Annales and the Writing of Contemporary History_wesseling

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The Annales School and the Writing of Contemporary History Author(s): H. L. Wesseling Source: Review (Fernand Braudel Center), Vol. 1, No. 3/4, The Impact of the "Annales" School on the Social Sciences (Winter - Spring, 1978), pp. 185-194 Published by: Research Foundation of SUNY for and on behalf of the Fernand Braudel Center Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40240779 . Accessed: 03/09/2014 09:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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Review,I, 3/4,Winter/Spring 1978, 185-194.

TheAnnalesSchool and theWritingof Contemporary History

H. L. Wessettng The Annales have had littleor no impact on the writingof contemporary history.The question is whyhas thisbeen so. This questionhas two different aspects:the amountof workstheAnnaleshistorianshavedone in thisparticular historiansin field,and the degreeof influencetheyhave had on contemporary In both the answer seems to be the little. Contemsame: general. respects, very and Annales be as if seem to an ocean. A poraryhistory history by separated, of issue of the with for Annales an issue the of, simplecomparison any example, Journalof Contemporary Historywillmakethisclear.In theJournalof ContemporaryHistoryyone will findarticlesdealingwiththe Czech questionin 1904, Britishstrategyin Palestine,N.A.T.O. and the M.L.F., and the politicalideas of Barrés;in the Annales,articleson Portuguesemysticismin the eighteenthcentury,the feastin Provencein theseventeenth century,birthcontrolin sixteenthand in between 1200 and 1800. Florence, century housing Normandy This comparisonis strikingfortwo reasons.First,it is amazingthatprecisely historiansshould have learnednothingfromAnnales. Are they contemporary then like the Bourbons, who had learned nothingand forgottennothing? Secondly,the discoveryof a generallack of interestby theAnnaleshistoriansin contemporary historyis an astonishingone. They themselveshave maintained thatthe "spiritof Annales"is markedby social engagement and concernforthe man."1 "Let us explain the worldto the "problemsthattroublecontemporary Lucien Febvre,Combatspour l'histoire(Paris: Lib. A. Colin, 1953), 42.

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world- throughhistory,"in the tersewordsof Lucien Febvre.2"Let us understand the presentthroughthe past," in the equally sober formulation of Marc Bloch.3 These are mottoeswhich sufficiently illustratetheirstriving forsocial relevance.Thus the problemis an intriguing to probe one, and it is worthwhile intothe mattersomewhatdeeper. In consideringthe contributionof theAnnales to contemporary history,we and must distinguishbetween the Annalesas a group,a school,an institution, In Annalesas a journal. As a school of thought,thereis clearlycontinuity. the workofBloch, Febvre,Braudel,Goubert,LeRoy Ladurie,Mandrou,LeGoff(and many more well-knownnames could be cited), the main emphasishas always been on the MiddleAges and earlymoderntimes.This is truealso of thetheses theirpupilsand of theresearchprojectsof theCentrede RecherchesHistoriques. Fromthe 1920's untilto-day,thecontinuityis remarkable. In the case of Annales as a journal,the situationis different. This becomes if one the of in Annales the articles accordapparent, categorizes subject-matter to the deal and then the a considers results over with, ing period they longer stretchof time.In doing this,I have appropriately chosenthe longuedurée,at least the longest possible: since 1929. Moreover,I have triedto analyze the materialin a quantitative(or serial)way, albeitwithoutthe use of a computer. The resultsof thishomeopathicmethodare foundin figures1 and 2. Figure 1. "Modern history" and "contemporary history (post-1815)" in Annales, articles 1929-1976: Page volume of chronologically-defined

2# Ibid., 40. *

Marc Bloch, Apologie pour l'histoireou métierd'historien(Paris: lib. A. Colin, 1966), 2nd éd., 11.

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Annalesand Contemporary History Figure 2. "Modern History" and "ContemporaryHistory" in Annales: Page Volume under Various Editorial Directors,1929-76.

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Of coursethesefiguresshouldbe handledwithcare. Severalproblemsarise,such as the greatgrowthin volume of the reviewand the changingproportionof articlesas againstsmallercontributions.From the 1950's on, thereis also the increasingparticipationof the othersocial sciences,whichdeal partlywithcontemporarysubject matter.To distinguishthese from"historyproper" would lead us intoa particularly complicatedand scholasticdiscussion. Hence I have includedthemall (in so faras theyare chronologically defined) in "contemporary history".Thus thesetablesdo whattablesseemalwaysto do. They stressthe obvious,because even a superficialcomparisonof the firstten yearsof Annales with the last ten years shows a markedchangein character. ifyou will, Annaleshas become moretheoretical,moreabstract,morescientific in currentaffairs.No aversionfrompoliticaland and less engagedand interested ideological mattersexisted under Bloch and Febvre,insofaras contemporary historyis concerned.4But afterthe 1950's, the aversionfromthese matters seemsto be total.How is thisshiftof focusto be explained? Possiblythe answer is that, fromthe 1950's on, theoriesabout structural history,the primacyof the "longue durée", and the equation of politicswith - have in manycirclesbeen raisedto a events- and thus with superficiality kind of dogma. Afterthe Bible, inevitablyfollowsexegesis.AfterLa Méditerof structural history.Meanwhile,for ranée,inevitablyfollowedthescholasticism Annalesas a whole,thestrongpredilectionformoreancienthistoryseemsto be a continuingfact. Whythisgroupunanimouslycomesto a standstillat themagicbarrierof 1789 is a questionwe will deal withlater.Beforethat,thereis thequestionas to the historianshave been influencedby the Annales extentto whichcontemporary revolution.There is no need to demonstrateat lengththat contemporary history,was hardlyinfluencedat all, history,particularlytwentieth-century eitherin subject matteror in method,by Annales. Everyoneknows that in history,the greatdiscussionsare about warand diplomacy,revocontemporary histolutionsand ideologies.Those are the topics whichoccupy the prominent rians.The contentsof special journals such as the Vierteljahreshefte fur ZeitHistorygiveampleevidenceof this. geschichteand theJournalof Contemporary The firstof these two journals has, of course,quite its own historyand character,whichis whywe would do betterto turnto theJournalof Contemporary Historyfora comparison.One glanceat thelatter'stableof contentsshowsthat deal withpoliticalhistoryin thewide senseof the over 78% of thecontributions word (Items 1-4 of Table 1). Two otherjournalsthatare also devotedmainlyto Reviewof Social Historyand theRevue history,theInternational contemporary d'histoiremoderneet contemporaineillustratemore or less the same phenomenon (see Tables1 and 2).

4* Fcbvrc indeed reproached the authors of an Histoire de Russie that they did not pay enough Russia. Moreover,in foundingAnnales, Bloch and Febvrewantedto invite attentionto post-revolutionary "men involvedin the workingsof contemporaryaffairs,"such as AlbertThomas, to cooperate withthem. See Febvre,Combats,op. cit., 352.

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Annalesand Contemporary History Table 1. Subject matterin fourhistoricaljournals VI c h- + matter ** JHZ 1953-76 Subject number % 1. International relations 2. Military history 3. Political history 4. Ideas and ideologies 5. Social history

IRSH 1956-76 number %

RHMC 1954-76 JCH 1966-76