During four years of Vichy rule and German Occupation, French cinema audiences were exposed to a multiplicity of filmed propaganda. Documentary films formed an important part of the cinema experience in the dark years, and from March 1943 were made obligatory in cinemas across the entire French nation. The documentaries produced, commissioned, funded and sanctioned by the cinema section of the Vichy propaganda ministry, the Secrétariat Général à l’Information (SGI), were, though, distinct from any other propaganda produced by the Vichy authorities. Far from promoting exclusionary and potentially divisive themes like anti-Semitism and collaboration, Vichy documentary films throughout all four years of Occupation projected an image of life under Pétain which was frequently idealised and represented a more moderate approach than that taken in radio or poster propaganda. Drawing on themes which had been the subject of popular support before the Occupation, in particular the family, the Empire and French international standing, along with popular symbols like the tricolore and the Marseillaise, these films ignored the upheavals of the defeat and exode of June 1940 and instead seemed to suggest that life continued as it had done before the creation of the Vichy regime. This thesis examines for the first time the continuity of themes from before the Occupation in Vichy documentary film and investigates why documentaries were so distinct from the content and approach of other Vichy-produced propaganda, especially radio and posters. By examining career trajectories and interests of those responsible for documentary production, the thesis sheds new light on the motivations of Vichy’s functionaries. The close examination of the nature of the themes and values from before the Occupation conveyed in Vichy documentary film therefore advances our knowledge regarding the competing ideas and interests at work in the dark years of Occupation.

This thesis offers an account of dualist heresy in medieval Aquitaine. The first part asserts that the heresy referred to in early eleventh-century sources was dualist and originated in Balkan Bogomilism. It does this by combining two established methodologies. Through the first, reading the sources in their social context, it finds the poor experiencing increased poverty and oppression, and that some amongst the laity and clergy were observing signs prefiguring The End of historical time. Not unexpectedly, some responded through dissent and demanded reform and justice: a new system of values, in other words. Then the thesis adopts a comparative methodology in a 'global' context. It finds that the accounts of dissent do more than identify Apocalypticism or primitive communism. They make reference to dualist cosmology and practice. Dualists in the Balkans were intent on spreading their teaching world-wide, and this period saw increased contacts with the west. The spread of Bogomilism to Aquitaine was thus both likely and possible, and appears to have had some success. The second part of this thesis makes three contributions to the history of Catharism. First it suggests why twelfth-century Aquitaine was almost entirely untouched by the heresy except in the county of Agen. It points to actively Catholic lay authority and a relatively dynamic monasticism in Aquitaine, and finds these largely absent in the heretical Agenais. Second, it examines the Cathar diocese of Agen and the impact upon it of the Albigensian Crusade and the Medieval Inquisition. In this it argues that Agenais lay society was very diverse and divided, but notes close collaboration between its heretics and those of neighbouring Quercy. Third, it argues that a better understanding of aspects of the crusade can be gamed through its examination in the context of relations between the dukes of Aquitaine - who were also kings of England - and the counts of Toulouse, the kings of France and the Papacy.

At different times between 1545 and 1642, the navies of England and France both grew in strength and declined. This thesis traces the advances and regression of both kingdoms’ sea forces and relates these changes to concurrent developments within the state. As a comparative study, it shows that, in sharing the Channel and with an increasing use of the early modern maritime theatre, English and French naval expansion was intertwined. First, approaching the administrative transformations of both navies and, then, progressing to discuss fiscal, technological, maritime and finally aesthetic developments, this thesis highlights the relationship between naval and state strength in early modern Europe. As a comparative study of early modern state and naval development, this project has been particularly inspired by the research of Jan Glete. Consequently, through quantitative statistical analysis and other techniques, it accounts for naval and state growth. It uses a large source base of archival evidence from national and regional archives in England and France, printed documentation, and resources from museums and art galleries. As well as engaging with the military revolution debate, where it is argued that early modern naval developments justly deserve greater prominence, the thesis also produces a framework that accounts for the rise and decline of naval strength. It suggests that three principal factors can account for these developments in early modern Europe. First, naval strength was reliant upon the will, enthusiasm and political stability of the monarch. Second, transnational influence and engagement helped to shape the size and appearance of state fleets. The English Channel was an international theatre of political and cultural exchange that facilitated English and French advances. Finally, the geography of both kingdoms is explored, because the size, composition, visual design and location of state navies were conditioned by it.

