Skip to content
Description
By: Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira
Why and how the French made the balloon into one of the quintessential symbols of late nineteenth-century modernity, and how the balloon’s reinvention shaped the airplane’s assimilation in the early years of aviation.
On August 27, 1783, a large crowd gathered in Paris to watch the first ascent of a hydrogen balloon. Despite the initial feverish enthusiasm, by the mid-nineteenth century the balloon remained relatively unchanged and was no longer seen as the harbinger of a new era. Yet that all changed in the last third of the century, when following the traumatic Franco-Prussian War defeat, the balloon reemerged to become the modern artifact that captured the attention of many. Through this process, the balloon became an important symbol of the fledgling Third Republic, and France established itself as the world leader in flight. In Ascending Republic, Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira tells for the first time the story of this surprising revival.
Through extensive research in the press and archives in France, the United States, and Brazil, De Oliveira argues that French civil society cultivated popular enthusiasm for flight (what historians call “airmindedness”) decades before the advent of the airplane. Champions of French ballooning made the case that if the British Royal Navy controlled the seas and the Imperial German Army dominated the continent, then France needed to take ownership of the skies. The French appropriated this newly imagined geopolitical space through a variety of practices, from republican savants who studied the atmosphere at high altitudes to aristocrats who organized transcontinental long-distance competitions. All of this made Paris into the global capital of a thriving aeronautical culture that incorporated seemingly contradictory visions of sacrificial patriotism, aristocratic modernity, colonial anxiety, and technological cosmopolitanism.
Why and how the French made the balloon into one of the quintessential symbols of late nineteenth-century modernity, and how the balloon’s reinvention shaped the airplane’s assimilation in the early years of aviation.
On August 27, 1783, a large crowd gathered in Paris to watch the first ascent of a hydrogen balloon. Despite the initial feverish enthusiasm, by the mid-nineteenth century the balloon remained relatively unchanged and was no longer seen as the harbinger of a new era. Yet that all changed in the last third of the century, when following the traumatic Franco-Prussian War defeat, the balloon reemerged to become the modern artifact that captured the attention of many. Through this process, the balloon became an important symbol of the fledgling Third Republic, and France established itself as the world leader in flight. In Ascending Republic, Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira tells for the first time the story of this surprising revival.
Through extensive research in the press and archives in France, the United States, and Brazil, De Oliveira argues that French civil society cultivated popular enthusiasm for flight (what historians call “airmindedness”) decades before the advent of the airplane. Champions of French ballooning made the case that if the British Royal Navy controlled the seas and the Imperial German Army dominated the continent, then France needed to take ownership of the skies. The French appropriated this newly imagined geopolitical space through a variety of practices, from republican savants who studied the atmosphere at high altitudes to aristocrats who organized transcontinental long-distance competitions. All of this made Paris into the global capital of a thriving aeronautical culture that incorporated seemingly contradictory visions of sacrificial patriotism, aristocratic modernity, colonial anxiety, and technological cosmopolitanism.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
Dog Man 14: Dog Man: Big Jim Believes: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #14)
Sale priceHK$85.00
Regular priceHK$150.00
In stock
Dragon Masters #30 Vortex of the Chaos Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$55.00
Regular priceHK$69.00
In stock
Dragon Masters #29 (正版) Magic of the Wizard Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$48.00
Regular priceHK$69.00
In stock
Harry Potter #4 and the Goblet of Fire (Interactive Illustrated Edition)
Sale priceHK$299.00
Regular priceHK$630.00
In stock
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the World
Sale priceFrom HK$96.00
Regular priceHK$150.00
In stock
Dragon Masters #28 (正版) Night of the Dream Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$48.00
Regular priceHK$69.00
In stock
