The Orphans of History
By Christian Morisot
Foreword by Antoine Marquet
Our friend Christian is currently traveling along the banks of the Loire. I think the sight of these landscapes, the castles, the small towns with their distinctly French charm have certainly influenced his last two blog posts. One senses a growing sense of revolt in him, provoked by the way the French National Education system smooths over French history. I understand him completely! He writes, "...to the models that the school intends to offer," but I would say: to the models that the school intends to impose! In my opinion, there are two problems linked to this phenomenon.
The first is simple and doesn't require much thought: every year textbooks have to change because they are a real boon for educational publishers. Millions of these books are printed every year, and it's a small step from there to thinking that lobbies influence the decision-makers, a step I won't take. This still represents millions and millions of euros.
The second is just as simple, but the machine relies on more complex mechanisms and mechanisms. Leftist influence, exerted through teachers, psychologists, educators, political scientists, politicians, and other "-ologists" and "-icians," contributes to the mass destruction of French identity in the name of a universalism that claims to be humanist, which it falsely claims to be. This mindset is visible, almost palpable, in newspapers and television programs, where the same self-righteous individuals are always invited to spout the same ideas ad nauseam!
The goal is to avoid offending other cultures... and, moreover, one must constantly demonstrate repentance! To be convinced of this, one only needs to look at the latest demands from various associations that have led the Prime Minister's office to "consider how to 'repair' the trafficking of Black populations, both symbolically and/or financially." Are we heading towards the awarding of a "Blackness" bonus, similar to what happens at the SNCF (French National Railway Company) where railway workers receive a coal bonus?
This sludge will be costly! The President of the Republic naively allowed himself to be taken to Gorée Island to visit – and thereby endorse the myth – the "House of Slavery." Built at the end of the 18th century, it certainly wasn't used for the transit of slaves orchestrated by Europeans. I dream of history books that would recount Arab-Muslim slavery, the raids perpetrated by the peoples of what would become Algeria against European populations; of politicians who would demand from all these Arab peoples, whose ancestors invaded Europe and destroyed Narbonne and Nîmes… an act of repentance and substantial reparations as a matter of reciprocity.
Obviously, Ms. Christiane Taubira should be excluded from the editorial committee of these dreamlike books. To avoid traumatizing younger generations of French people of Muslim origin, she has decided to gloss over, with a sleight of hand she is fond of and specializes in, the slavery practiced by Muslims since the dawn of time, throughout all time.
According to our friend Christian, there are orphans of history; some call them cuckolds. But there is something worse: those who distort it.
The Orphans of History
Like a pit bull, I return to the teaching of French history.
It is a veritable crisis, plainly displayed in the books used to teach it. How can one possibly cover two millennia in just a few years, but with only a few hours of class time? Today, one can only be dismayed by the state of history textbooks concerning the major events, facts, and historical figures who shaped France. They prefer to leave in the shadows those figures who no longer fit the models that schools intend to present. Documents are favored over narratives, and social facts are analyzed over the influence of a few exceptional individuals. Prejudices hostile to anything that might fuel nationalism are also present.
The first to be affected: Vercingetorix. The "Malet and Isaac" textbook presented him as a "Gallic national hero…" "…all the Gallic peoples united under his leadership." Current curricula give him less importance: "In 52 BC, a young Gallic chieftain led a revolt aimed at driving out the Romans."
Clovis: the “Malet and Isaac” textbook, always featuring him, highlights his talents as a conqueror and ruler who managed to become master of all Gaul. In comparison, today's works dwell little on him, devoting only a single paragraph, a few lines skimming over the conquest of Gaul and the collaboration of the first Frankish king with the Church.
Martel, “He was a warrior prince. He went to fight the barbarians as far as the heart of Germany. He protected the missionaries who were evangelizing that country. He rendered France an immense service by driving out the Arabs.” In today's curricula, Charles Martel is deprived of his genealogy and any history prior to his victory over the Arabs; the figure is thus reduced to the Battle of Poitiers in 732. Victor of a battle whose outcome could have completely altered the destiny of France, making it a Muslim land.
Charles Martel, Charlemagne's grandfather, has little more than that of a secondary figure in history lessons. Charlemagne: in the 1958 “Malet and Isaac” textbook, an entire chapter is devoted to the style of government of this “restorer of order, restorer of learning, restorer of the Empire; he is also the one who instituted feudalism and made justice triumph.” Christianity.”
