ABSTRACT
The scientific approach to the study of history owes more to the work of professional historians than to that of philosophers. Fustel de Coulanges, one of the most important historians of the second part of the 19th century, is the true originator of scientific history. In his repeated insistence that history is a pure science, it is clear that Fustel de Coulanges is trying to distance scientific history from literary history. Yet, it is certain that Fustel de Coulanges would have been strongly opposed to having his name associated with sociology. Bourdeau's work is a perfect example of the grand attempts at synthesis that appeared in such great numbers during the second half of the 19th century. Jean Walch argues that the essential rupture in French historiography was not between romanticism and historical positivism but between traditional historiography of the pre-Revolution era and romantic historiography.
