way that confronted American policy. In 1776 there were five: England, Portugal, Spain, the United Provinces, and, of course, France. Only two survived as world powers.
France is the straw man for promoting unfiltered American power. One nation stands in the way of the American will: the exercise of power is the means of defeating a weak, obstructionist nation.
BTW, I also want to congratulate Kevin Boyle, who was the graduate chair of history at UMass-Amherst when I was there, for winning the National Book Award.
Our Oldest Enemy is no exception. I have read reviews by conservatives who describe its argument as simplistic. Critics (willfully) ignore the contributions and assistance that France has provided to the US. The universalism, an exaggerated aspect of French political culture, is a legitimate target for criticism, but it is hardly different from the universalism of American democracy that is currently forced onto the world.
However, the notion of France being our oldest enemy is simplistic as well. How many states could claim that status? Very few were sufficiently organized and powerful to project their interests in a way that confronted American policy. In 1776 there were five: England, Portugal, Spain, the United Provinces, and, of course, France. Only two survived as world powers.
France is the straw man for promoting unfiltered American power. One nation stands in the way of the American will: the exercise of power is the means of defeating a weak, obstructionist nation.
BTW, I also want to congratulate Kevin Boyle, who was the graduate chair of history at UMass-Amherst when I was there, for winning the National Book Award.