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Presenter: Tyler B. Nault

Faculty Sponsor: Elizabeth McCahill

School: UMass Boston

Research Area: History

Session: Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM, 165, D2

ABSTRACT

Following the crushing defeat at the end of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, France experienced an identity crisis, one that was merely the most recent in the tumultuous near-century since the Revolution. The abolition of the Bourbon monarchy, and execution of Louis XVI in 1793 began a cycle of instability: republics, emperors, and even a restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. The constant throughline in all these changes was the expansion of France’s colonial holdings. The Third Republic not only sought to create stability in the present, but in the past as well. Recent history presented a panorama of dissension, but the more distant past could provide a commonality that transcended these divisions. Whatever this past would be, it would need to be old enough to predate organized government in France, and be able to extend indefinitely. By making an identity not limited to any period of time, either in the past or future, this identity would exist outside of temporal events. Thus, the Third Republic of France created a new national identity, by means of propaganda disseminated through primary schools as an important tool, to grant the state infallibility in the past, present, and future. This presentation will explore why the Gauls were chosen for this narrative, and how the primary school textbooks of Ernest Lavisse instilled and perpetuated this myth in the minds of French students. Additionally, this presentation will explore the use of Gallic symbolism in France.