Three Titoist Evangelists

This chapter details Marshal Tito's consolidation of his secret network in the Mediterranean that was based on the communist cadres from the Spanish Civil War. It mentions Ljubomir Ilić, who was the most prominent among the Yugoslavs who spearheaded the combat groups in the whole of southern France during the occupation. It also discusses how Ilić became commander of the French Zone South and was appointed commander-in-chief of the FTP-MOI (Francs-tireurs et partisans — main-d'oeuvre immigrée) in 1944. The chapter analyzes how the FTP-MOI grew to 100,000 combatants by late 1944, and was dominated by communists and commanded by Yugoslavs. It refers to the Gaullists that “nationalized” the French resistance, wherein the twenty-nine-year-old Brigadier Jean-Jacques Chaban-Delmas was sent to Paris to improvise an uprising.

Ottoman and British Factors in Anti-French Resistance of Beylik Constantine in 1830—1837

The poorly studied initial period of the anti-colonial struggle of the Algerian people against the French occupation is considered. Until 1830, the Algerian Regency was a semi-autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire. It is proved that in the first years after the capture of France, spiritual ties with the former metropolis remained strong and determined the strategies of resistance of the former Turkish ruling elite in the country. The author notes that the last bey of Constantine’s Beylik, Ahmed, loyal to the ideas of Ottomanism, for seven years effectively resisted the attempts of the French to establish themselves in this Algerian province. The article shows that although the attributes of Constantine's independence in those years indicated its Arab character, Ahmed Bey retained the Turkish concept of the state. It is concluded that the legal power, as before, relied on the sanction of the Turkish Sultan, the spiritual and political leader of the Ottoman Empire. The author concludes that Ahmed Bey was defeated without the support of his suzerain. It is proved that he did not manage to enlist the help of Great Britain, which, although opposed to French expansionism, did not consider Algeria so important to enter into a conflict with France because of it.

mSphere of Influence: Courage and Resilience in Life and Science

ABSTRACT Anat Florentin works in the field of molecular parasitology, studying the cell biology of malaria parasites. In this mSphere of Influence article, she reflects how the book Brave Genius: a Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize by Sean B. Carroll (2013) made a powerful impact on her by telling scientific stories in the context of dramatic life events.

Two Problems, One Solution

At its meeting on January 13, 1915, the War Council supposedly authorized an attack at the Dardanelles in order to meet a Russian request for assistance and relieve pressure on the Western Front. This is incorrect. Not only did the government’s interest in the Dardanelles have other sources, but in fact it was leaning at this point toward offensives in Syria and the Balkans rather than Turkey. Churchill, however, continued to push for his Dardanelles operation and in so doing created chaos inside Admiralty, straining his relations with the admirals. On January 20 Asquith approved an offensive in the Balkans, but in so doing underestimated French resistance to the diversion of resources away from the Western Front.

SOURCES ON THE PARTICIPATION OF SOVIET PEOPLE IN THE FRENCH RESISTANCE MOVEMENT. PART 2

The article reveals the history of the formation, description, and use of the documentary systems preserved in France and Russia about the participation of Soviet people in the Resistance and the creation of their scientific and reference apparatus. For the first time, historians analyzed Russian and French materials, comparing the informative value of the French and Soviet documents on the participation of Soviet citizens in the French Resistance, evaluating their authenticity and reliability. The article also describes the integration methodology of the Resistance movement participants Database of the French Defense Ministry Archives and specifies the complexity of extracting information about the Soviet citizens from this integrated source. Furthermore, the main databases created by the Resistance Foundation are analyzed. The authors demonstrate how these sources were used in the French and Russian historiography of the Resistance during various periods of Soviet history and the Franco-Russian relations. They also show the historian’s specific use of the Resistance movement participant’s memoirs. The authors provided the most relevant information about the training and learning material, about the libraries, museums, and archives that store and collect these documents; for the first time, recommendations are made – including the Russian-speaking researchers of the Second World War, as well as family history researchers – on how to work with their scientific and reference apparatus.