Contexts for Rebuilding

Abstract

The French political and intellectual elites worked hard to rebuild a shared identity. From the perspective of hindsight, it seems self-evident that they should have succeeded, and unthinkable that they might have failed. But recent history now offers many examples of countries whose leaders and peoples lose the will or the ability to remain united. The former Yugoslavia is a conspicuous European example of internal divisions widening to breaking point, once the unifying bonds of common purpose and shared narratives were loosened. The former Soviet Union followed a similar path. More recently, in post-war Iraq, the diverse languages, identities and beliefs have built strong internal pressures to divide the country into separate fragments. The consequences of the collapse of national unity are usually damaging and frequently disastrous. The amicable break-up of Czechoslovakia into two successor states in 1992 is an unusually benign example, while the bitterly contested break-up of nearby Yugoslavia at the same period is confirmation of the potential for disaster. Seeing the success of French national reconstruction in the context of other countries with a different experience is a reminder that the French success was not a foregone conclusion, and that there were serious risks to be overcome.