Contenu du sommaire

Revolutionary memory places and republican communion, Odile Rudelle. In the debates occasioned by the Bicentennial celebrations one can see the awakening of an old obsession : how to leave Terror behind and found a democracy capable of preventing its return. France's national memory has ratified the idea of a Republic founded by schooling. But the memorial triumph of a de Gaulle in the France of 1989 suggests that this consensus is over : thanks to the institutional achievements of the Fifth Republic, the Republic which has triumphed gradually is that founded on the Constitution, at the risk of creating some embarrassment for the Bicentennial.

The left, the fight and colonial issues in France, from the 1880s to the 1960s, Jacques Marseille. Left/right : applied to the colonial question, have the divisions of French political remained relevant ? A study of three decisive debates makes it possible to challenge the simplistic cliches : the early century discussion concerning the relations between the colonized and the metropolitan French ; that of the 1930s on the need to industrialize the colonies, and finally the debate of the 1950s on the economic cost of colonial domination for the « mother-country ». The analysis reveals the paradoxes of conflicts more complex than they appear. Part of the left, conscious of its civilizing and emancipating mission, opposed part of the right which, in the name of economic pragmatism, defended theses likely, in retrospect, to seem perhaps more in conformity with the interests of the colonized peoples.

Money, politics and aviation. The Aéropostale affair, 1931-1932, Nicolas Neiertz. In the 1920s and 1930s, thanks to the Compagnie Aéropostale and the exploits of its pilots, France seemed to occupy a choice place in the market of international air navigation, particularly in South America. But the early 1930s were marked by the « Aéropostale affair », which was the talk of the town as it revealed ambiguous links between the business and the political communities. An active and ambitious entrepreneur, Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont ; a series of Aviation Ministers conscious of State prerogatives ; important names on the political stage implicated (e.g. P.-E. Flandin) : all the ingredients were there for a complex political-financial scandai, whose analysis leads to a reflection on the nature and functions of this type of affair in a System of parliamentary democracy.

The development of telephones in France since the 1950s, Pascal Griset. The post World War II development of telephones in France shows how choices in the field of telecommunications can be stakes for political rivalries, but it also reveals the qualities and the limitations of a French model of industrial policy. While the development of telephones involved many

Feminism in France since May '68, Jane Jenson. Recently much in heard of the end of feminism and post-feminism in France. Soixante-huitard women sense that their movement lives no more. Political, state and intelllectual institutions may be dominated by ex-gauchiste s, they are overwhelmingly male. The economy may be rebuilding, restructuring increases the wage gap between women and men. To understand this somewhat perverse conclusion, it is necessary to explore the history of the women's movement and document the way in which it has closely followed the changing fortunes of the Left.

Zionism in the Ottoman Empire at the dawn of the 20th century, Esther Benbassa. Did Jews living in Muslim lands really count for the Zionist movement ? Whatever the answer, Zionism was perceived in certain Ottoman Jewish circles as a new possibility, better adapted to local demands. It enabled various strategies to be developed there, depending on the times and the people. Zionism also acted as a factor of mobilization and identity in the various strata of Jewish society, as important as the objectives set at the top. Zionism was not spared the questions that shook Ashkenaz Zionism elsewhere, in particular those of community membership and of nationalism.