Weird History
Hygiene During The French Revolution
Today, we think of 1700s-era France as a period of unwashed and unparalleled squalor. While this is partially a misconception, it does contain some truth. During the 18th century, people's attitudes towards personal hygiene were laxer...
Weird History
The Real Beauty And The Beast
It’s a tale as old as time – or, at least as old as the 1500s. But the real couple that inspired Beauty and the Beast lived a tragic life. The real life Beauty and the Beast were Catherine and Petrus Gonsalvus, and they were treated like...
Weird History
What It Was Like to Witness the Guillotine
Reservedly advocated as a humane killing device by Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin during the 18th century, the guillotine executed people en masse during the French Revolution; France discontinued its use after 1977. The mechanism of death...
The Great War
Justifying The Failure At Verdun? - The Falkenhayn Controversy
Ready for some scandal and controversy surrounding World War I? Then it's time to learn all about the Falkenhayn Controversy! Learners discover how the Battle of Verdun failed and how leadership tried to adapt as surrounding events...
The Great War
French Pistols of World War 1
How can something as simple as a model of a pistol influence warfare in World War I? French pistols serve as a tool to the French soldiers in the time period and create new results in war. The resource includes a demonstration, primary...
The Great War
French Rifles of World War 1
What insights do rifles offer about French military strategy during World War I? Watch an interesting video to find out! The resource uses primary source images and videos, as well as descriptions from an expert in relating to the French...
The Great War
The Schlieffen Plan - And Why It Failed
Did you know that the Schlieffen Plan was actually quite rigid, which led to its demise? Young historians discover all the details about how the plan failed, as well as its historical context to the broader subject of World War I using...
Crash Course
Moliere - Man of Satire and Many Burials: Crash Course Theater #21
Until the reign of Louis XIII, French society did not view acting as an honorable profession. A video describes French theater during the time of popular playwright Moliere. Viewers enjoy an excerpt of the play Tartuffe and learn the...
Crash Course
Rules, Rule-Breaking, and French Neoclassicism: Crash Course Theater #20
School children are not the only ones who have rules to follow! During the neoclassical period, the French established five main rules for plays. A video on theater history outlines those guidelines, as well as other elements of theater...
The School of Life
Voltaire
Fascinated with the concept of good and evil, Voltaire formed his main character from the eponymous Candide, the most widely read text of the European Enlightenment. Learn more about Voltaire's life, beliefs, writing, and influence...
Macat
An Introduction to Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy In America
Alexis de Tocqueville wanted to establish a successful democracy in France, so he turned to the newest example of democracy available in the early nineteenth century: the young American government. Learn more about the...
Macat
An Introduction to Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish
Which is worse: imprisoning someone for committing a crime, or intimidating someone into following the law? A short video introduces the main ideas of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, including his perceptions of...
TED-Ed
What Caused the French Revolution?
Was cake really the cause of the French Revolution? Learn about all of the political elements and implications that led to the end of 1,000 years of French monarchy, and how the upheaval began the first French Republic at the end of the...
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: The French Quarter
National Public Radio looks at the American cultural icon that is the French Quarter of New Orleans. Maintaining that the French Quarter we know "Is really more Spanish and American than it is French," this audio story traces its history.