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In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, British troops participated in not one, but two multinational occupations of France. However, although they were central to the military, social, and political history of Great Britain in this period, these occupations have attracted little scholarly attention. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, this article examines the experiences of British troops who participated in the occupations of 1814 and 1815–1818. While these experiences were mixed and varied with class and regional origin, in general they reinforced both traditional regimental and emerging national identity, while also enabling British troops to reconcile with – and even learn politically from – their former enemies. Following these occupations, the troops who had participated often found themselves on opposite sides of the political conflicts in Britain and its empire. For those who remained in the military, many of them found keeping the peace in France to be an easier assignment than policing radical unrest in Great Britain and its empire, which relied on similar tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of British and French society over the long nineteenth century can be framed as two contrasting histories of bureaucratization. In France, a "rational" body of organizational rules and procedures coalesced quickly around the state, taking their paradigmatic form during the First Republic and Empire (1792-1814) but stagnating thereafter. In Britain, these structures developed piecemeal, and over a longer time, gaining relative coherence by the midcentury. In both cases, however, office work became a major social, ideological, and cultural phenomenon, one that warranted literary portrayal despite its apparent unconduciveness to conventional narrative forms. In this article I illustrate the shifting character of "office novels" within these contexts, and I accordingly operate from both a comparative and a longitudinal perspective: comparing novels from France and Britain produced during the midcentury period (pivotal in the history of bureaucracy and of the novel) that focus on office life. I argue that the changing role of the office career between William Makepeace Thackeray's abortive office Bildungsroman The History of Samuel Titmarsh (1841) and Anthony Trollope's The Three Clerks (1858) reflects the reform, saturation, and ideological legitimation of bureaucratic forms in Britain over this period. Meanwhile, the transition from Honor'e de Balzac's highly reflexive satirical novel Les Employ'es (1844) to E' mile Gaboriau's office-hopping Picaresque Les Gens de Bureau (1862) reflects an increasing jadedness in France about the ability of these structures to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British and French communist movements have rarely been an object of comparison, partly because of the huge difference in fortunes enjoyed by the two parties. However, one important similarity between these neighbours was the size and importance of the countries' coal industries, as well as the militancy of their mining communities, where communism took root as a serious political and cultural force. This article examines acts of solidarity by British and French Communists during the most important miners' strikes of their parties' existence: the General Strike and Lockout of 1926, the French miners' action of 1948, and the British miners' last great struggle of 1984-1985. Through the study of archival documents, the press and other sources, we explore how these disputes constitute important moments in the history of British and French communism, as well as of their countries' respective labour movements. The dispute of 1984-1985 marks a culminating point that confirms the strengths and weaknesses of British and French communism's relationship with the miners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the work conducted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the development of tactical air power in the interwar period. It analyses the RAF's theoretical doctrinal thinking during the period along with exercises conducted on a joint Service basis to further develop these ideas in practice. It will argue that, rather than neglecting tactical air power during this period as is the accepted view, much good theoretical work was done that formed a theoretical and intellectual basis for the further development of tactical air power in the light of operational experience during the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the history of aesthetics in landscape architecture and garden design in England and France. It states that English writer Joseph Addison was the father of aesthetics and first applied his ideas to gardening. It also looks at the influences on the aesthetic principles of gardening and landscape design including ancient cultures, Chinese architecture, and the Age of Enlightenment.

How did modern and centralized fiscal institutions emerge? We develop a model that explains (i) why pre-industrial states relied on private individuals to collect taxes; (ii) why after 1600 both England and France moved from competitive methods for collecting revenues to allocating the right to collect taxes to a small group of financiers--an intermediate institution that we call cabal tax fanning--and (iii) why this centralization led to investments in fiscal capacity and increased fiscal standardization. We provide detailed historical evidence that supports our prediction that rulers abandoned the competitive allocation of tax rights in favor of cabal tax fanning in order to gain access to inside credit, and that this transition was accompanied by investments in standardization. Finally (iv) we show why this intermediate institution proved to be self-undermining in England, where it was quickly replaced by direct collection, but lasted in France until the French Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates surrounding the approach to and distinctiveness of contemporary history qua history that had been simmering ever since the professionalization of history in the late nineteenth century re-emerged with vigour after 1990. This article attempts to identify what characterizes and distinguishes (the history of) our present time, by comparing the evolution of what has been labelled ‘contemporary history’ in France, Germany and Britain over the last 90 years. In discussing some of the conceptual problems and methodological challenges of contemporary history, it will be revealed that many in Europe remain stuck in an older, ‘national’ (and transnational) fixation with the second world war and the nazis’ atrocities, although working in medias res today appears to point to the investigation of events and phenomena that are ‘global’. The article will seek to make a fresh suggestion of how to delimit ‘contemporariness’ from the older ‘past’ and end with some comments on the significance of the role of contemporary history within the broader historical discipline and society at large. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on French economist, lawyer, and socialist Charles Dupont-White and his views concerning the theories put forth by French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville about the democratic regime in France. It discusses de Tocqueville's book "De la démocratie en Amérique" (Democracy in America), in which he theorizes that the government of France suffocates its civil society and is more concerned with equality for all rather than individual liberty. According to the author, Dupont-White disagrees with this theory and claims that it is false. Topics include Dupont-White's comparison of France and Great Britain's history and his views concerning France's centralized monarchy.

The article presents information on scholarly writing about political moderation during the post-Restoration period of English history, between 1660 and 1688. Various interpretations of the concept of moderation are attributed to different historical periods in England. An increase in political and social moderation is described as occurring in the 18th century, and the article notes that this increase of moderation can be seen in English architecture and music. The resulting tensions between English and Revolutionary French worldviews are discussed.

Discusses the changes within the British Empire from 1758 to 1783, from the perspective of the U.S. Information on battles which raged between England and France; Writers and other literary artists who wrote about the situation in Great Britain; Similarities between the British and Roman empires.

Explores the Spanish strategy in 1595 to 1598 and the Armadas of 1596 and 1597, which began with King Henry IV's declaration of war on Spain, and ended with the death of King Philip II of Spain. Information on the collapse of the Spanish position in the Netherlands; Reasons of Henry IV for declaring war on Spain; Problems concerning the strategy of Philip II against England.