DOCSLIB.ORG

The Afterlives of the Terror

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Afterlives of the Terror THE AFTERLIVES OF THE TERROR THE AFTERLIVES OF THE TERROR FACING THE LEGACIES OF MASS VIO LENCE IN POSTREVOLUTIONARY FRANCE Ronen Steinberg CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca and London This book is freely available in an open access edition thanks to TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosys- tem), a collaboration of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses, and the Association of Research Libraries—and the generous support of Michigan State University. Learn more at the TOME website, available at: openmonographs.org. Copyright © 2019 by Cornell University The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the license, please contact Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu. First published 2019 by Cornell University Press Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Steinberg, Ronen, 1970- author. Title: The afterlives of the Terror : facing the legacies of mass vio lence in postrevolutionary France / Ronen Steinberg. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018047446 (print) | LCCN 2018048276 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501739255 (pdf ) | ISBN 9781501739262 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501739248 | ISBN 9781501739248 (pbk.: alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: France— History— Reign of Terror, 1793–1794— Psychological aspects. | Po liti cal vio lence— France— History—1 8th century. | France— History— Revolution, 1789–1799— Influence. | France— Social Conditions—18th century. Classification: LCC DC183.5 (ebook) | LCC DC183.5 .S74 2019 (print) | DDC 944.04/4— dc23 LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2018047446 Cover illustration: Poirier de Dunckerque, Les formes acerbes, ca. 1796. Etching, hand-colored; 23.1 x 36.2. cm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, RESERVE QB-370 (45)-FT 4. For Geneva, whose love, support, and sense of humor have seen me through the writing of this book. Violent action is unclear to most of those who get caught up in it. Experience is fragmentary; cause and effect, why and how, are torn apart. Only sequence exists. First this, then that. And afterward, for those who survive, a lifetime of trying to under- stand. — Salman Rushdie, Fury Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowl edgments xi Introduction: Approaching the Aftermath of the Terror 1 1. Nomenclature: Naming a Difficult Past after 9 Thermidor 17 2. Accountability: The Case of Joseph Le Bon 43 3. Redress: Les Biens des Condamnés 65 4. Remembrance: The Mass Graves of the Terror 90 5. Haunting: The Ghostly Presence of the Terror 117 Conclusion 146 Notes 153 Selected Bibliography 195 Index 215 Illustrations 1. Frontispiece, Prudhomme’s Histoire Générale, 1796–1797 35 2. Prudhomme’s “General Table of the Disasters of the French Revolution,” 1796–1797 37 3. “The Cruelties of Joseph Le Bon in Arras,” 1795 58 4. The cenotaph at Brotteaux, Lyon, c. 1795 103 5. The expiatory monument in Brotteaux, Lyon, 1821 113 6. The phantasmagoria at the Capuchin Convent, c. 1798 127 7. Giovanni Aldini’s experiments on severed heads, 1804 137 ix Acknowl edgments When I was a gradu ate student, I used to roam the library stacks, wondering whether my own book would, one day, be among these volumes on the shelves. I suppose there was a touch of vanity in this, but there was also a genuine desire to be let into this company of schol- ars, who have devoted much of their lives to understanding something that, often, only they could see. Now that this dream of mine appears to have been realized, it is a great plea sure and a great honor to thank the people and the institutions who have helped it come true. This proj ect began at the University of Chicago. I am deeply grateful to Jan Goldstein, Michael Geyer, and Bill Sewell for their support and hope this book justifies the trust they have placed in me. Thanks also to Bernard Was- serstein, the late Moishe Postone, Ibrahim Kaya Sahin, Joyce Cheng, Karin Nisenbaum, Hsia Ke- Chin, Dan Koehler, Ari Joskowicz, and Zhu Jingsheng. My colleagues at Michigan State University have been a model of support and encouragement. A heartfelt thanks for their general bonhomie: Leslie Moch, Lewis Siegelbaum, Karrin Hanshew, Sean Forner, Naoko Wake, Steve Stowe, Ed Murphy, Charles Keith, Heleh Veit, Lisa Fine, and John Dunn. I am very grateful to Walter Hawthorne for his support during his time as chair of the department. An early version of chapter two was presented at the Eu ro- pean History Colloquium at MSU. I am grateful to the graduate students and faculty for their helpful comments. Thanks also to Beth Drexler and to the Program in Peace and Justice Studies at MSU. I have been fortunate enough to receive financial support from various institutions in the course of my research. I am deeply grateful to The Eisen- berg Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Michigan, the Ameri- can Philosophical Society, the Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Humanities and Arts Research Program at Michi- gan State University. The year I spent as a fellow of the Institute for Historical Studies at UT Austin was especially impor tant in the evolution of this proj ect. I am very grateful to the other fellows, the faculty members, and the graduate students xi xii ACKNOWL EDGMENTS for creating such a rich environment for intellectual work: Leslie Harris, Carel Bertram, Dominic Yang, Seth Garfield, Julie Hardwick, James Vaughn, Lina del Castillo, Tarek El- Ariss, Chloe Ireton, Sandy Chang, Lior Sternfeld, Eyal Wein- berg, and Courtney Meador. I learned a lot about