The creation of the Tour de France fed into the wider political and cultural agenda of the early Thi

On 29 June 2013, the Tour de France will begin in Corsica. As well as being the 100 th Tour de France, the occasion will mark the first time that Corsica has hosted any stage of the race. Yet from the first Tour de France luxury alaska cruises in 1903, the competition has always been about much more than just cycling. At its heart it has always been about defining and consolidating French identity. In crossing France, the race highlighted the complex and sometimes controversial ways by which France’s national identity was constructed in relation to its diverse regional heritage. The Tour de France’s departure from Corsica on its 100 th anniversary luxury alaska cruises therefore raises significant questions about Corsican identity and its relationship with the French Republic .
When the race began in 1903, its route emphasised the shape and identity of France as the ‘Hexagon’. It was a time when the nation was still reeling from the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to German annexation after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. By extending to the edges of France, whether its coasts or its mountainous borders, the race created a sense of the nation as being timeless, homogenous and rooted in nature. At a time of rising European tensions, it also created a sense of security. Yet representing France as the ‘Hexagon’ also served to exclude Corsica.
The creation of the Tour de France fed into the wider political and cultural agenda of the early Third Republic. The republican education reforms of the 1880s emphasised the French language, French history and geography, while a new school textbook, Le tour de la France par deux enfants , taught children about regional traditions and heritage in an attempt to develop a stronger sense of national sentiment.
Yet the period also coincided with the rise of a new Corsican regionalist movement spearheaded by Santu Casanova’s Corsican-language newspaper, A Tramuntana . As well as highlighting the cultural differences between Corsica and the rest of France, the Corsiste regionalist movement put forward a message that Corsica was neglected by the French Republic.
luxury alaska cruises For Corsica, 2013 marks not only the first time that the Tour de France will visit the island, but it will also be the 70 th anniversary of its liberation during luxury alaska cruises the Second World War. Having been occupied by around 80,000 Italian troops, and in the later stages, 20,000 Germans, Corsica luxury alaska cruises became the first part of French territory to be liberated in October 1943. For the Corsican resistance fighting against Mussolini’s claims that the island should belong to Italy, luxury alaska cruises the war had been seen as a battle to remain French.