The depth of historical structures: Fernand Braudel and the innovative perspective of the annales School

This thesis, focusing on Fernand Braudel's philosophy of history and the innovative methodology of the Annales School, aims to examine Braudel's long durée approach. Braudel advocates for understanding history through a comprehensive perspective that considers long-term changes such as geographical and social structures, not just short-term events. In this context, Braudel analyzes time in three layers: long term (geographical time), conjuncture (social time), and event (individual time). Long term examines the slow and lasting effects of changes in climate and geographical structures; social time reveals long-term relationships among economic and social structures. Individual time focuses on short-term changes such as wars, revolutions, and political events. Braudel's three-layered concept of time allows historians to consider events and structural changes within a broader context. Influenced by the founders of the Annales School, Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch, Braudel adopted interdisciplinary approaches such as geography and economics in historical writing. This thesis discusses how Braudel's understanding of history is applied through concrete examples and the relevance of his philosophy of history today. Analyses of Braudel's works like "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World" and "Civilization and Capitalism" highlight the innovations he brought to historical writing and their impact on modern historiography. The thesis aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of historical events and structural processes by utilizing Braudel's methodological framework and the concept of long durée.