intellectual history and many other things from my conversations with Tracie Matysik and Ben Brower. Yoav di- Capua has helped me to think through most parts of this manuscript. I am very grateful to him and to Stephennie Mulder for their friendship and hospitality. In the course of doing my research, I have benefitted from the expert ad- vice of countless librarians and archivists here and in France. I am grateful to all of them, but especially to Marie- Laure Imbert at the Archives Municipales d’Orange, Pierre Quernez at the Archives Départementales du Rhône, Jérôme Triaud at the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, and the staff at the Archives Mu- nicipales de Lyon. I am also grateful to the staff at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Special Collections at the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota Libraries, and the Special Collections at Michigan State University for helping with the reproduction of images. I’ve received generous help from many scholars along the way. Jean- Clément Martin, Dan Edelstein, Sam Moyn, Rafe Blaufarb, Alex Fairfax-Cholmeley, Caro- lyn Purnell, and Hannah Callaway have responded kindly to vari ous queries. Denise Davidson and Ann Larabee have read parts of the manuscript and of- fered invaluable critiques. Howard Brown has been especially generous in shar- ing his deep knowledge of the period and its archives; I am very grateful to him. Writing a book is a solitary undertaking for the most part. One spends a lot of time in one’s head. This book would not have been written without the many friends who listened patiently as I rambled on about this or that part of the project, laughed with me, worried about me, and knew when it was time to take me out for a drink. For this and much more, a big, warm thank you to Mickael Vaillant, Dani Aragon, Haviv Mizrahi, Chen Shoshani, Joseph Barash, Uzi Shamosh, Seth Kopald, Caroline Boerwinkle, Mark Shilkrut, Peter Hafford, Robert Hartle, Joie Pickett, Maya Haber, Sean Guillory, Doron Galili, Deborah Margolis, Valentina Denzel, Anne Verjus, and Lucero Radonic. Thanks to Guy Beiner for his friendship and for inspiring me to go to grad school in the first place. Dorothee Brantz has shared my interest in the bizarre and the morbid and has believed in this proj ect from its inception. Thanks to Xuefei Ren for her support. I am very fortunate to have found Yvon le Bot and Janine Perrimond, landlords who have become dear friends. We had, and continue to have, many memorable eve nings debating politics and ideas over wine in their lovely Pari - sian home. A special thanks to Sophie Wahnich, historienne extraordinaire de la Révolution française, for her friendship and inspiring scholarship. Parts of this ACKNOWL EDGMENTS xiii book were written at the home of Lauren Ross and Lisa Fithian in Austin; I am grateful for their hospitality. Bette Oliver has edited the manuscript. I am very grateful to her for this and for the many years we’ve spent discussing the French Revolution, poetry, and cats. I have been talking about history, theory, and life with Pablo Ben for almost twenty years now: the imprint of his sharp, knowledgeable mind is all over this work. When I first met Emily Andrew, my editor at Cornell University Press, I remember thinking “she understands what I am trying to do better than I do!” I am deeply grateful to her for guiding this project expertly to its frui- tion, for knowing what to say and when, and for her patience with the recur- ring e- mails, whose content boiled down to: “Eh, I am going to need a few more days.” I am also grateful to the two anonymous readers at Cornell for their helpful suggestions. My deepest gratitude is to those with whom I share the most intimate bonds. My mother, my father and his partner, and my brother have supported my vari ous endeavors over the years.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • PERFORMED IDENTITIES: HEAVY METAL MUSICIANS BETWEEN 1984 and 1991 Bradley C. Klypchak a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate
    PERFORMED IDENTITIES: HEAVY METAL MUSICIANS BETWEEN 1984 AND 1991 Bradley C. Klypchak A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2007 Committee: Dr. Jeffrey A. Brown, Advisor Dr. John Makay Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Ron E. Shields Dr. Don McQuarie © 2007 Bradley C. Klypchak All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Jeffrey A. Brown, Advisor Between 1984 and 1991, heavy metal became one of the most publicly popular and commercially successful rock music subgenres. The focus of this dissertation is to explore the following research questions: How did the subculture of heavy metal music between 1984 and 1991 evolve and what meanings can be derived from this ongoing process? How did the contextual circumstances surrounding heavy metal music during this period impact the performative choices exhibited by artists, and from a position of retrospection, what lasting significance does this particular era of heavy metal merit today? A textual analysis of metal- related materials fostered the development of themes relating to the selective choices made and performances enacted by metal artists. These themes were then considered in terms of gender, sexuality, race, and age constructions as well as the ongoing negotiations of the metal artist within multiple performative realms. Occurring at the juncture of art and commerce, heavy metal music is a purposeful construction. Metal musicians made performative choices for serving particular aims, be it fame, wealth, or art. These same individuals worked within a greater system of influence. Metal bands were the contracted employees of record labels whose own corporate aims needed to be recognized.
