Société d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine

Société d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine
Name	Société d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine
Native name	Société d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine
Founded	1927
Founder	Paul Vidal de La Blache
Headquarters	Paris, France
Fields	Modern history, Contemporary history

Société d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine is a French historical association devoted to the study of modern and contemporary periods, connecting scholars across institutions and national borders. It has engaged with debates shaped by figures such as Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, Pierre Nora, Jacques Le Goff and interacted with organizations like Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Normale Supérieure (Paris), and Collège de France. The society has positioned itself within historiographical currents influenced by the Annales School, revisionism, and comparative projects tied to World War I, World War II, Cold War, and decolonization histories including Algerian War and Indochina War.

History

Founded in the interwar period, the society emerged amid debates following the work of Paul Vidal de La Blache, Lucien Febvre, and Marc Bloch and in the aftermath of Treaty of Versailles. During the 1930s and 1940s it negotiated intellectual currents represented by Charles de Gaulle, Vichy France, Résistance networks, and émigré scholars from Central Europe and Eastern Europe. In the postwar era it engaged with reconstruction themes linked to Marshall Plan, NATO, and European Economic Community, while members published on Fourth Republic and Fifth Republic politics. From the 1960s onward its agenda intersected with scholarship responding to the May 1968 events, the rise of social history exemplified by E.P. Thompson, and global perspectives including studies of British Empire, French Empire, Soviet Union, and United States foreign policy during the Vietnam War. The society adapted through the digital turn alongside projects at Bibliothèque nationale de France and collaborations with Institut d'histoire du temps présent.

Mission and Activities

The society promotes research on topics ranging from political crises like the Dreyfus Affair to cultural phenomena such as the work of Marcel Proust and Émile Zola, while fostering comparative studies involving Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, China, and Japan. It supports archival initiatives with partners including Archives Nationales (France), Imperial War Museums, and Library of Congress, and organizes seminars that bring together historians of Renaissance-era continuities, scholars of Industrial Revolution legacies, and specialists in decolonization processes like the Algerian War of Independence. Activities include methodological workshops engaging with the approaches of Fernand Braudel, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel Foucault, and public programming in coordination with Musée de l'Armée, Palais Bourbon, and municipal cultural services.

Publications

The society issues journals, monograph series, and edited volumes that have featured articles on figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis XVI, Georges Clemenceau, François Mitterrand, and Charles de Gaulle, and on events like the French Revolution, Paris Commune, May 1968, and June 1848. Its flagship periodical includes peer-reviewed essays drawing on archives from Vatican Secret Archives to the Hoover Institution, and publishes bibliographies, reviews, and historiographical debates engaging with Annales School critiques and the work of E. H. Carr and Fernand Braudel. The society has produced source editions and critical translations of documents relating to the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Congress of Vienna, and diplomatic correspondence involving Otto von Bismarck and Klemens von Metternich.

Conferences and Events

Annual meetings convene scholars who present papers on comparative issues such as the aftermath of World War I, the rise of fascist movements in Italy and Germany, transnational labor movements including International Workingmen's Association, and postcolonial transitions in Algeria and India. The society has organized thematic symposia in partnership with Sorbonne University, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Sciences Po, and international hosts like Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Bologna, and University of Tokyo. Events have included roundtables with curators from Musée d'Orsay and archivists from National Archives (UK) and collaborative panels with editors from Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales and The Journal of Modern History.

Membership and Organization

Membership spans researchers affiliated with institutions such as École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Université de Strasbourg, Université de Lyon, Université de Bordeaux, and international centers like Max Planck Institute for History, School of Advanced Study (London), and Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton). Governance comprises an elected board, sections devoted to political, social, cultural, and diplomatic history, and committees for publications, conferences, and digital humanities projects involving partners such as Gallica and Europeana. Honorary members have included distinguished historians associated with Collège de France, Royal Historical Society, and recipients of awards like the Grand prix Gobert and the Balzan Prize.

Influence and Legacy

The society has shaped French and international historiography by fostering research that links archival discovery at Archives Nationales with theoretical innovations by scholars tied to Annales School, microhistory proponents like Carlo Ginzburg, and comparative historians addressing empires such as the British Empire and Ottoman Empire. Its conferences and publications have contributed to public debates on memory connected to Vichy, Holocaust, Occupation of France, and commemoration of events like Armistice Day and Liberation of Paris. Through collaborations with museums, universities, and archives, the society remains a node in networks that include UNESCO, leading to continued impact on curricular developments, archival access, and international scholarly exchange.

Category:Historical societies Category:Organizations based in Paris Category:Historiography