Book contents
- French Colonialism
- New Approaches to European History
- French Colonialism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 The Rise and Fall of the Mercantilist Empire
- 2 Reinventions of Empire in the Nineteenth Century
- 3 The Mission Civilisatrice to 1914
- 4 Empire and the World Wars: 1914–45
- 5 Decolonization: 1945–62
- 6 The Empire after the Empire: 1962–Present
- Bibliography of Secondary Sources
- Index
Introduction
Why Did France Have an Empire?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2023
Book contents
- French Colonialism
- New Approaches to European History
- French Colonialism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 The Rise and Fall of the Mercantilist Empire
- 2 Reinventions of Empire in the Nineteenth Century
- 3 The Mission Civilisatrice to 1914
- 4 Empire and the World Wars: 1914–45
- 5 Decolonization: 1945–62
- 6 The Empire after the Empire: 1962–Present
- Bibliography of Secondary Sources
- Index
Summary
We can read Jean de Brunhoff’s 1931 children’s story The Story of Babar as a fable illustrating the contours of French imperial rule at a particular time in its history. Political scientists define empire simply—a polity based on asymmetrical contracting that preserves politically significant difference. If this definition provides a constant, the explanations behind it constitute the variables. The French had many explanations of just why they had an empire. This book recounts the history of those explanations, and of the contours of imperial rule that resulted from them. Resistance profoundly shaped imperial rule.
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- French ColonialismFrom the Ancien Régime to the Present, pp. 1 - 5Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023