French Historiography And The Recent Research And Debates On Great War And Alliance Between France And Serbia

Frédéric, Dessberg

Zbornik radova Instituta za savremenu istoriju

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https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=30351

2014-2021/10/14/11:44:17

Summary/Abstract: French historiography about the Great War has taken a new direction from about twenty years. A “culture of war” has been studied in order to explain how the French soldiers and the French society could hold in the war. Concerning the battleground, a sharp debate has opposed those who put forth the “consent” of the soldiers and those who favoured their “assent” as an explanation for the lasting of the war. The studies concerning Serbia in the Great War do not take an important place in the French historiography of the Great War. Moreover, the French debate concerning a cultural approach is not really in use from the part of the historians who have studied the Balkans at war. The French authors focus on the diplomatic relations between France and Serbia. They generally consider that the two countries were allied because of their common interests and not according to an alleged friendship. Another point concerns the military cooperation. The historians agree to state that in spite of difficulties, a real brotherhood in arms did exist and helped to make the two nations closer. At last, a new ground of research concerns the image of the Serbs in the French public opinion during the Great War. This image of the Serbian fighter was positive and it has been shown as a model for the French “Poilus” thanks to the action of the war propaganda. It helped to forge in the French minds the idea of a strong ally and the myth of a French-Serbian friendship.

culture of war, French-Serbian alliance, military cooperation, propaganda