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
was a good example of this,

就是个很好的例子
where over 4,000 of the communards had been sent in 1871.

1871年四千多名公社社员被流放到那
But toward the end of the century this began to change.

但到了世纪末情况开始转变
Social reformers began to see the colonies as a potential home

社会改革家们开始认为殖民地是
for landless peasants, for the unemployed,

没土地的农民失业者们