in ways that went further and further beyond economic

他们所作出的牺牲远远不止于经济上
and geo-strategic necessities.

或是地缘战略上
Many parts of French society increasingly came to see empire

大部分法国社会越来越将实行帝政
as a solution to national problems.

看作是国家问题的解决之道
In the words of the historian Gwendolyn Wright,

历史学家关德琳·莱特认为
the colonies were quote/unquote, "a laboratory of modernity;"

殖民地是"现代化的实验室"
they were places to further and protect the destiny of the nation,

通过有关民族塑造的试验
literally, quite literally through experiments in nation building.

它们能改善并保护国家的命运
Before the Third Republic colonies had been seen--

在第三共和国之前
really, the social value of colonies was little more than seen as

殖民地的社会价值仅仅是
getting rid of people that the State considered to be undesirable.

政府处置无用之人的流放之地
The French penal colony in New Caledonia

法国在新喀里多尼亚设置的流放地