Abstract
During the Third Republic, France finally became a veritable “nation-state”. This was illustrated by a series of national education reformes founded on three principles : 'freedom from religion, free of charge, compulsory'.
In the presence of these circumstances, Émile Durkheim, whose studies in sociology ultimately concerned the stability of French society, took an interest in State theory, particulary from the moral perspective.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Durkheim returned to his reflections on State theory. In 1915, he wrote a pamphlet entitled “L' Allemagne au = dessus de tout (Germany above all)”. In this text, he criticized Treitschke's idea of the State. According to Durkheim, his idea was embodied in the maxim, 'The State is Power', quite the opposite of Durkheim's interpretation of State. This criticism can be placed in the context of the development of Durkheim's State theory.
From his discussion of the First World War, we can see the tight linkage between Durkheim' s theoretical interests and the practical problems of the times.
