The last 50 years of the Third Republic in France (1890-1940) constitute the most turbulent period in French and European history. The Dreyfus Affair is recognised as a paradigmatic event for analysing 20th century France. Apart from the bipolarisation of politics, questions such as political conflict, the influence of mass public opinion and media, the unparalleled influence of actors such as intellectuals, adopting a public profile for the first time in the modern sense, the persecution of Jewish individuals and communities, all come to bear during the Affair. The module aims to trace the development of this paradigm through to the outbreak of war in 1940, when the German invasion and occupation catalyse a further resurgence of the phenomena outlined above. Lectures (in French) and linked seminars will cover topics from the Dreyfus Affair (Dreyfusism, anti-Dreyfusards, Republican defence) through to the impact of the first world war (the union sacrée and the subsequent political and cultural influence of the veterans and their organisations) and finally to explanations of the fall of France and explorations of the Vichy regime, paying particular attention to the regime's treatment of the Jews.