Suchergebnisse

Bernard Vandeplas, The Problem of Conscription in the First Half of the XDP Century : a Rejection of National Identity ? The Example of Cantal.
Both in terms of intensity and spread, military refusal in war or peace is characteristic of Auvergne and more especially of the department of Cantal from the Ancien Regime to the end of the Second Republic. What sense should we ascribe to this refusal ? A refusal of « modernity »? An absence of national identity in the countryside ? This seems unlikely.
Indeed, refusal to serve in an area such as the Cantal stems more from an econo- nomic and social problem than from a political or ideological one. In fact, the weight of economic constraints explains in large part the high rate of refusal. Since conscription disturbs a certain economic and social equilibrium, the sacrifice deemed too heavy and destabilizing leads somehow to desertion and insubordination. That this implies a rejection of French national identity is thus by no means certain.