Defense and Citizenship since the French Revolution

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Some symbols perpetuate, in our collective memory, a military past that is not only glorious but directly linked to the very history of the nation. This is in no way exclusive to France, but a common reality in the age of nation-states. To shed light on this reality, the seminar will address, in a period ranging from the French Revolution to the present day, three sets of questions: 1. The problem of recruitment, that is to say the theme of the defense provided by the nation in arms, volunteering and/or conscription as schools of citizenship. 2. War as a test of the solidity of the national bond, particularly under the effect of what has been called the "totalization" of war to designate both the blurring of the distinction between military and civilians and the diversification of forces and means used in armed conflicts. 3. The army in peacetime: a society apart from society? a state within a state? Questions relating to the maintenance of order, therefore legalism, and the submission of the armed forces to civil power will be addressed there.