La politique culturelle française vis-à-vis des Etats Balkaniques dans l’entre-deux-guerres

Abstract

This is the first approach to a study of France’s cultural policy in the
Balkan States during the interwar years.
First, we present the essential features of France’s cultural presence
during this particular span of time. It was very strongly marked by the teaching
of French language and civilisation which had been initiated at the end
of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In this part of the worId;
France’s cultural presence was organised through various primary and secondary
educational institutions : religious orders, secondary schools, “Instituts 

Français” belonging to the French Foreign Office (“Service des oeuvres
françaises à l’Etranger”), “Alliance Française”, “Sociétés des Amis de la
France” and institutions under the “Mission Laïque Française”.
During this period, and particularly in the thirties, this cultural presence
increasingly rooted itself in the reality of the rivalry opposing European Powers
in Central Europe and the Balkans, and the growing importance of the
fascist powers.
This rivalry can be seen in the development of cultural activities, and
even of “propaganda”, especially from Italy and Germany.
The study shows that from 1930 to 1935 France neglected to intensify the
use of the cultural component in her foreign policy, and limited herself to
the preservation of what already existed.
As from the autumn of 1936 there was a growing awareness of this fact,
after which the situation was rectified. From then onwards it becomes possible
to speak of a dynamic, aggressive, structured cultural policy with increased
means conducted by the various governments until the War. This
cultural policy then became a weapon with which to safeguard peace and at
the same time a defence instrument of French power, more obviously than
during the previous years.
In this study we show the means used to accomplish this recovery : massive
donations of French books to universities and libraries; stronger presence
in the universities and in scientific circles; search for influence in the
provinces and in broader social layers; use of broadcasting and cinema.
The study mentions three examples of “nationalistic” resistance in countries
trying to build their own national identity facing the French cultural
presence. In Greece, in January 1931, the Act of Reform of Primary Education—
the Papandreou Act; in Bulgaria the denunciation in the spring of
1939 of the French-Bulgarian School-Convention, and the same year in Yugoslavia
growing difficulties. A quick appraisal shows, however, that on the
eve of the War there was a considerable improvement of the French cultural
presence in the Balkans. As a token of this desire for balance in inter-European
relationships, we should mention particularly the signing of cultural
agreements in December 1938 with Greece and March 1939 with Romania.
The conclusion stresses the twofold evolution ol the French cultural
presence in the Balkan States during these 20 years. This presence was not
only literary and humanistic, it was also that of industrial France with her
modern technology.
Within the context of European tensions, the French cultural presence
became a full instrument of France’s foreign policy: “information” and

“culture” pursued the same goal, i.e. to maintain French influence and to
safeguard peace.