details while alluding to the main point. Also, by placing strict limits on time of when peasants were transformed to Frenchmen, he leaves himself open for criticism. I think that the areas near Paris would have become French much sooner than more distant places, such as Savoy, and less industrialized places. After reading his book he made it quite clear the enormity of the change in the French peasant. They no longer viewed their world as confined to their local village; they now saw the importance of the outside world.The nationalism question is imposing one but I believe that the French government was somewhat justified in its methods because the peasants themselves were going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world. The ultimate goal of the French government was to create national pride but also to take the hatred away from city dwellers and place it on foreigners. The French government along with every other industrializing nation was going to have to unify their nations in the name of progress of their respective nations. ...
