National Diversity, Regionalism and Decentralism in France

Abstract

France has been typically understood as the archetype of state ‘centralisation’ and, for French nationalists themselves at least, of unity. Acknowledgement, often with pride it must be said, of diversity from region to region rarely undermined the overall vision of the centralised French state. Slogans such as ‘The One and Indivisible French Republic’ characterised this understanding of the nature of the French nation and polity. Such a vision does not imply that no political discussion ever took place in France, only that the often ferocious opposition was founded upon political principles (monarchy or republic), rather than any sort of territorial or regionalist opposition to the centralised state, such as it was. While particularly true for nationalists, who had a vested interest in France remaining unified under a strong central government, this vision of France as the archetype of centralisation was also held elsewhere. Would-be centralisers in other nations looked to France for clues as to how to build a successful nation-state, free from internal separatist activity, and scholars have often been content to use France as the basis for the formulation of theoretical models.¹ The objective of this chapter is to examine the situation in France between 1890 and 1914, in order to see to what extent the reality corresponded to the myth of a completely centralised and harmonious France. After a short section describing the political context at the start of the period in question, it will examine various movements and discourses that dealt with issues such as national diversity, regionalism, decentralisation and separatism, and assess the reasons why such movements remained divided and relatively unsuccessful in this period.