French Leaders Research Articles

The French Challenge: Adapting to Globalization

In August 1999 a forty-six-year-old sheep farmer name Jose Bove was arrested for dismantling the construction site of a new McDonald's restaurant in the south of France. A few months later Bove built on his fame by smuggling huge chunks of Roquefort cheese into Seattle, where he was among the leaders of the antiglobalization protests against the World Trade Organization summit. Bove's crusade against helped provoke a debate both within France and beyond about the pros and cons of a world in which financial, commercial, human, cultural, and technology flows move faster and more extensively than ever before. As the French struggle to preserve the country's identity, heritage, and distinctiveness, they are nonetheless adapting to a new economy and an interdependent world. This book deals with France's effort to adapt to and its consequences for France's economy, cultural identity, domestic politics, and foreign relations. The authors begin by analyzing the structural transformation of the French economy, driven first by liberalization within the European Union and more recently by globalization. By examining a wide variety of possible measures of and liberalization, the authors conclude that the French economy's adaptation has been far reaching and largely successful, even if French leaders prefer to downplay the extent of these changes in response to political pressures and public opinion. They call this adaptation globalization by stealth. The authors also examine the relationship between trade, culture, and identity and explain why has rendered the three inseparable. They show how is contributing to the restructuring of the traditional French political spectrum and blurring the traditional differences between left and right. Finally, they explore France's effort to tame --maitriser la mondialisation --and the possible consequences and lessons of the French stance for the rest of the world.

La société roumaine à la lumière des rapports consulaires français de Bucarest et de Iassy, pendant les années antérieures à l’union des Principautés (1856-1859)

During the 1856-1859 period, the Romanian society was clearly dominated by great expectations, stimulated by the favourable international perspectives for achieving the national Romanian aspirations shared by the population in Moldavia and Walachia. Both the general European and local conditions made France the aim of these expectations. France itself accepted to support the Romanians and trusted them. In a practical manner this made necessary for the French leaders to know much better the Romanian partner, the society and its perspectives. The Romanian energies and chances had to be more closely evaluated in the context of European politics. From this new perspective the French consular despatches became instrumental for the policy makers in Paris. But they also remain a rich source of historical informations judging from both French and Romanian angles, as to their reciprocal approaches.

Bilateral Summit Diplomacy in Western European and Transatlantic Relations, 1956–63

This article examines the strengths and weaknesses of summit diplomacy in both theory and practice. The focus is bilateral summitry among the Western allies during the Cold War, but the theoretical arguments are applicable to other regions, time periods and contexts. After weighing the theoretical arguments on personal diplomacy by heads of government and state, the article analyses a series of case studies drawn from the late 1950s and early 1960s. These include meetings of British, French, West German, and US leaders and the article draws on archival research in all four countries. The meetings considered include both successful instances of personal diplomacy, such as the 1956 encounter between Konrad Adenauer of West Germany and Guy Mollet of France which led to the creation of the European Common Market, and failed summits, such as those between Charles de Gaulle of France and Harold Macmillan of Britain in 1962 on the subject of Britain’s entry into the European Community.

Carnets du Journaliste Catholique Alexandre Delmer (1860-1889), Tome IV: 1870-1872. ed. by Marie-Thérèse Delmer

