Marc Bloch

Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (6 July 1886 in Lyon – 16 June 1944 in Saint-Didier-de-Formans ) was a French historian who cofounded the highly influential Annales School of French social history. Bloch was a quintessential modernist. An assimilated Alsatian Jew from an academic family in Paris, he was deeply affected in his youth by the Dreyfus Affair . He studied at the elite École Normale Supérieure; in 1908-9 he studied at Berlin and Leipzig. He fought in the trenches of the Western Front for four years. In 1919 he became Lecturer in Medieval history at Strasbourg University, after the German professors were all expelled; he was called to the Sorbonne in Paris in 1936 as professor of economic history. He is best known for his pioneering studies French Rural History and Feudal Society and his posthumously-published unfinished meditation on the writing of history, The Historian's Craft. He was captured and shot by the Gestapo during the German occupation of France for his work in the French Resistance .

Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian who cofounded the highly influential Annales School of French social history. Bloch was a quintessential modernist. An assimilated Alsatian Jew from an academic family in Paris, he was deeply affected in his youth by the Dreyfus Affair . He studied at the elite École Normale Supérieure ; in 1908–9 he studied at Berlin and Leipzig. He fought in the trenches of the Western Front for four years. In 1919 he became Lecturer in Medieval history at Strasbourg University , after the German professors were all expelled; he was called to the University of Paris in 1936 as professor of economic history. He is best known for his pioneering studies French Rural History and Feudal Society and his posthumously-published unfinished meditation on the writing of history, The Historian's Craft . A French soldier in both World Wars, he was captured and shot by the Gestapo during the German occupation of France for his work in the French Resistance .

French historian and Resistance fighter Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( / b l ɒ k / ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian . A founding member of the Annales School of French social history, he specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France over the course of his career. As an academic, he worked at the University of Strasbourg (1920 to 1936), the University of Paris (1936 to 1939), and the University of Montpellier (1941 to 1944). Born in Lyon to an Alsatian Jewish family, Bloch was raised in Paris, where his father—the classical historian Gustave Bloch —worked at Sorbonne University . Bloch was educated at various Parisian lycées and the École Normale Supérieure , and from an early age was affected by the anti-semitism of the Dreyfus affair . During the First World War , he served in the French Army and fought at the First Battle of the Marne and the Somme . After the war, he was awarded his doctorate in 1918 and became a lecturer at the University of Strasbourg. There, he formed an intellectual partnership with modern historian Lucien Febvre . Together they founded the Annales School and began publishing the journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale in 1929. Bloch was a modernist in his historiographical approach, and repeatedly emphasised the importance of a multidisciplinary engagement towards history, particularly blending his research with that on geography , sociology and economics, which was his subject when he was offered a post at the University of Paris in 1936. During the Second World War Bloch volunteered for service, and was a logistician during the Phoney War . Involved in the Battle of Dunkirk and spending a brief time in Britain, he unsuccessfully attempted to secure passage to the United States. Back in France, where his ability to work was curtailed by new anti-Semitic regulations, he applied for and received one of the few permits available allowing Jews to continue working in the French university system. He had to leave Paris, and complained that the Nazi German authorities looted his apartment and stole his books; he was also forced to relinquish his position on the editorial board of Annales . Bloch worked in Montpellier until November 1942 when Germany invaded Vichy France . He then joined the French Resistance , acting predominantly as a courier and translator. In 1944, he was captured in Lyon and executed by firing squad . Several works—including influential studies like The Historian's Craft and Strange Defeat —were published posthumously. His historical studies and his death as a member of the Resistance together made Bloch highly regarded by generations of post-war French historians; he came to be called "the greatest historian of all time". By the end of the 20th century, historians were making a more sober assessment of Bloch's abilities, influence, and legacy, arguing that there were flaws to his approach.

