Teaching Responsibility
LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:
Humanities and Social Science
Learning Methods
Seminar
Module Offerings
7105MHIST-JAN-MTP
Aims
Familiarise students with key themes and concepts in this period of historical study
Develop analytical skills to a high-level
Enhance research skills to a high-level
Learning Outcomes
1.
Develop high level knowledge and understanding of the key political and social aspects of this period in modern French history
2.
Critically analyse the historiography of the period
3.
Evaluate historical debates on a range of topics in this period of modern French history
Module Content
Outline Syllabus:With the ending of the Second World War, France was liberated from the immediate traumas of defeat and occupation. But with victory in 1945, the country was confronted with a new set of challenges. With much of its national infrastructure in ruins, many towns and cities ravaged, and an economy suffering from years of exploitation by the Germans, the task of reconstruction was immense. The physical damage of war was not all, however. After more than four years of occupation, and the social tensions and divisions wrought by this experience, it was not just the economy but equally the political body, indeed the nation as a whole, which required renewal. In the years immediately following the liberation, French political elites grappled with the challenges of reconstructing France. Looking back from the perspective of the 1980s, French commentators and academics heralded the success of these efforts. Noting how the liberation had inaugurated a new era of unprecedented economic growth and consumer wealth, undergirded by a robust welfare state, which lasted until the global economic crisis which followed in the wake of the ‘oil shock’ of the mid-1970s, historians adopted the label of the ‘thirty glorious years’ to refer to this period in post-war French history. These years witnessed profound transformations in French politics and society which many experienced as a liberating force, yet they also led to growing levels of social marginalisation, poverty and alienation. What is more, through these years of ever-growing prosperity for many of its citizens, France fought and lost two brutal colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria, marking the end of the country’s status as a major colonial empire.
Additional Information:This module engages students with the key themes and debates which marked this tumultuous period in modern French history, stretching roughly from the end of the Second World War through to the election of François Mitterand as President in 1981.