4. Franco-German War, also
called Franco-Prussian
War, (July 19, 1870–May
10, 1871), war in which a
coalition of German states
led by Prussia defeated
France. The war marked
the end of French
hegemony in continental
Europe and resulted in the
creation of a unified
Germany.
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8. The Last Lesson
In the Last Lesson, the
author, Alphonzo Daudet
narrates events about the
year 1870 when France was
captured by Bismarck led
Prussian forces.
Furthermore, the Lorraine
and Alsace districts went
under Prussian rule. There
was the discontinuation of
teaching French in these
two districts.
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9. The narration of this story
is by a French boy,
Franz. Franz is a lazy
boy. However, in spite
of his laziness, Franz
likes to play and is of a
sensitive nature.
Furthermore, Franz
hates his teacher M.
Hamel in his school and
has no interest in
studying French.
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10. Franz our narrator
was not in the mood
to attend the school
that day. Rather he
was attracted by
various things i.e.
drilling soldiers,
birds, sawmill etc.
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15. When he passed
through the village
town hall he saw a vast
multitude reading
something out of the
same bulletin board
which has been the
harbinger of many bad
news like lost battles,
orders of the
commanding officer
and the draft etc….
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16. Usually, when school
began, there was a great
bustle, which could be
heard out in the street,
the opening and closing
of desks, lessons
repeated in unison, very
loud, with student’s
hands over their ears to
understand better, and
the teacher’s great ruler
rapping on the table.
But now it was all so
still!
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18. M. Hamel
announced that an
order from Berlin
had replaced
French as German
and this was his
last French lesson.
Franz was taken
aback by this
announcement.
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19. “My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew
how to write! I should never learn any more! I
must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for
not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’
eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books,
that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago,
so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my
history of the saints, were old friends now that
I couldn’t give up….”
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21. “And M. Hamel,
too; the idea that
he was going
away, that I
should never see
him again, made
me forget all about
his ruler and how
cranky he was.
Poor man!”
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22. The village were
sitting there in the
back of the room. It
was because they were
sorry, too, that they
had not gone to school
more. It was their way
of thanking our master
for his forty years of
faithful service and of
showing their respect
for the country that
was theirs no more.
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23. M. Hamel told about
French language,
saying that it was the
most beautiful
language in the world
— the clearest, the
most logical; that we
must guard it among
us and never forget it,
because when a people
are enslaved, as long as
they hold fast to their
language it is as if they
had the key to their
prison.
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25. The class went on
beautifully. Franz
understood everything .
He heard some pigeons
cooing and thought to
himself “will they make
the pigeons sing in
German…”
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26. The class was over they
heard the Prussian
soldier’s march and the
Angelus bell … “All at
once the church-clock
struck twelve. Then the
Angelus. At the same
moment the trumpets
of the Prussians,
returning from drill,
sounded under our
windows..”
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28. Then M. Hamel
turned to the
blackboard, took a
piece of chalk, and,
bearing on with all
his might, he wrote
as large as he could
—“Vive La France!”
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