Church, State, and Education in France From the Falloux to the Ferry Laws: A Reassessment

Abstract

Contrary to the traditional interpretation of republican historiography, the Falloux Law opened a unique period of cooperation between Church and State in achieving universal primary schooling in France and expanding secondary schooling. Despite ideological disputes among extremists the curriculum in Catholic and state schools was similar. Catholic schools were particularly important in areas the State had neglected, especially girls’ schooling. By the Third Republic when universal primary schooling had been achieved and, at the secondary level Jesuit schools attracted French elites, competition rather than cooperation became the rule. That competition combined with political disputes led to the Ferry and later laws which secularized a pre-existing system of national schooling.