French history

Macron's Statements on Police Killing Show France has Far to Go in Acknowledging Racism

by Crystal M. Fleming

Histories of official violence against nonwhite citizens confound the nation's official policy of universalism; President Macron's description of riots as "inexplicable" shows that official colorblindness won't help the French move toward justice. 

Does the Man at the Top Get the Blame for Bankruptcy? French Nobles Found Out the Hard Way

by Christine Adams

French nobility expected a bankruptcy crisis abetted by their intransigence to force Louis XVI to accept a constitutional monarchy. They got revolution instead. Does the House Freedom Caucus understand this lesson? 

Why the French are Striking

by Moshik Temkin

Brits and Americans commonly refer to French protests as a form of national sport, which obscures the serious retrenchment of the welfare state that President Macron is seeking to oppose, and trivializes opposition to the changes. 

The French Fascination with the Cadavers of the Bastille

by Nicole Bauer

The prison held a symbolic place in the minds of antiroyalists that exceeded its actual significance; the themes of gothic horror were reflected in political tracts that denounced the horrors of imprisonment there. 

Do French Pension Protests Reveal a Lazy Nation?

by Robert Zaretsky

French workers are among the most productive in Europe, but today's protests over a potential increase in the retirement age show a long tradition of defending the value of leisure as the chance to pursue one's own ends outside of paid labor. 

What Paris Means to Black Americans

by Pamela Newkirk

Although French society has its own deep issues with colonialism, racism and nativism, the author argues that Parisians' embrace of African American culture—and African Americans— is genuine and offers a mirror to the Black experience in American cities. 

Historian Sarah Federman Tracks French National Railway's Role in Holocaust Transport

"Last Train to Auschwitz" looks at the railways as a means of escape for some, but also a tool of collaborators. 

A Paris Museum Holds 18,000 Human Skulls, but Won't Say Whose

By identifying the sources of skulls in its collection, France's Museum of Mankind fears it might open itself to demands for restitution. 

France's Return of 24 Skulls to Algeria Wasn't What it Seemed

The French and Algerian governments have both played up the gesture of reconciliation, without acknowledging that the provenance of the remains is dubious (only 6 are documented to be the skulls of Algerian resistance fighters) and they remain French property. 

Sex, Society and Scandal in 19th Century France

Historian Sarah Horowitz found the tale of Marguerite Steinheil too juicy to confine to an academic book, though the scandal shows how women navigated sex and inequality at the end of the nineteenth century. 

Philippe Pétain's Legacy Haunts the Island Where He's Buried

The current French history wars have drawn battle lines over whether Pétain's service in the first world war or his collaboration during the second should be remembered. 

A Legend of Innocence

by Daniel Solomon

Both the French left and right are impeding the teaching of how 75,000 French Jews were turned over to the Nazis. 

Zemmour Acquitted of Holocaust Denial after Crediting Nazi Collaborator with Saving Jews

While there is substantial disagreement on whether Vichy leader Philippe Pétain's decision to turn over foreign-born Jews to the Nazis was motivated by a desire to save French Jews, a court ruled that the right-wing provocateur did not engage in Holocaust denial by endorsing that view. 

To Save la République, Macron Can't Ignore the Left

by Moshik Temkin

Macron's centrist strategy in the face of a rising far right is dangerous, but reflects the long turn to the center by the Socialist Party. Can he expect left-leaning constituencies to once again vote to save France from fascism while getting nothing in return? 

The Enlightenment Precursor of the Social Media "Wife Guy"

by Meghan Roberts

The "wife guy" who self-servingly projects an image of domestic bliss and romantic devotion is not just a creation of the social media age. 

France's Socialists Adopted Neoliberalism and Punched their Tickets to Irrelevance

"What was the history that brought the French left to its current state of crisis, and does it show what other countries are going to experience in the future?"

Josephine Baker's Induction to the Pantheon Shouldn't Obscure how Other Black Women Served Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

by Rachel Anne Gillett

"Even as White European audiences fell in love with her, Black women in France criticized her and the system that lifted her up."

In Zemmour, France's Old Bigotry Finds New Voice

by Mitchell Abidor and Miguel Lago

Presidential candidate Éric Zemmour's Jewishness should not be a shield for his manipulation of France's historical bigotries for political gain.

Josephine Baker First American, Black Woman, and Performer Inducted to French Pantheon

"in 1963, Baker addressed the crowd at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She wore her French Resistance uniform with the string of medals across her breast."

Macron Commemorates 1961 Killing of Algerian Protesters by Paris Police

Fabrice Riceputi, a historian of the Algerian War who has written about the killings, described the events of Oct. 17 as “a peak in a period of state terror that is inflicted on the colonized people.”