This thesis will present a comparative and internationally contextualised history of Anglo-French relations in Japan between 1858 and 1868. It will introduce the concept of ‘enclave empires’ to describe the conduits for Western informal imperialism that were created in Japan by the imposition of the treaty-port system in 1858. It will aim to address longstanding gaps in the historiography by assessing that system as a multinational construct that depended upon the cooperation and collaboration of each treaty power operating within it. At the same time, it will show how the management of the Japanese treaty-port system was increasingly dominated by the British Empire and the French Second Empire, the two most powerful Western trading nations in Japan during the 1860s. It will examine how global contexts impacted upon British and French foreign policymaking during this period, and how this catalysed an increasingly bitter AngloFrench struggle for control over the ‘enclave empires’ in Japan. It will also seek to broaden the scope of the historiography beyond the sphere of diplomatic relations by considering the perspectives of prominent non-diplomatic British and French actors whenever relevant. Finally, it will address significant historiographical oversights in the use of relevant primary source material through the critical appraisal of contemporary private paper collections. By adopting this four-pronged methodological approach, this thesis will demonstrate that Anglo-French relations fundamentally defined the process of creating and developing informal ‘enclave empires’ in Japan in the decade between the conclusion of the ‘unequal treaties’ in 1858 and the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

In 2011, the Performance and Theatre Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London acquired an archive of materials relating to the French prisoners of war held at Portchester Castle from 1810 to 1814. This archive consisted of scripts, playbills, and abstracts from the prisoners’ Théâtre des Variétés built and operated in the basement of the castle’s keep. These materials have provided new and unique insights into the experiences of Napoleonic prisoners of war and have served as a catalyst for this first major critical study of Napoleonic prisoners-of-war theatricals. The majority of the theatre’s sociétaires were captured in the French defeat at the Battle of Bailen in July 1808. This study will be charting the journey of these French prisoners through their captivity in Spain, the Baeleric Islands, and Britain. While this particular group of prisoners has been the subject of previous historic surveys, their theatrical endeavours have been sidelined or relegated to footnotes or dismissed as a way to pass the time. In this study I will draw the prisoners’ theatricals to the centre of critical discussion examining their repertoire in greater detail underlining the vital role that theatre served in the prisoners’ emotional and psychological survival in captivity.

Between 1934 and 1936 various organisations of the French left joined forces to create the Popular Front, an alliance borne of an antifascist imperative. After winning the May 1936 legislative elections, and in a climate of growing opposition from conservative and far right forces, the left-wing coalition came to power. By the end of 1938, the Popular Front had collapsed and the right was back in power. During this period (1934-1938), the right and far right repeatedly challenged the left-wing alliance‟s legitimacy and attacked its constituent political parties. This conflict between left and right intensified France‟s political and social tensions and polarised French politics and French society into supporters and opponents of the Popular Front. This thesis examines the role of the right within the context of the Popular Front and seeks to answer the following question: how did the right act in response to the Popular Front between 1934 and 1938? The thesis focuses on the Moselle, a border département returned to French sovereignty after forty-seven years under German domination (1871-1918). By 1934, the Moselle had developed a distinctive political character sympathetic to the right and hostile, or at best indifferent, to the left. By drawing parallels between Parisian and Mosellan events and using new archival material, the thesis demonstrates the originality of the Popular Front in the Moselle, and the responses of the local, and essentially Catholic and particularist, right. No scholarly work has yet examined the conflict between the right and the left within the context of the Popular Front in the Moselle. This thesis demonstrates how the département's distinctive historical, social, linguistic, cultural, political and religious context shaped the Popular Front and the right‟s responses to it.

This thesis determines the impact of Catholic activism in south-west France during the 1560s. Using manuscript and archival material, it examines the nascence, infrastructure and aims of the various ligues and associations of the period, and assesses their ability to secure hegemony by usurping local administrative and military apparatus. The thesis is divided into four parts: Part I studies Catholic activism at Bordeaux and the Bordelais. Chapters 1 and 2 establish the demography and structure of government there and evaluate antecedents to the ligues of the 1560s: namely the activities of the confraternity of Saint- Yves, the basoche and the syndicat of 1561. Chapter 3 examines the role of the Catholic nobility in the internecine struggles of the period, and Chapter 4 explores the post-1568 domination of military and bureaucratic offices at Bordeaux by a coalition of leading Catholic activists. Part II focuses on events at Agen and the Agenais. Chapter 5 details the establishment of an executive council of Catholic notables within the town, while Chapter 6 assesses the role of the local nobility in supporting this coalition government after 1563. Part III concentrates on affairs at Toulouse. Chapter 7 examines the birth of formal Catholic activism within the town, focussing on the enterprises of the confraternity, basochiens and militant court officials. Chapter 8 analyses the reinvigoration of Catholic endeavours at Toulouse after 1567, gauging the success of a policy to finance the Catholic war effort by sequestering Protestant goods, and appraising the somewhat anachronistic phenomenon of the croisade of 1568. Part IV considers the extent to which national and European dimensions influenced the form and nature of Catholic activism during the 1560s. Chapter 9 examines the impact of Catholic grandee patronage on the ligues of the south-west, and assesses the resurgence in confraternal activism after 1567. Chapter 10 examines the influence of Spain and the papacy on the evolution of the associations, and explores the level of reciprocity between ligueurs and European potentates. Chapter 11 details the ambitions of Catholic powers to remove the Calvinist queen of Navarre, Jeanne d' Albret, from power in Béarn and Navarre, and assesses the role played by the ligueurs in this enterprise.

