French Orientalism intensified to compensate for 1870 defeat and rival Britain

Evidence

Much of the expansionist fervor in France during the last third of the nineteenth century was generated out of an explicit wish to compensate for the Prussian victory in 1870–1871 and, no less important, the desire to match British imperial achievements. So powerful was the latter desire, and out of so long a tradition of Anglo-French rivalry in the Orient did it derive, that France seemed literally haunted by Britain, anxious in all things connected with the Orient to catch up with and emulate the British. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 546

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the larger Orientalism thesis about imperial knowledge being politically driven rather than neutral — rivalry and compensation as motive forces for scholarship. — connects to: Germany replaced England as the global center of political ideas after 1870 — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 374; Neurasthenia explained France’s defeat in the 1870 war. — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 215; French imperial expansion was driven by rivalry with Britain and humiliation at Prussia’s hands (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 546
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Germany replaced England as the global center of political ideas after 1870 — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 374; Neurasthenia explained France’s defeat in the 1870 war. — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 215; French imperial expansion was driven by rivalry with Britain and humiliation at Prussia’s hands (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• French imperial expansion was driven by rivalry with Britain and humiliation at Prussia’s hands #expands (0.95)
• French Orientalism emerged from political loss, producing an imagined rather than real Orient #expands (0.92) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 429