In 2008, Hachette was more concise: “Charlemagne waged wars to expand his kingdom, governing by division.” We learn nothing more about the founder of Europe. Not even the date of his death (January 28, 814). Given that younger generations consider French songs outdated, it is to be feared that they will never know that he “had this crazy idea, one day, to invent school.” And so on and so forth, listing these illustrious figures: Saint Louis, Joan of Arc, Richelieu, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Joffre, Pétain, Foch…
Fortunately, in many French cities, there are still a considerable number of streets, avenues, boulevards, and even…dead ends named after some of the marshals of the “Great War.” Alas, the young passerby who looks at the street nameplate cannot connect the name to a historical fact learned in school. School. In the new textbooks, Joffre and Foch have disappeared; some students may leave middle school without ever having heard of them. Only Verdun is given a set of documents. The battles of the Marne and the
Somme have vanished, along with the generals who commanded the French army. Instead, the focus is on the concept of total war, the mobilization of the population, the economic fallout of the war, and propaganda, rather than the details of the war itself. A reactionary controversy… A historian speaking on Europe 1 radio said: “We know perfectly well that history isn’t just about great men. That’s an old right-wing, even far-right, idea—very reactionary.
It’s perfectly conceivable that a teacher might decide to recount the Battle of Verdun from the soldiers’ point of view.” “We don’t necessarily need Pétain.” Marshal Joffre, whose competence was being questioned, had this reply: “I don’t know who won the Battle of the Marne, but I know who would have lost it…” Poor us…
It is a veritable crisis, plainly displayed in the books used to teach it. How can one possibly cover two millennia in just a few years, but with only a few hours of class time? Today, one can only be dismayed by the state of history textbooks concerning the major events, facts, and historical figures who shaped France. They prefer to leave in the shadows those figures who no longer fit the models that schools intend to present. Documents are favored over narratives, and social facts are analyzed over the influence of a few exceptional individuals. Prejudices hostile to anything that might fuel nationalism are also present.
The first to be affected: Vercingetorix. The "Malet and Isaac" textbook presented him as a "Gallic national hero…" "…all the Gallic peoples united under his leadership." Current curricula give him less importance: "In 52 BC, a young Gallic chieftain led a revolt aimed at driving out the Romans."
Clovis: the “Malet and Isaac” textbook, always featuring him, highlights his talents as a conqueror and ruler who managed to become master of all Gaul. In comparison, today's works dwell little on him, devoting only a single paragraph, a few lines skimming over the conquest of Gaul and the collaboration of the first Frankish king with the Church.
Martel, “He was a warrior prince. He went to fight the barbarians as far as the heart of Germany. He protected the missionaries who were evangelizing that country. He rendered France an immense service by driving out the Arabs.” In today's curricula, Charles Martel is deprived of his genealogy and any history prior to his victory over the Arabs; the figure is thus reduced to the Battle of Poitiers in 732. Victor of a battle whose outcome could have completely altered the destiny of France, making it a Muslim land.
Charles Martel, Charlemagne's grandfather, has little more than that of a secondary figure in history lessons. Charlemagne: in the 1958 “Malet and Isaac” textbook, an entire chapter is devoted to the style of government of this “restorer of order, restorer of learning, restorer of the Empire; he is also the one who instituted feudalism and made justice triumph.” Christianity.”
In 2008, Hachette was more concise: “Charlemagne waged wars to expand his kingdom, governing by division.” We learn nothing more about the founder of Europe. Not even the date of his death (January 28, 814). Given that younger generations consider French songs outdated, it is to be feared that they will never know that he “had this crazy idea, one day, to invent school.” And so on and so forth, listing these illustrious figures: Saint Louis, Joan of Arc, Richelieu, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Joffre, Pétain, Foch…
Fortunately, in many French cities, there are still a considerable number of streets, avenues, boulevards, and even…dead ends named after some of the marshals of the “Great War.” Alas, the young passerby who looks at the street nameplate cannot connect the name to a historical fact learned in school. School. In the new textbooks, Joffre and Foch have disappeared; some students may leave middle school without ever having heard of them. Only Verdun is given a set of documents. The battles of the Marne and the
Somme have vanished, along with the generals who commanded the French army. Instead, the focus is on the concept of total war, the mobilization of the population, the economic fallout of the war, and propaganda, rather than the details of the war itself. A reactionary controversy… A historian speaking on Europe 1 radio said: “We know perfectly well that history isn’t just about great men. That’s an old right-wing, even far-right, idea—very reactionary.
It’s perfectly conceivable that a teacher might decide to recount the Battle of Verdun from the soldiers’ point of view.” “We don’t necessarily need Pétain.” Marshal Joffre, whose competence was being questioned, had this reply: “I don’t know who won the Battle of the Marne, but I know who would have lost it…” Poor us…