Annales School of History: Its Origins, Development and contributions

Abstract

This article discusses the Annales school of history. It deals with the background, central figures in the movement, and their influences on the historical writing. It is argued that the Annales school fought against the established form of French historical writing dominated by political history. It made efforts to develop a new, more human historical writing. In their movement, the Annales scholars called for close collaboration between historical discipline and the other social sciences. This collaboration has brought the Annales to achieve great success in expanding the realm of history by introducing new topics, new sources, and new questions.