Aims

This course will provide a survey of France’s social and political history in the years from the beginning of the Great War to the end of the Mitterrand double presidency. Despite significant pockets of industrialisation, France at the opening of the century was predominantly rural in terms of its active population. By the end of this period, France had undergone a dramatic modernisation. Yet a series of traumatic events – wars, occupation, general strikes, and economic crisis – punctuated this progress, rendering it far from an even-paced and smooth process. Political crisis and renewal refashioned France’s Republican institutions and constitution on four different occasions.

The ‘état français’ (French state, or the Vichy regime as it became known) formed a wartime dictatorial interlude between democratic constitutions. Vichy intervened between the Third and Fourth Republics and the Algerian crisis led to the formation of the Fifth Republic in 1958. War had a profound impact upon the collective memory and identity of the French people. Each war – the Great War, the defeat of 1940 and Vichy syndrome, as well as the Algerian War (sometimes called France’s Vietnam) – reshaped society, attitudes and political cleavages. Students will develop an understanding of the complexity of the French social and political history during these years.

This module aims:
•To examine the social and political features of France between 1914 and 1995.
•To develop knowledge and understanding of the Third, Fourth and Fifth republics as well as the Vichy regime.
•To understand the role of wars and other key events in the reshaping of French society and collective memory.
•To understand elements of continuity and change in the process of French modernisation.

Outline Of Syllabus

Outline syllabus, intended as a guide only; week-by-week topics may be slightly different to the following.

France in the Twentieth Century
France and the Great War
Decline of the 3rd republic
Defeat, occupation, and Vichy
Resistance, liberation and reconstruction
French politics and society during the Cold War
Memory and the wars of decolonization: Indochina and Algeria
The General returns and the birth of the Fifth Republic
France and ‘the sixties’
End of the thirty glorious years.
The Mitterrand Years.
Revision lecture.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures impart core knowledge and an outline for further knowledge acquisition by the students themselves. Lectures allow students to develop skills in comprehension and note-taking. They explain key historical concepts and identify historical debates and points of contention. They introduce a range of source materials and images appropriate to the module. Lectures also facilitate the critical appreciation of such sources. SEMINARS encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral presentation, interpersonal communication, problem-solving skills, research skills and adaptability.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes and develops key skills in research, reading and writing. Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining student progress. The exam tests acquisition of a clear general knowledge of the subject plus the ability to think and analyse a problem quickly, to select from and to apply both the general knowledge and detailed knowledge of aspects of the subject to new questions, problem-solving skills, adaptability, the ability to work unaided, and to write clearly and concisely.

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes, develops key skills in research, reading and writing.


All Erasmus students at Newcastle University are expected to do the same assessment as students registered for a degree.
Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. This will take the form of an alternative assessment, as outlined in the formats below:

Modules assessed by Coursework and Exam:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be one essay in addition to the other coursework assessment (the length of the essay should be adjusted in order to comply with the assessment tariff); to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Exam only:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be two 2,000 word written exercises; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Coursework only:
All semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be expected to complete the standard assessment for the module; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending the whole academic year or semester 2 are required to complete the standard assessment as set out in the MOF under all circumstances.