preface:
The short story "The Last Lesson" created by French writer Tudor was selected as a compulsory text in secondary school Language textbooks, and the revised human-taught version of the language textbook in 2016 was once again included in it, and more children will read this article, which can be described as timeless. As a witness and participant in the Franco-Prussian War, the author did not describe the tragedy of the battlefield and the suffering of the people in a positive way, but adopted the artistic method of seeing the big picture in a small way, choosing a scene in daily life - a lesson in primary school, to show the impact of this major historical event on life and the sad and indignant feelings of the French people, especially at the end, Mr. Hammel used his full body strength to write the words "Long live France", and then weakly told everyone "After school, you go", the contrast between the two diametrically opposed mental states. Pushing the French people's feelings for the country to a climax, reading this paragraph as a child, I was moved to tears, as if I was born in Alsace and sat in the classroom.
▲ "The Last Lesson" has influenced generations of Chinese people and is a model of patriotism!
But Rimu Xiangguan wants to tell everyone not to be deceived by the novelist's emotional pen, alsace at that time was not so sad, and France was not so innocent!
I. Prelude to the Franco-Prussian War
France and Germany, both Germanic states, have been enemies of constant war since the time of the Frankish Kingdom, and on average, they have fought every ten years. After Napoleon came to power, France became the world's number one military power, most of Europe was defeated at the feet of France, Germany was no exception (Germany here includes Prussia, Austria and other German states), this situation did not change until the fall of Napoleon's Third Reich, in 1861 William I became king of Prussia, and the following year appointed Bismarck as prime minister and foreign minister, Germany embarked on the road to reunification.
▲ Kaiser Wilhelm I, during his reign unified Germany
Before Bismarck came to power, European powers such as Britain, France, and Russia had begun or completed the Industrial Revolution, and formed a unified modern nation-state, while the territory of Germany was scattered in 300 states and more than 1,700 territories, and the economic and military conflicts between them were continuous, which seriously hindered the development of the country. The French Revolution of 1789 greatly stimulated the ancient German nation, making them gradually aware of the necessity and urgency of national unification, and as the most powerful state in the German region, Prussia was naturally placed on the high hope of a unified state. In 1862 Bismarck delivered his famous "Iron Blood Speech", declaring: We Germans are not afraid of anyone in the world except God! The curtain on German reunification was officially opened.
German unification was divided into three parts, the first two parts were the Prussian War and the Austro-Prussian War, through the victory of these two wars, Germany took back the two principalities of Schleswig-Holstein, which belonged to Denmark, and excluded the largest competitor, Austria, from Germany, thus unifying the North German Confederation, but due to the obstruction of the French Emperor Napoleon III, the four southern states were still in an independent state. War against France became imminent.
▲ Napoleon III, who was ambitious and talented, did not have the talent of his uncle, but had the same ambition
Turning his gaze to France, Napoleon III, though not as brilliant as his uncle, had the same ambition to restore the continental hegemony of the First French Empire. With the victory in the Crimean War, he gained a lot of popular support, but the rise of Prussia made France uncomfortable up and down, and after the end of the Austro-Prussian War, France made territorial claims to Prussia, hoping to give parts of Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt on the west bank of the Rhine to France as compensation for the war.
Not only was France's unreasonable approach rejected by Germany, but King William I demanded further discussions on the ownership of Alsace, much to the anger of the arrogant Napoleon III. In 1870 the two countries went to war.
▲ Bismarck, the iron-blooded chancellor, the leader of German unification
Ii. The Origins of the Franco-Prussian War
The war was sparked by a telegram. In 1868, the bourgeois revolution took place in Spain, Queen Isabella fled to France for refuge, and the new Spanish government chose Prince Leopold of the House of Hohenzollern in Germany as heir to the throne. Considering the impact of the Habsburg royal marriage, Germany was deeply worried up and down, and Wilhelm I was worried about causing suspicion in other European countries and causing trouble to Germany, but Bismarck, Moltke and other hawks were very enthusiastic, thinking that this was a good opportunity to expand Germany's influence, and vigorously encouraged Prince Leopold to take on this big responsibility and add allies to Germany.
Napoleon III, of course, did not want Spain to break out of control and put France in a dilemma between East and West, and in July of that year, the French ambassador to Germany, Count Penedetti, received an order from the French Foreign Minister, asking him to see the King of Prussia at once and convey Napoleon III's opinion: France did not agree with the Germans becoming King of Spain. Count Penedetti was an old diplomat, and he clearly understood the significance of the matter for the relations between the two countries, and in order to avoid conflict, he conveyed the French opinion to the King of Prussia in a euphemistic tone, and although William I was unhappy, he was old and did not want to clash with France, so he agreed and conveyed the opinion to Prince Leopold. Under pressure, Prince Leopold agreed to abdicate the throne, and a crisis ended.
▲ In the Franco-Prussian War, the equal opponent fought one side
But Germany's concessions did not bring France's understanding, but became more unscrupulous. Count Penedetti was ordered to see Wilhelm I again that month, asking Germany to guarantee that nothing like this would happen in the future, and this practice of teaching his son was so infuriating that he not only rejected the French proposal in person, but also telegraphed the contents of the conversation with the French ambassador to Bismarck, asking him to decide whether to inform the embassies and consulates and newspapers abroad.