BOOK REVIEWS139 activities he was a negotiator with government ministers and a member of a Royal Commission. But the period of his efforts to defend Wesleyan education saw also the contraction of this type of schooling. On the question of maintainingWesleyan schools, Rigg clashed with Hugh Price Hughes and some other leading Wesleyans. At a few points in the book more explanation would have been a benefit, but this is a well-researched study which clearly charts the complex story of Wesleyan education in relation to rival developments. It forms a very useful addition to the growing literature on nineteenth-century Methodism. Ian Machin University ofDundee Carnets dufournaliste CatholiqueAlexandre Delmer (1860-1889),Tome IV: 1870-1872. Edited by Marie-Thérèse Delmer. [Bibliothèque de la Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique, Fascicule 81.] (Brussels: Editions Nauwelaerts; Louvain-la-Neuve: Collège Erasme. 1998. Pp. 944. Fr.b. 1800 paperback.) This final volume of the notebooks of the hard-working Belgian journalist, Alexandre Delmer (1835-1915), covers three years of momentous political and religious events which range from the Vatican Council's declaration of papal infallibility to the Franco-Prussian War and Paris Commune. The central event in Delmer's professional life during these years is his decision to transform a weekly, Courrier de Bruxelles, into a daily Catholic newspaper to counteract the liberalism of his former employer,/owrai?/ de Bruxelles. The volume concludes with an appendix covering the brief entries of November and December , 1889, in which Delmer resigns from the Courrier over a difference of opinion and becomes a librarian at the University of Liège. As in the earlier volumes, Delmer reveals not only his views on the political questions of the day but also his personal worries and everyday activities. He supported universal suffrage, distrusted liberal politicians, and was troubled by rumors of the activities of King Leopold II. The reader also learns of his religious practices (e.g., confessions and communions, charitable works), of his occasional leisure activities (e.g., riding horseback, reading classical and contemporary works), of the difficulties in his professional life (e.g., long hours, disagreements with others, starting and financing a daily) and in his personal life (e.g., the unsuccessful search for a wife, the insanity and death of his brother Louis, the fidelity to a friend who was in legal trouble). Delmer is sympathetic toward the French and comments on the political situation in France as well as on French leaders (both Catholic and political). Unfortunately , there is nothing in this volume about the siege of Paris, probably because he received no information during those months but possibly because there are missing entries dating from December, 1870, and January, 1871. In 140bookrevipjcs commenting on the events of May, 1871 (Paris Commune and aftermath), he labeled the Communards "monstres" (p. 379) who killed Archbishop Darboy He opposed the militarism of the government and wrote that France would be saved by the Church and Catholic education rather than by military action. Catholicism is the essential element in Delmer's life, and he is conscious of his vocation as a Catholic journalist. He opposed Belgian separation of Church and State as being detrimental to Catholic interests. The Italian question convinced him of the necessity of a second daily Catholic newspaper in Brussels which would more ardently support the Pope. The description and narration of Delmer's securing financing and collaborators show him to be a determined and persevering man of principle. His seeking the active approbation of the Belgian bishops and papal nuncio reveals the close connection between the press and the Belgian hierarchy. In this volume as in the previous three, there are extensive indices (about ninety pages). These research aids include brief identifications and references to all four volumes. Since there is no introduction to this volume, the introductory biography in Volume I is indispensable for providing a context for this volume . Delmer's granddaughter's editing is once again meticulous; she inserts relevant letters mentioned in the notebooks to provide a fuller picture of Delmer's ideas and activities. The four volumes published over the past decade provide a useful source for understanding the life and views of a...

The Economics of French Rule in Indochina: A Biography of Paul Bernard (1892–1960)

This article uses a biography of banker and economist Paul Bernard to describe the debates that influenced economic policy makers and business circles during the last quarter century of French rule in Indochina. Bernard, from the Great Depression through to his death in 1960, exercised considerable influence on the way French leaders thought about the economy of their Southeast Asian colony and of their overseas territories as a whole. As a financier, he also played a part in its shaping. This article outlines his business activities, especially as managing director of the French and Colonial Finance Company (SFFC), an important colonial finance house, and is to this extent a business history. Bernard, finally, participated in the state planning of the colonial economy during the heyday of French interventionism. From the point of view of his involvement, the article describes the role of the state in colonial economic development. His involvement was both constructive, in the drawing up of Indochina's industrialization plans, and critical, in repeated attacks on what he saw as misguided or irrelevant policy. He did not confine his comments to economic matters, and his criticism of the administration of Indochina may be taken as a running commentary of the final decades of France's colonial engagement in Southeast Asia.

