The Annales

Question 1

Lost the key figures: (4)

Answer 1

Febrve and Bloch: total history, structure, mentalité.

Braudel: Mediterranea, longue durée

Ladurie: micro history, narrative, connection an event to the long term. Structure, carnival at Romans.

Corbin and Schmitt: microhistory and culture.

Question 2

Themes of the annales: (6)

Answer 2

Often starts as a problem that needs to be solved

Explores the importance of structures and history from all aspects of society

Annales is not as interested in charge as Marxism

Wants to create total history utilising sources that were outside of tradition. (History from below)

Descriptive methods as opposed to narrative style. Creating total history.

Reading against the grain.

Question 3

What are the defining features of the first generation? (3)

Answer 3

Febrve and Bloch: structural history and mentalities to create total history.

Question 4

2nd generation of the annales: (3)

Answer 4

Braudel: Mediterranean, annales interest in geography and other non traditional sources to create total history.

Explored the connection between human structures and geographic, biological and climatic factors.

Longue duree. Man in relation to his environment
Political and military’s and society were surface disturbances that had little effects on the area over a longer period of time.

Question 5

3rd generation of the annales: (4)

Answer 5

Ladurie: development of quantitive history and the use of facts and figures to create models.

Shifted focus back to mentalities. Society wide changes in behaviour.

Micro history. And narrative history. Creating total history. Often focuses on the unusual (due to source restrictions) explores social and cultural particles. Carnival at Romans for example.

Connecting events to the long term

Question 6

The 4th generation of the annales (2)

Answer 6

Developed the annales into cultural turn and how culture was shaped and transmitted

Narrative history, cultural and micro history.

Question 7

Criticism of the annales (4)

Answer 7

Missing policy and action as well as political history. (particularly braudel)

Ladurie himself admitted that longue duree and structure was better suited to pre industrial society’s. These had more linear progressions, stable economies compared to industrial which created rapid change.

This opposed Marxism where structure is key

Lacked a defined focus in research in order to create total history. Similar to empiricism: how much information is too much?