University
Old Dominion University
Country
United States of America
Document Type
Conference Paper
Description/Abstract
The French Colonial Empire of the Age of Imperialism was born in the apocalyptic fires of a millennial movement: the French Revolution of 1789. Millennial movements aspire to rapidly, often violently, achieve utopia by transforming their contexts. Revolutionary France went to war to liberate the world from tyranny and so began both French nationalism and the resurged French colonial empire. The crusade failed, but nationalism and imperial expansion remained. The French genuinely believed that, in their imperial and colonial expansion and domination, they were bringing the world closer to utopia. Assimilation, linguistic and cultural, was a key part of this. I argue that millennial practices and ideology became embedded into the French colonial empire. Contradictions of utopia and brutality are common in millennial movements, which exhibit an extreme form of ends justifying the means. I argue that embedded millennialism is key to understanding the contradictions of the French colonial empire.
Keywords
Imperialism, Millennialism, Colonialism, Nationalism, Ideology
Disciplines
International Relations | Political History | Political Theory
DOI
10.25776/9a0e-n247
Session Title
Colonial Legacies, Cultural Identity, & Repatriation
Location
Cape Charles Room, ODU Webb Center
Start Date
3-21-2025 1:30 PM
End Date
3-21-2025 2:50 PM
Upload File
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The Post-Millennial French Colonial Empire
Cape Charles Room, ODU Webb Center
The French Colonial Empire of the Age of Imperialism was born in the apocalyptic fires of a millennial movement: the French Revolution of 1789. Millennial movements aspire to rapidly, often violently, achieve utopia by transforming their contexts. Revolutionary France went to war to liberate the world from tyranny and so began both French nationalism and the resurged French colonial empire. The crusade failed, but nationalism and imperial expansion remained. The French genuinely believed that, in their imperial and colonial expansion and domination, they were bringing the world closer to utopia. Assimilation, linguistic and cultural, was a key part of this. I argue that millennial practices and ideology became embedded into the French colonial empire. Contradictions of utopia and brutality are common in millennial movements, which exhibit an extreme form of ends justifying the means. I argue that embedded millennialism is key to understanding the contradictions of the French colonial empire.