France is the ally Americans love to hate. The roots of this conflicted relationship probably date from its beginning in the 1770s when France helped American revolutionaries win against Britain.  The French Revolution followed a decade later, rooted in many of the same ideas of universal human rights.  Since that time France has had eleven different regimes, the US one.  Yet in both countries it took armed struggle and almost a century to see the aims of the founding revolutions approach reality. From Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson on, generations of Americans visited or settled in France, drawn by its culture and its reputation for openness to those on the political, artistic, or social fringes.  However, while Americans once adopted French culture, now the French decry the prevalence of McDonald’s and EuroDisney.  This course examines French culture and history from the Revolution to the present, taking as its theme the ways in which France has dealt with its Revolutionary legacy.

Goals:
Students who successfully complete the course will have (1) examined and questioned the ways the legacy of revolution and counter-revolution have affected French history; (2) worked to understand the interconnections between economic, social, cultural, and political change in this period; and (3) achieved a greater understanding of what it was like to live then and there, as opposed to here and now.

Grading:
   Class attendance and participation is expected, and will affect your grade.  If your schedule will cause you to miss more than 2 class sessions, you should seek a different course.  Grades will be based on short discussion papers (1- 1½  pages)  on the assigned reading (25%), a mid-term exam (20%), a film and history research essay (25%), and a final examination (30%).  The plus-minus grading system will be used.  The grading scale is 97-100 A+, 93-96 A, 90-92 A-, 87-89 B+, 83-86 B, 80-82 B-, 77-79 C+, 70-76 C, 60-69 D, below 60 or any form of cheating or plagiarism, F.

REQUIRED BOOKS:
    Peter Jones, The French Revolution: 1781-1804.  Longman, 2003. ISBN 0-582-77289-3.
    Pamela M. Pilbeam, Constitutional Monarchy in France, 1814 - 1848: Revolution and Stability.  Addison-Wesley Pub Co;  ISBN: 0582312108
    Philip G. Nord, The Republican Moment: Struggles for Democracy in 19th-century France.  Harvard Univ. Press, 1995.  ISBN 067476272X
    Charles Sowerwine, France Since 1870: Culture, Politics and Society.  Palgrave-McMillan, 2001.  ISBN 033365837X
    Emilie Carles, A Life of Her Own: The Transformation of a Countrywoman in 20th Century France.  Penguin.  ISBN 0-14-016965-2
    Julian Jackson, The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.  ISBN 0-19-280300-X

BOOK DISCUSSION ESSAYS:
   Periodically during the term, one or two discussion questions will be posted on the Blackboard Assignments page to serve as the basis for a very brief essay (1- 1½  pages in length, typed, double-spaced).  These discussion papers are due on the date indicated in the assignments below.  Late discussion papers will be penalized by loss of a full letter-grade a day – and the late penalty takes effect at the beginning of the class session during which the paper is due.

FILM AND HISTORY RESEARCH ESSAY:
   Each student will choose a French film and develop a paper topic that represents an issue, event, or development in French history that emerges from that film.  A list of films will be posted to the class Blackboard site; other films may be used, but only with specific approval.  The research essay (8-10 pages typed, double-spaced) should provide a critical analysis of the film in the first page or two, and then develop the chosen theme for the rest of the paper.  There will be intermediate due dates for various portions of this assignment, and as a class we will discuss how to do the research for this assignment in the UNF library.
   In preparing your paper remember that quotations must be referenced, that phrases crafted by the author of a source must be enclosed in quotation marks and noted, and that all sources must be clearly indicated in foot- or endnotes.  You may use any style which includes author, title, publication information, and page (or URL and date); the history department's preferred style is Chicago Manual of Style, which can be found easily at http://www.unf.edu/~clifford/ca/ca.html The department's policy on plagiarism and cheating is also published there.  Keep the preparation materials for your papers, and be prepared to explain the meaning of what you write.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS:

12 January - Introduction; France in the 18th century.

[19 January - Holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday; no class.]

26 January - The French Revolution.  Read Jones, The French Revolution 1787-1804.

 2 February - Napoleon and the Legacy of the French Revolution. Discussion paper due; questions will be posted on the class Blackboard site.

9 February - Two experiments with constitutional monarchy, and more revolution.  Read Pilbeam, Constitutional Monarchy, chs. 1-8.

 16 February -The Revolution of 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Second Empire.  Finish Pilbeam and begin reading Philip Nord, The Republican Moment.  Discussion paper on Pilbeam due; questions will be posted on the class Blackboard site.

 23 February - The triumph of republicanism.  Finish Nord; read Sowerwine chs. 1-2.    Discussion paper on Nord due; questions will be posted on the class Blackboard site.

 1 March - The Third Republic challenged.  Read Sowerwine, chs. 3-7.

 8 March - In-class midterm, followed by a discussion of French history and film.  A priority list of film and history topics due.

[15 March - spring break; no class.]

22 March - World War I; Emilie Carles and the French 20th century.  Read Sowerwine, ch. 8; Carles, A Life of Her Own.  Discussion paper on Carles due; questions will be posted on the class Blackboard site.

 29 March - France in Victory and the Decline of the Republic.  Read Sowerwine, chs. 9-13.

5 April - Defeat, Collaboration, Resistance, and Liberation.  Read Sowerwine, chs. 14-16; Jackson, The Fall of France: The Nazi Invasion of 1940.  Discussion paper on Jackson due; questions will be posted on the class Blackboard site.

 12 April - The struggle to re-establish the republic; more revolution.  Read Sowerwine, chs. 18-24.

19 April - The Fifth Republic after DeGaulle.  Read Sowerwine, chs. 25-28.   Film and History Papers due.

Final Examination: Monday, 26 April.