Political Culture and Cultural Politics: The Reconstruction of French Radio after the Second World War

Complaining in May 1946 that the French airwaves were polluted with 'this vile froth from the cafe-concert, these endless songs sung by floozies and hoodlums', the writer Jean Schlumberger asked, 'Why must our entertainment broadcasts be of such a humiliating vulgarity? To radio critic Jean Thevenot, however, French radio in 1946 suffered from 'numerous artistic broadcasts based on a snobisme of the obscure, the exclusive, the pretentious', and he called the national network 'a heavy network crushing all of France with boredom'.2 Although arguments such as these have appeared in debates over culture and the mass media throughout the twentieth century in France, the debate over radio in 1945 and 1946 featured a particular urgency and intensity. With most of the country's radio system having been destroyed by the departing German army, and with the new Resistance-led government seeking to distance itself from the pre-war and Vichy approaches to broadcasting, many French leaders saw a rare opportunity to redesign the structure of the country's mass media, creating a centralized state radio system that would unify, enlighten, and entertain the entire nation. As with many other aspects of reconstruction in France, however, the reconstruction of radio had to proceed with severely limited financial and material resources. Even after requisitioning all remaining privately-owned broadcasting equipment in November 1944, the French government had only enough equipment and money for one national network and one smaller Parisian network, both of which it placed under the control of the Radiodiffusion francaise (RDF), a largely autonomous branch of the Ministry of Information.3 Gathering all of the

THE MILLER'S MULE: WRITING THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL MUSIC

On Tuesday 26 March 1918, Sir Douglas Haig 'lunched from a lunch-box at Doullens' at the conclusion of an auspicious occasion.' The meeting that had taken place that day between British and French leaders resulted in the appointment of Ferdinand Foch as coordinating commander for all French, American and British forces on the Western Front. Almost 50 years later, the story of the meeting at Doullens was told in very different ways by two British historians, Correlli Barnett and A. J. P. Taylor.2 Together, these two accounts illustrate the ways in which the interpretation of primary material (Haig's diary) can lead to sharply diverging results.

Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870

Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870

La rupture franco-britannique de 1940. Le conseil suprême interallié, de l'invasion à la défaite de la France

The Franco-British split of 1940. The Supreme War Council from the invasion to the defeat of France, François Bédarida. Could the Supreme War Council, created during the summer of 1939 to unify French and British strategies, survive the storm of May-June 1940 ? Confronted with the traumatic rout of their army, most French leaders took the path of defeatism, while with Churchill, the British opted resolutely for a light at ail costs. From then on, as can be seen by following the various summit meetings, only a few weeks were needed to lead yesterday's alies to the breaking point.

The Correspondence of Richard Price

This third and final volume in the series completes the known extant correspondence of Richard Price (1723-1791). Perhaps best known as a political philosopher, Price made significant contributions to Anglo-American intellectual life in the late eighteenth century in a variety of fields. This remarkable collection of letters, most previously unpublished, is impressive for the breadth of topics covered--religion, theology, politics, education, liberty, finance, demography, and insurance.Price's correspondence with Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Rush, and other Americans concern the issues of slavery, the rebellion in Massachusetts, use of paper money, opposition to the establishment of religion, and the status of the federal government. Letters to Priestly, Lansdowne, and others in Britain are about science and technology, the crisis in the United Provinces, armed neutrality, the national debt, revolution, religious sects, and foreign relations. In his correspondence with French leaders following the fall of the Bastille, particularly with le Duc del la Rochefoucauld, Price expresses his high hopes for the growth of civil and religious freedom in France.Indispensable for an understanding of the work of one of the best known and most distinguished Welshmen of the eighteenth century, this book--and the series--;will also be of interest to those who study the history of ideas.