This thesis focuses upon French colonial discourses at the height of the French imperial encounter with Indochina: 1900-1939. It examines the way in which imperial France viewed her role in Indochina, and the representations and perceptions of Indochina which were produced and disseminated in a variety of cultural media emanating from the metropole. Framed by political, ideological and historical developments and debates, each chapter develops a socio-cultural account of France's own understanding of her role in Indochina, and her relationship with the colony during this crucial period. The thesis asserts that although consistent, French discourses of Empire do not present a coherent view of the nation's imperial identity or role, and that this lack of coherence is epitomised by the Franco-indochinese relationship. The thesis seeks to demonstrate that French perceptions of Indochina were marked above all by a striking ambivalence, and that the metropole's view of the status of Indochina within the Empire was often contradictory, and at times paradoxical. Indeed, the thesis argues that Indochina was imagined through a series of antitheses which reflect the incoherent nature of French colonial discourse during this period. This thesis uses as its primary material a variety of key cultural media which informed the popular perception of Indochina during this period: metropolitan and Franco-indochinese school manuals; the writings and designs of French colonial urbanists; the works of influential colonial apologists; 'official' texts relating to the organisation and impact of the Exposition coloniale of 1931; travel journalism; and metropolitan fiction relating to Indochina. The discursive approach that this thesis takes, focusing clearly upon the socio-cultural dimension, should provide an important re-evaluation of French Indochina and its legacy, and should make a contribution to the understanding of France's relations with her colonial territories during the first half of the twentieth century.

Histories of the working class in France have largely ignored the existence of working-class conservatism. This is particularly true of histories of the interwar period. Yet, there were an array of Catholic and right-wing groups during these years that endeavoured to bring workers within their orbit. Moreover, many workers judged that their interests were better served by these groups. This thesis explores the participation of workers in Catholic and right-wing groups during the 1930s. What did these groups claim to offer workers within the wider context of their ideological goals? In which ways did conservative workers understand and express their interests, and why did they identify the supposed ‘enemies of the left’ as the best means of defending them? What was the daily experience of conservative workers like, and how did this experience contribute to the formation of 'non-left' political identities? These questions are addressed in a study of the largest Catholic and right-wing groups in France during the 1930s. This thesis argues that, during a period of left-wing ascendancy, these groups made the recruitment of workers a top priority. To this end, they harnessed particular elements of mass political culture and adapted them to their own ideological ends. However, the ideology of these groups did not simply reflect the interests of the workers that supported them. This thesis argues that the interests of conservative workers were a rational and complex product of their own experience. They were formed by a large range of materials, from preconceived attitudes to issues such as gender and race, to the everyday experience of bullying and intimidation on the factory floor. This thesis shows that workers could conceive of their interests in a number of different ways, and chose from a range of different groups to try and further them.

The Algerian War (1954-62) has been recognised by historians, sociologists and cultural theorists as one of the most divisive episodes in recent French history. Yet the historiography of the conflict is marked by periods when the war was broadly absent from the national memorial sphere, contrasting against others where violent memories of the conflict have coalesced around issues such as immigration, torture, and historical education. This thesis articulates how these and other social frameworks have influenced the cultural memory of the 1.2 million French military service conscripts, or appelés, who served during the Algerian War. Taking a quantitative and qualitative approach, informed by a Halbwachsian model of collective memory formation, and interdisciplinary readings on the social frameworks of Algerian War memory in France, this thesis thus outlines a historiography of constructions of the appelés in French cultural memory, which pays due attention to the medium in which that memory is constructed. Beginning with an overview of a wide corpus of appelé cultural memories from five media, through dialogue with historical, cultural and sociological literature about the conscripts and models of Algerian War memory, the thesis develops an appelé specific phasing of cultural memory. The thesis then advances four case studies which each examine constructions of the appelés in a distinct medium, and situates them within the appropriate phase in the evolution of appelé cultural memory. These studies consider the construction of the appelés in: firstly, television news magazine Cinq colonnes à la une (1959-60); secondly, two prose texts, Philippe Labro’s Des Feux Mals Éteints (1967) and Noël Favrelière’s Le Déserteur (1973); thirdly, Marc Garanger’s photo album La Guerre d’Algérie vue par un appelé du contingent (1984); and finally, three sets of texts drawn from contemporary online digital media.