Marc Bloch, historien combattant. Penser la défaite pour retrouver l’avenir

Vincent Duclert, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Political Studies – Research and Analysis (EHESS) In an opinion piece published in Le Monde in June 2025, in response to the public question posed by the President of the Republic regarding the potential classification of the events in Gaza as "genocide," Vincent Duclert replied, "What can historians do? [...] document the facts, as historians know how to do." Isn't this precisely what Marc Bloch did in Strange Defeat; a work that undoubtedly played a significant role in the President's decision to inter the historian in the Panthéon? Strange Defeat would then be a testimony; not a history book, but a historian's book, in the sense that Marc Bloch employed his skills as a historian when he wrote it. Roundtable discussion as part of the study day dedicated to Marc Bloch - June 15, 2026