THE FRENCH OFFICER CORPS AND THE SOCIAL ROLE OF THE ARMY, 1890-1908.

摘要

In 1891 Marshal Louis Hubert Lyautey outlined in general terms the officer's potential role in the social development of France. Nine years later General Louis Andre implemented the social role as part of his program to republicanize the army. Historians have failed to demonstrate a development or continuity between these two events. Furthermore, they have failed to examine the social mission as an uniquely military phenomenon.;Lyautey's thesis was well received in the military press and it sparked a lively and far-reaching debate. His restrained appeal for a spiritual renaissance was radically altered by his followers. By 1900 they had established a firm philosophical framework, a methodology, and an array of programs to serve the social mission. They viewed the army as an agent of social reform and the officer corps as a vanguard of national rejuvenation.;The social role was endorsed for many reasons, some of them contradictory. It taught France the traditional values of honor, discipline, and sacrifice. It educated the classes and restored social harmony. It prepared France for war by harnessing individuality and developing national resolve. It fulfilled a tactical function by building the spiritual elan mandated by modern warfare. Advocates of the mission sought a new France, one based on social and economic realities and united in the quest for national greatness.;Opponents believed the army served a single function--national defense. The mission deterred officers from this function, weakened military preparedness, and opened the army to political intrigue. Unlike the supporters, the critics distrusted the Republic, its values, and its goals.;The evolution of the social role from vague theory to accomplished fact is explained through a textual analysis of the literature which appeared in military journals, military newspapers, pamphlets, monographs, official publications, and archival records. Chapters explore Lyautey's thesis, its origins, contemporary response to his ideas, and the development of the social mission throughout the 1890s. Others discuss the mission's implementation; development from 1900-1908; and goals, programs, and critics.