Studies of medieval Japanese history have often presented the upper-crust of society as divided into three distinct groups: warriors, nobles, and religious institutions. However, this model creates a sharper distinction between social classes than reality. Using the history of a sect of Buddhism called Honganji, this thesis seeks to problematize the tripartite model in order to demonstrate how blurred the lines between the social classes were. This is done through direct comparison between the actions of Honganji and daimyo, regional lords of the 15th and 16th centuries. The three ideas I focus on are: military action, organizational structure, and the creation of personality cults.

La toponymie urbaine ou plus précisément l'odonymie en tant qu'objet d'histoire est un outil particulièrement pertinent pour comprendre les mentalités, les représentations et les comportements passés. L'analyse de l'implantation des dénominations urbaines en synchronie et en diachronie permet d'observer les enjeux politiques et mémoriels qui se cristallisent autour de ce support. L'objet de ce travail est de souligner les répercussions des affrontements politiques et symboliques sur le corpus des dénominations urbaines dans l'espace de la France méridionale au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, particulièrement durant la période du régime de Vichy. L'espace de la recherche concerné correspond à la partie méridionale de ce que l'on a surnommé le Royaume du Maréchal, c'est-à-dire les 30 départements de la zone non occupée. Les bornes chronologiques choisies s'étendent de la conférence de Munich en 1938 jusqu'au Coup de Prague de 1948 en passant par la Libération. La collecte et l'analyse des décisions de modification de la toponymie urbaine a pour objectif d'évaluer la pénétration de l'idéologie de la Révolution nationale par le biais de cet instrument de propagande permanent et quotidien qu'est la plaque bleue. Les enlèvements de monuments républicains sont aussi évoqués ainsi que les affrontements mémoriels qui surgissent à la Libération / Urban toponymy, or to be more accurate, odonymy as a subject of history is a tool, particularly relevant in the understanding of the former ways of thinking, representations and behaviours. The analysis of the urban naming establishment both in synchrony and diachrony allows to observe the political and memory-linked concerns at stake, focusing on this medium. The purpose of this study is to highlight the consequences of the political and symbolic confrontations around the corpus of urban namings within Southern France during World War II, especially under the regime of Vichy.The area of the study in question corresponds to the southern part of what was named the Realm of the Marshall, that is to say the 30 departments of the free zone. The chronological markers stretch from the 1938 Munich Conference to the 1948 Coup of Prague, going through the Liberation. Collecting and analysing the decisions of urban naming modifications aims at estimating the diffusion of the National Revolution ideology through the daily and permanent tool that is the blue street plate. The removals of republican monuments are also mentioned as well as the memory-linked confrontations that emerged at the Liberation.

Juche ideology, created by founder Kim Il-Sung, governs all aspects of North Korean society. This thesis attempts to answer the questions of why and how Juche ideology and the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-Sung were successfully implemented in North Korea. It is a historical analysis of the formation of the North Korean state that considers developments from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, with particular attention paid to the 1950s-1970s and to Kim’s own writings and speeches. The thesis argues that Juche was successfully implemented and institutionalized in North Korea due to several factors, including the rise of Korean nationalism, the personal history of Kim Il-Sung, the Korean War and resulting domestic strife, and the influence of the international socialist movement. It provides a historical explanation of Juche and its importance within North Korea, which in turn is necessary for understanding North Korea as a whole.