Contenu du sommaire : Varia

The « officers » of the prefecture or the frustrated emergence of new administrative « ranks » in the nineteenth century. This article aims to shed light on one particularly obscure group : the intermediate ranks of civil servants in the préfectures and sous-préfectures (chef de division, head clerks and secretaries). All are agents who are under the authority of high-ranking civil servants of the préfecture (préfet, sous-préfet and general secretary), but also have some managerial responsibilities themselves. Analysis of their activity demonstrates that they played an increasingly strategic role in the service of the préfectures : their technical competence increased as the managerial element of their position became more important... At the same time, their lack of national status, which was also the lot of their subordinates, thwarted their self-assertion as a separate group. They had very few opportunities to develop their careers and the departmental basis of their legal status made it difficult for them to organize collectively. Hence we must ask the question : what precisely distinguished them from “simple employees” ? Among the answers would be the difference in the officer's salaries and the awarding of medals and titles to them as an important symbolic compensation. Ultimately, the history of these “officers” of the préfectures, is a good example of the lag between French law and factual reality. This history also shows that the emergence of intermediate administrative groups in the nineteenth century is a more complex phenomenon than it first appears to be, and hence deserves careful reevaluation.

Rural postman in France before 1914 : a new mediator at work. The rural postman, who appeared in 1830, has attained social and economic significance through his representation in literature and the arts. His place in French society can be compared to the teacher or the gendarme with whom he shares an affinity. However, he cannot be compared to these other professions in terms of his representation in our national history, despite the fact that his case permits historians to examine many tricky issues – in the history of communication, the history of administrative hierarchy, and finally, the history of sociability. He is the successor of the pedestrian messenger [messagers-piétons] who was responsible for circulating information between local State representatives. He symbolizes the strong hierarchy characterizing French administration. He personifies the ambivalence of civil service employment in that he is sometimes feared by the autochthons, and yet also often appreciated by the population for his vital function. It was through the task of the mail round – the long-standing public demonstration of his hard work – that he was accepted, praised or derided. But on every occasion, he has been used by nineteenth century political regimes as a kind of cement for French national identity, helping to promote territorial equality among the French.

Acts of indiscipline during the Algerian war : the protest of French soldiers recalled in 1955. Acts of protest within the military in September and October 1955, led by recalled soldiers, disrupted manœuvres at the beginning of the war in Algeria. From the slogans used during the protests to the violence delaying departure to Northern Africa, the soldiers expressed their opposition in more or less clear-cut terms. Political and military authorities suppressed the leaders and tried to limit the growth and reach of this movement. By establishing a typology of actions used by these recalled soldiers, and by studying the content of their protests, this article seeks to question the meaning of this revolt, its repercussions, and its place in the memory of the Algerian war.

The state of emergency law (1955-2005). The history of a law from colonial Algeria to contemporary France. This article explores the introduction and use of the state of emergency law between 1955 and 2005. This law bears the mark of the Algerian war, as it was created in 1955 and modified in 1960. Ultimately it resembles martial law except for the fact that the special measures it provides become the responsibility of civilian authorities rather than the army. The state of emergency law was introduced in Algeria in 1955, in France in 1958 and again from 1961 to 1963, in France's Pacific island territory of New Caledonia in 1985 and then in France again in 2005. Hence even if it is presented in current debates as a colonial law, it was during the Gaullist period that the law experienced its longest, most loose application – against the French forces fighting de Gaulle's Algerian policy, his republican regime and his own rule. This law, then, is doubly rooted in French history : as a law conceived as a response to pro-independence revolutions, but also as a law of domestic political repression on the occasions when the Republic was forced to face its various « enemies », whether these be the « outlaws » of the French revolution or the communists of the twentieth century.