Under the Shadow of Defeat

This book presents a wide-ranging analysis of the political and cultural impact of the French defeat of 1870-71 and the emergence of widespread war remembrance for the first time in European history. This is the first significant research into the emergence of war remembrance on a mass scale before 1914. It provides fresh insights into French political culture after 1870. Based on extensive archival research, this book is the first wide-ranging analysis of how memories of the Franco-Prussian War shaped French political culture and identities. Examining war remembrance as an emerging mass phenomenon in Europe, it sheds new light on the relationship between memories and the emergence of new concepts of the nation.