Figure 1.--

One factor which has to be considered in assessing French boys' clothing are regional differences. Americans tend to view European nations as centralized nations with homogeneous popultions. In fact there are very substantial regional differences. These differences substntilly weakened in the 20th century, but until that time were very significant. We do not yet fully understand these differences are their imapact on fashion, but we have begun to collect information.

Individual Regions

We have ome limited ingormation on specific French regions

Alsace-Loraine

We wonder especially if the German annexation of Alsace-Loraine (1870-1919 and 1940-44) might have resulted in some differences. Many people in northern France, especially Alsace speak German. A French reader, however, reports, that Alsatians since the 18th century have never considered themself to be German. They speak a distinct dialect. Many Alsatians probably rejected German fashions even during the German ocupation (1870-1918). Nowadays the young people are more likely to speak standard French and can't speak the parents' dialect. One HBC reader reports that his granparents came from Alsace, but moved to Paris in 1870 rather than live under German control. Another important regional difference is the warmer climate of southern France which has affected clothing trends there.

Basque region

Brittany

Brittany is surely the best known of the various French regions. It is a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, a geographic circumstance that has shaped the ecinomy and people of the region. It is a region where like Ireland and Wales, Celtic culture survived into the 20th century. The name derives from the fugitive Britons that sought refuge there (5th century). Breton history is a ongoing effort to achieve independence from the Franks (5th-9th centuries), Normans/Anjou (10th-12th centuries), and England/France (13th-18th centuries). The extentibction of the direction line of Breton dukes led to the War of the Breton Succession. Brittany was formally incorporated in to France (16th century). A measure of auttomy was granted (19th century). We note a Breton boy photographed with his family for his first communion in the 1950s. A particularly important artist noted for his genre works on Britatany was William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Burgandy

Burgandy is one of the important regionsnin French history. It was the second duchy, created as an appanage of the French Royal family in 1363. It soon expanded its territories beyond France and into the more Germanic Holy Roman Empire, acquiring by various means lands in Alsace and the Low Countries. The lands were not held of fiefdoms of the French Crown thus giving the poweful Dukes of Burgandy greater status. The Burgundian Court became a brilliant cultural center, as successive dukes attempted to recreate the ancient Kingdom of Lotharingia--which ecolved from Charlemeign's Empire. The Dukes of Burgandy desored to build an independent kingdom independent of both France and the Holy Roman Empire. Duke Philip the Good was offered regal status as "King of Belgia", within the Empire, but he rejected te offer because it as not large or autonomous enough. The Burgundian aspirations, however, ended suddenly when Duke Charles the Rash fell in battle against Swiss forces and his only child Mary heiress married the Habsburg Emperor, Maximilian I. Their son wed the Spanish heiress, Juana the Mad. Burgandy thus was inherited by the Hapsburg rulers of Austrai and Spain. Spain retained the title even after losing the territory in 1713 to Louis XIV's forces. So did Austria after losing all the territories to Revolutionary French forces in 1795.

Corsica

Corsica is a Mediterranean island department of metropolitan France located north of Sardinia. It was in ancient times a Carteginia colony taken invaded by Rome. It was seized by the Vandals, but was laster ruled by a secession of Italiazn regimes. Corsica is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. France seized the island a decade before the French Revolution (1768). As a result the young Corscican, Napoleon, became a French subject. The island is very wild and mountenous. Corsica until the 20th century was quite poor and dominated by banditry and family blood feuds. Local and Italian traditions resisted French culture and a nationalist movement has resisted French authority.

Normandy

French Names

HBC readers have provided us some background information on French names. This is useful in our discussion of French regional differences.

Algeria

The French began to colonize Algeria in 1830. There was Algerian military resistance until the 1870s. The French presence lasted over 100 years until 1962 ( Accord de Genèvre ). This was the beginning of the second French colonial empire. But Algeria was not just one of France's many colonies. The French set out to make Algeria not a colony, but an actual expanded part of French territiry. French citizens settled in Algeria, primarily in the cities, and some Algerians adopted French customs and dress, primarily in the cities. In the villages and rural areas, Algerian boys and girls continued to wear Aeab styles. The styles worn by French boys were identical with popular styles in Metropolitan France. The differences between French and Algerian girls was even more striking than those between boys. One popular style did originate in Algeria. Two battalions of troops were formed in 1830 by General Bertrand Clausel as part of the French military occupation of Algeria. The troops were from a tribe of Kabyles dwelling in Algeria. The name of the tribe was Zouaoua, which in France gave rise to the term, "zouave". French Algerian boys wore the same garments as worn in Metropolitan France. HBC is unable to identify any significant differences at this time.

French Colonial Empires

France began to build a vast colonial empire in the 17th century. It established colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and India. It could have been France that settled North America and that would have had enormous geo-political implications for the 20th century. In the end, not very many Frenchmen wanted to leave the comforts of France and settle in the North America wilderness. In sharp contrast, quite a number of British people decided to cross the Atlantic for a mix of ecoonomic and religious reasons. The larger English population, the Royal Navy, and Britain's superior political and financial system proved decisive. France lost North America in the French and Indian War (1754-63), the North American segment of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). Most Europeans at the time thought it was a minor colonial conflict, it turned out to be perhaps the most significant war of the 18th century. France also lost India to the British. Napoleon after obtaining Louisana from the Spansh, for a time toyed with the idea of restablishing a North American empire. In the end, largely because of the destruction of the French army in Haiti, he abandoned the idea and sold Louisiana to the United States (1803). After the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, Fance set about building a new empire. The first step was seizing Algeria (1830). Tunisia and Morocco followed later. France was also a major player in the late-19th century Scramble for Africa. France had two colonial regions in Africa. Afrique occidentale française (French West Africa--AOF) consisted of eight colonies: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (today Mali), French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger, High-Volta (Burkina Faso) and Dahomey ( Benin). Afrique Équatoriale française (French Equitorial Afric--AEF) included four colonies: Gabon, Middle Congo (Republic of Congo), Oubangui-Chari (Central African Republic) and Chad. The AEF had less infrastructures than AOF because of the equatorial forest, but especially because there are less raw materials. France also acquired Indo-China and Pacific island colonies. One of these was New Caledonia (1853). After World War I, France acquired two Lague of Nations mandates in the Middle East--Lebanon and Syria. After World War II, France attempted to piece together its empire, but fought two disasterous colonial wars (Viet Nam and Algeria).

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing French pages:
[Return to the Main French page]
[French choirs] [French school uniforms] [French school smocks] [French royalty] [French sailor suits]
[French youth groups] [Difficult French images] [French art] [French Movies] [French ethnics]

Created: May 16, 2002
Last updated: 7:51 PM 9/27/2009