Editing Marc Bloch (section)

=== Joins the Sorbonne ===
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| quote = We sometimes clashed...so close to each other and yet so different. We threw our 'bad character' in each other's faces, after which we found ourselves more united than ever in our common hatred of bad history, of bad historians—and of bad Frenchmen who were also bad Europeans.{{sfn|Burguière|2009|p=39}}
| source = Lucien Febvre
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}}[[Henri Hauser]] retired from the [[Sorbonne University|Sorbonne]] in 1936, and his [[Chair (academia)|chair]] in [[economic history]]{{Sfn|Loyn|1999|p=162}} was up for appointment.{{Sfn|Weber|1991|p=256}} Bloch—"distancing himself from the encroaching threat of Nazi Germany"{{Sfn|Stirling|2007|p=531}}—applied and was approved for his position.{{Sfn|Davies|1967|p=267}} This was a more demanding position than the one he had applied for at the college.{{Sfn|Fink|1995|p=207}} Weber has suggested Bloch was appointed because unlike at the college, he had not come into conflict with many faculty members.{{Sfn|Weber|1991|p=256}} Weber researched the archives of the college in 1991 and discovered that Bloch had indicated an interest in working there as early as 1928, even though that would have meant him being appointed to the chair in [[numismatics]] rather than history. In a letter to the recruitment board written the same year, Bloch indicated that although he was not officially applying, he felt that "this kind of work (which he claimed to be alone in doing) deserves to have its place one day in our great foundation of free scientific research".{{Sfn|Weber|1991|p=254}} H. Stuart Hughes says of Bloch's Sorbonne appointment: "In another country, it might have occasioned surprise that a medievalist like Bloch should have been named to such a chair with so little previous preparation. In France it was only to be expected: no one else was better qualified".{{Sfn|Hughes|2002|p=127}} His first lecture was on the theme of never-ending history, a process, a never-to-be-finished thing.{{Sfn|Weber|1991|p=250}} Davies says his years at the Sorbonne were to be "the most fruitful" of Bloch's career,{{Sfn|Davies|1967|p=267}} and according to Epstein he was by now the most significant French historian of his age.{{Sfn|Epstein|1993|p=274}} In 1936, Friedman says he considered using Marx in his teachings, with the intention of bringing "some fresh air" into the Sorbonne.{{Sfn|Friedman|1996|p=11}}

The same year, Bloch and his family visited [[Venice]], where they were [[Chaperone (social)|chaperoned]] by the Italian historian [[Gino Luzzatto]].{{Sfn|Epstein|1993|pp=274–275}}{{refn|There was strong mutual respect between Luzzatto and Bloch and Febvre, who regularly reviewed his work in the ''Annales'', and for which he had most recently written an article in 1937.{{sfn|Lanaro|2006}}|group=note}} During this period they were living in the [[Sèvres – Babylone (Paris Métro)|Sèvres – Babylone]] area of Paris, next to the [[Hôtel Lutetia]].{{Sfn|Weber|1991|p=249}}

By now, ''Annales'' was being published six times a year to keep on top of current affairs, however, its "outlook was gloomy".{{Sfn|Huppert|1982|p=512}} In 1938, the publishers withdrew support and, experiencing financial hardship, the journal moved to cheaper offices, raised its prices, and returned to publishing quarterly.{{Sfn|Huppert|1982|p=514}} Febvre increasingly opposed the direction Bloch wanted to take the journal. Febvre wanted it to be a "journal of ideas",{{Sfn|Stirling|2007|p=530}} whereas Bloch saw it as a vehicle for the exchange of information to different areas of scholarship.{{Sfn|Stirling|2007|p=530}}

By early 1939, war was known to be imminent. Bloch, in spite of his age, which automatically exempted him,{{Sfn|Burguière|2009|p=47}} had a [[Reservist|reserve]] commission for the army{{Sfn|Hughes|2002|p=127}} holding the rank of captain.{{Sfn|Fink|1998|p=40}} He had already been mobilised twice in false alarms.{{Sfn|Fink|1998|p=40}} In August 1939, he and his wife [[Simonne Vidal|Simonne]] intended to travel to the ICHS in [[Bucharest]].{{Sfn|Fink|1998|p=40}} In autumn 1939,{{Sfn|Fink|1998|p=40}} just before the outbreak of war, Bloch published the first volume of ''Feudal Society''.{{Sfn|Davies|1967|p=267}}