France Since 1871
Yale historian John Merriman traces France's transformation from the collapse of the Second Empire in 1871 through the twentieth century. Lectures cover the Paris Commune, the Third Republic, the Dreyfus Affair, industrialization, and the social strain of the two world wars, tracking how the Left and Right responded to a changing society. The course, recorded on Yale's campus in Fall 2007 for Open Yale Courses, meets the structure of the original semester class, twice weekly for 50-minute sessions, and includes the full set of video lectures along with a reading list drawn from French social and political history. No enrollment or certificate is offered, but the complete lecture series and syllabus are free to access under a Creative Commons license, making this a full record of an undergraduate Yale history course rather than a condensed overview.