Marc Bloch Strange Defeat Essay

Bloch studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and afterwards in Berlin and Leipzig.After the First World War, during which he served in the infantry, he became a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Strasbourg.

Bloch studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and afterwards in Berlin and Leipzig.After the First World War, during which he served in the infantry, he became a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Strasbourg.

However, some have argued that he would have disagreed with subsequent developments in Annales scholarship (and in the social sciences more generally) during the 1960s, when scholars placed an increasing emphasis on quantitative analysis, statistics and demographical studies.

This is perhaps best exemplified by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie’s (1966), which was to a large extent a “history without people” characterised by studies of food prices and population growth.

This may be partly explained by his acceptance into the academic establishment, which often results in the ideas of influential scholars becoming part of the public domain rather than the subject of critical discussion.

For most contemporary historians, especially those who are not medievalists, familiarity with Bloch’s work is limited to his monograph on historical method, have suffered from neglect.

For many, the key appeal in Marc Bloch’s work for historians today lies in his ability to clearly articulate historical problems.

Alan Macfarlane describes how he has been influenced by Bloch’s various seminal texts at different points during his career as a historian.

Although Bloch's teaching duties were extensive, he had access to sufficient resources with which to pursue his research in an open and stimulating academic environment.

During this period, he came into contact with a number of academics in other disciplines, with whom he exchanged ideas at weekly seminars.

In his youth, Bloch was profoundly affected by the Dreyfus Affair, the trial of an Alsatian Jewish artillery officer for treason that took place in the 1890s and 1900s.

The case, and the question of Dreyfus’s guilt, was the topic of widespread discussion among the public and in the French press, and was to influence Bloch’s beliefs regarding the role of rumour and misinformation in the collective consciousness; he was later to state that in examining the past, a historian should adopt “the critical spirit” and examine historical documents as if they were witnesses in a legal trial.