French historian (1886–1944) Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( / b l ɒ k / ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian . He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France over the course of his career. As an academic, he worked at the University of Strasbourg (1920 to 1936), the University of Paris (1936 to 1939), and the University of Montpellier (1941 to 1944). Born in Lyon to an Alsatian Jewish family, Bloch was raised in Paris, where his father—the classical historian Gustave Bloch —worked at Sorbonne University . Bloch was educated at various Parisian lycées and the École Normale Supérieure , and from an early age was affected by the antisemitism of the Dreyfus affair . During the First World War , he served in the French Army and fought at the First Battle of the Marne and the Somme . After the war, he was awarded his doctorate in 1918 and became a lecturer at the University of Strasbourg. There, he formed an intellectual partnership with modern historian Lucien Febvre . Together they founded the Annales School and began publishing the journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale in 1929. Bloch was a modernist in his historiographical approach, and repeatedly emphasised the importance of a multidisciplinary engagement towards history, particularly blending his research with that on geography , sociology and economics, which was his subject when he was offered a post at the University of Paris in 1936. During the Second World War Bloch volunteered for service, and was a logistician during the Phoney War . Involved in the Battle of Dunkirk and spending a brief time in Britain, he unsuccessfully attempted to secure passage to the United States. Back in France, where his ability to work was curtailed by new antisemitic regulations, he applied for and received one of the few permits available allowing Jews to continue working in the French university system. He had to leave Paris, and complained that the Nazi German authorities looted his apartment and stole his books; he was also forced to relinquish his position on the editorial board of Annales . Bloch worked in Montpellier until November 1942 when Germany invaded Vichy France . He then joined the French Resistance , acting predominantly as a courier and translator. In 1944, he was captured in Lyon and executed by firing squad . Several works—including influential studies like The Historian's Craft and Strange Defeat —were published posthumously. His historical studies and his death as a member of the Resistance together made Bloch highly regarded by generations of post-war French historians; he came to be called "the greatest historian of all time". By the end of the 20th century, historians were making a more sober assessment of Bloch's abilities, influence, and legacy, arguing that there were flaws to his approach.

French historian (1886–1944) Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( / b l ɒ k / BLOCK ; French: [maʁk leɔpɔld bɛ̃ʒamɛ̃ blɔk] ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on medieval France over the course of his career. As an academic, he worked at the University of Strasbourg (1920 to 1936 and 1940 to 1941), the University of Paris (1936 to 1939), and the University of Montpellier (1941 to 1944). Born in Lyon to an Alsatian Jewish family, Bloch was raised in Paris, where his father—the classical historian Gustave Bloch —worked at Sorbonne University . Bloch was educated at various Parisian lycées and the École Normale Supérieure , and from an early age was affected by the antisemitism of the Dreyfus affair . During the First World War , he served in the French Army and fought at the First Battle of the Marne and the Somme . After the war, he was awarded his doctorate in 1918 and became a lecturer at the University of Strasbourg. There, he formed an intellectual partnership with modern historian Lucien Febvre . Together they founded the Annales School and began publishing the journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale in 1929. Bloch was a modernist in his historiographical approach, and repeatedly emphasised the importance of a multidisciplinary engagement towards history, particularly blending his research with that on geography , sociology and economics, which was his subject when he was offered a post at the University of Paris in 1936. During the Second World War Bloch volunteered for service, and was a logistician during the Phoney War . Involved in the Battle of Dunkirk and spending a brief time in Britain, he unsuccessfully attempted to secure passage to the United States. Back in France, where his ability to work was curtailed by new antisemitic regulations, he applied for and received one of the few permits available allowing Jews to continue working in the French university system. He had to leave Paris, and complained that the Nazi German authorities looted his apartment and stole his books; he was also persuaded by Febvre to relinquish his position on the editorial board of Annales . Bloch worked in Montpellier until November 1942 when Germany invaded Vichy France . He then joined the non-Communist section of the French Resistance and went on to play a leading role in its unified regional structures in Lyon . In 1944, he was captured by the Gestapo in Lyon and murdered in a summary execution after the Allied invasion of Normandy . Several works—including influential studies like The Historian's Craft and Strange Defeat —were published posthumously. His historical studies and his death as a member of the Resistance together made Bloch highly regarded by generations of post-war French historians; he came to be called "the greatest historian of all time". By the end of the 20th century, historians were making a more critical assessment of Bloch's abilities, influence, and legacy, arguing that there were flaws to his approach.