The Parity That Meant Superiority: French Naval Policy towards Italy at the Washington Conference, 1921-22, and Interwar French Foreign Policy

On December 16, 1921, Charles Evans Hughes (and President Warren Harding) pressed Aristide Briand to accept the famous 5, 5, 3, 1.75, 1.75 ratio on capital ships already reached by the United States, Great Britain, and Japan at the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament. France and Italy had been assigned the lower figures. Warning the French premier that the success of the entire conference hinged on his decision, the American secretary of state suggested that France ought to reconstruct its economy and country rather than build battleships-a threat from France's major creditor.' Briand and other French leaders responded positively as long as French demands in lighter ships (cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and others) were respected. Furthermore, although

An 1853 Formula for Ottoman Victory

Eighteen hundred and fifty-three was a fateful year in European diplomacy. The irritating and danger-laden Eastern Question once more moved out of the control of Europe's statesmen; and when the Ottoman and Russian empires locked in combat French and British leaders moved rapidly to form an alliance with the Turks. While objecting to implications by Tsar Nicholas that the government in Constantinople was “sick” and “dying,” the western nations testified to the validity of his remarks by their actions. Turkish moribundity was taken for granted in the next two years, and Turkey's allies were to treat her virtually as a satellite.

Note on the “Alternation” of French and English Leaders in the Liberal Party of Canada

Bien qu'on ne l'ait jamais établi explicitement dans les traités de politique canadienne, il règne une large croyance au sujet de la tradition d'une alternance entre leaders d'origine française et anglaise à la tête du Parti libéral du Canada. Cette note examine les opinions à cet égard des délégués au congrès de leadership du Parti libéral des 4–6 avril 1968. Elle se fonde sur les réponses données à une section d'une enquête, faite à différents niveaux, à la mi-mars 1968. L'échantillonnage était de 215 délégués sur 2475.Tandis que 61 pour cent des délégués compris dans l'échantillonnage étaient d'avis que la tradition avail déjà existé, 58 pour cent opinèrent que ce n'était pas une tradition valable. Les délégués de langue anglaise étaient encore plus enclins à s'opposer à la tradition que ceux de langue française. Davantage, parmi ceux qui estimaient qu'il s'agissait là d'une tradition valable, seulement 43 pour cent furent d'avis qu'il fallait la maintenir. Ainsi nous avons la preuve que, bien que le choix de Pierre Elliott Trudeau semble prolonger une tradition apparente, les délégués qui Font élu voulaient rompre la tradition.

French Elite Perspectives on the United Nations

The purpose of this paper is to identify the perspectives which govern the opinions of French leaders toward the United Nations. Having identified these perspectives, we shall seek to characterize the differences between them in terms of their motivation, content, and outcome. Our objective is to qualify conventional stereotypes that have been more repeated than investigated, such as that “the French” are hostile to the UN because they are “nationalists”. While traditional nationalism is still a powerful political emotion in France, it is expressed in various ways among contemporary Frenchmen. The varieties of French nationalism today include—and the paradox is more apparent than real—both commitments to internationalism and loyalties to supranationalism.

Post-War Government and Politics of French Indo-China

Previous articleNext article No AccessPost-War Government and Politics of French Indo-ChinaCharles A. MicaudCharles A. Micaud Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Politics Volume 9, Number 4Nov., 1947 Sponsored by the Southern Political Science Association Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2125739 Views: 6Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Christian Tradition in the English Labour Movement

Whether we date the beginning of the English Labour Movement from the years when the famous “Junta” of trade union secretaries consolidated the societies of skilled workmen in the mid-Victorian period, trace its origins to fiercely democratic Chartism, or earlier still to Robert Owen's “socialism” and the national trades-union of a “New Moral World,” the Labour Movement as we know it to-day in Great Britain is really but little more than fifty years old—its course steadily, at first almost imperceptibly, directed to a co-operative commonwealth.Two notes in the character of this movement have always puzzled and often shocked the leaders of continental trade unionism. Our British trade unions never require profession of political faith from their members; neither do they encourage hostility to the Christian religion. They seek neither to overturn the state nor intrude the dogma of atheism. This indifference to the “materialist conception of history”, and all the rest of it as revealed to Karl Marx, perplexed and distressed the German labour leaders in the years before the War. The Marxian “class-conscious proletariate” should quite definitely affirm its aloofness from Christianity the Germans maintained. French leaders of labour, Catholic and secularist alike, shrugged their shoulders at les Anglais, with their Catholics and Protestants, agnostics and freethinkers, all mixed up in the same trade unions.