Les Années Zola/Barrès (1898-1918)

Directed by Jean Baronnet

The unity of this period was provided by nationalism. Nationalism of the Dreyfus Affair (Barrès, Maurras, Drumont, Déroulède), the republican nationalism (Péguy), and the nationalism of the "Union sacrée" of the Great War. Pitted against these nationalisms was internationalist and pacifist socialism, which would itself adhere to the "Union sacrée "in 1914. This nationalist tendency also affected the young "Nouvelle Revue française" (Gide, Schlumberger, Copeau, Ghéon, Drouin), which defended the notion literature in its own right, but which itself was shot through with the spirit of the period. In counterpoint : Romain Rolland, author of "Au dessus de la mêlée". This first documentary of the series ends with the Russian Revolution.