Bismarck, who had long planned to launch a war against France, was ecstatic when he saw the contents of the telegram, and after consulting with the chief of the general staff, Moltke, revised the wording of the telegram, which was originally a tone of discussion and hesitation, but he changed it to a blunt and fierce tone, like an ultimatum. The day after the telegram was published, the French parliament completed the review of war appropriations and declared war on Germany four days later.
▲ The Krupp cannon of the Franco-Prussian War, the best artillery of the time
Iii. The course of the Franco-Prussian War
Bismarck waited for this opportunity, the Prussian army that had experienced two wars was strong, with a strength of more than 1 million troops, and the weapons and equipment were also very advanced, and the rifled guns produced by the Krupp Arsenal were leading the world in range and power. In contrast, although France has been operating overseas colonies for many years and has rich combat experience, because there is no standing army, the army is temporarily patched together, the coordination ability is poor, the tactical literacy is low, and the total strength is only half of Germany's, and the combat effectiveness is far lower than that of the opponent.
After the battle began, France made mistakes one after another, and in the First World War of Sedan, the French Emperor Napoleon III became a prisoner of the Germans, and the whole country was in an uproar! The French bourgeoisie seized the opportunity to stage a coup d'état and establish the French Third Republic in a vain attempt to make peace with Germany. But at this time, Germany had already killed the red eye, did not want to cease the war at all, but continued to increase its troops to Paris, in a vain attempt to completely crush France.
▲ The road map for German reunification shows that Alsace is sandwiched between France and Germany
At the crucial moment, The Traitors and Soft Bones of France came forward one after another, first the commander of the Rhine Army, Bazin, with 170,000 soldiers, then the French government announcing the armistice reparations after suppressing the Paris Commune, and finally France ended the war at the cost of 5 billion francs in compensation and the cession of Alsace and Lorraine.
Fourth, the background of the era of "The Last Lesson"
The "Last Lesson" scene takes place in Alsace! So why is it that the reader is deceived by Tudor? Because of the ownership of this place, there has long been controversy!
Alsace is located in the northeast of France, across the river from Germany, until the 17th century has been belonging to the Holy Roman Empire (Germany has always considered itself the successor of the Holy Roman Empire), mainly speaking German, both ethnic and cultural homogeneous with the Germans, after the "Thirty Years' War" was annexed by France, but the locals have always been hostile to France and refuse to learn French. According to a 1910 German census report, Alsace and Lorraine had a combined population of 1.83 million, about 1.63 million German speakers, and only 200,000 French speakers. In Germany's view, the cession of Alsace was part of reunification, and Germany only took back the occupied territories, much like Russia today took back Crimea. Therefore, after the Franco-Prussian War, the local German-speaking residents did not resent the return to Germany, where there would be the same sorrow as Mr. Hammel.
▲ Picturesque Alsace, which belonged to France after the end of World War II
Of course, after two hundred years of assimilation since the formal incorporation of Alsace into France in 1690, it is understandable that some people identify with the French identity. Since the time of Louis XIV, France is the center of Europe, French has become the court language of Europe, the great Russian writer Tolstoy's book "War and Peace" has been mixed with a lot of French, in order to show the living conditions of the Russian nobility at that time, on the one hand, they regard France as a competitor or even an enemy, on the other hand, they yearn for French culture, the prosperity of Paris, this contradictory mentality penetrates into every country in Europe. The sense of superiority brought by culture is also reflected in Tudor's text, for example, Mr. Hammel proudly said: Chinese dialect is the most beautiful language in the world, the most clear and the most precise.
Born in Provence, a lavender-rich country in the south of France, Tudor was brilliant and showed a talent for literature, and at the age of 17 he went to Paris to begin literary creation. As a witness and participant in the Franco-Prussian War, Tudor was heartbroken by the defeat and humiliation of France, the cruelty of the war, the sinking of the nation, and the warmth of the people in Paris all stimulated his creative enthusiasm and affected his value orientation, especially in the later stages of the Franco-Prussian War, when the German army invaded France, the Franco-Prussian War became an anti-aggression national war, and French society was as noisy as a classroom without a teacher.
▲ Tudor from Provence, a first-class French handsome man
epilogue:
"The Last Lesson" is written in the first person, examining the major events of the times from the perspective of a child, which was originally a carefree age, but because of the war, it lost the opportunity to learn the Chinese. Combined with the context of the times, children represent the French upper class, and it is their slackness and inability that make the country vulnerable and ultimately affect society. And Mr. Hammel is the author himself, he has been carefully changing the temperament of the nation, hoping to pass on the feelings for the country and the nation, but in the end he found that he could do nothing but roll up and leave. In the whole text, there is not much emotional language, there is no grand home country slogan, even the Prussian army in the eyes of children, it is a few strokes, as if it is part of the landscape, but behind the delicate description is a faint sadness, just like the aroma of the author's hometown lavender, penetrating into the mind of every Frenchman.