    [Show full text]
  • Nationalism in the French Revolution of 1789
    The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Honors College 5-2014 Nationalism in the French Revolution of 1789 Kiley Bickford University of Maine - Main Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors Part of the Cultural History Commons Recommended Citation Bickford, Kiley, "Nationalism in the French Revolution of 1789" (2014). Honors College. 147. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/147 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NATIONALISM IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789 by Kiley Bickford A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for a Degree with Honors (History) The Honors College University of Maine May 2014 Advisory Committee: Richard Blanke, Professor of History Alexander Grab, Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History Angela Haas, Visiting Assistant Professor of History Raymond Pelletier, Associate Professor of French, Emeritus Chris Mares, Director of the Intensive English Institute, Honors College Copyright 2014 by Kiley Bickford All rights reserved. Abstract The French Revolution of 1789 was instrumental in the emergence and growth of modern nationalism, the idea that a state should represent, and serve the interests of, a people, or "nation," that shares a common culture and history and feels as one. But national ideas, often with their source in the otherwise cosmopolitan world of the Enlightenment, were also an important cause of the Revolution itself. The rhetoric and documents of the Revolution demonstrate the importance of national ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • Populist Discourse in the French Revolution Rebecca Dudley
    Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies Volume 33 Article 6 2016 Do You Hear the People Sing?: Populist Discourse in the French Revolution Rebecca Dudley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sigma Part of the European History Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Dudley, Rebecca (2016) "Do You Hear the People Sing?: Populist Discourse in the French Revolution," Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies: Vol. 33 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sigma/vol33/iss1/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Do You Hear the People Sing?: Populist Discourse in the French Revolution by Rebecca Dudley The rallying cry of the French Revolutionaries was "Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!" (liberty, equality, fraternity), and the French Revolution, a pivotal moment in French, European, and world history, has been consistently considered one of the first and most significant nationalist movements. Research and literature thus far on discourse in this revolution have focused on nationalism Qenkins 1990; Hayward 1991; O'Brien 1988), along with the discourses of violence and terror that led to the graphic revolu­ tion (Ozouf 1984; Leoussi 2001). The presence of nationalist discourse and nationalist sentiment in the French Revolution is undeniable, but there are other elements poten­ tially missing from the current analyses.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and Its Importance for Modem Democracy
    DEMOCRAC AHMOKPATI The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and its Importance for Modern Democracy Mogens Herman Hansen The Tradition of Ancient Greek Democracy and its Importance for Modem Democracy B y M ogens H erman H ansen Historisk-filosofiske Meddelelser 93 Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Copenhagen 2005 Abstract The two studies printed here investigate to what extent there is a con­ nection between ancient and modem democracy. The first study treats the tradition of ancient Greek democracy, especially the tradition of Athenian democracy from ca. 1750 to the present day. It is argued that in ideology there is a remarkable resemblance between the Athenian democracy in the Classical period and the modem liberal democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand no direct tradition con­ nects modem liberal democracy with its ancient ancestor. Not one single Athenian institution has been copied by a modem democracy, and it is only from ca. 1850 onwards that the ideals cherished by the Athenian democrats were referred to approvingly by modem cham­ pions of democracy. It is in fact the IT technology and its potential for a return to a more direct form of democracy which has given rise to a hitherto unmatched interest in the Athenian democratic institutions. This is the topic of the second study in which it is argued that the focus of the contemporary interest is on the Athenian system of sortition and rotation rather than on the popular assembly. Contents The Tradition of Democracy from Antiquity to the Present Time .................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • History Bee of Versailles – Final Round Packet
    History Bee of Versailles – Final Round Packet 1) This Holocaust survivor and first female minister in French government pushed through her namesake law while serving as Minister of Health in the government of Valery Giscard d’Estaing, where she also championed a law that facilitated access to contraceptives. For the point, name this woman who names the law legalizing abortion in France. ANSWER: Simone Veil (do not accept Simone Weil) 2) After this government arrested General Jean-Charles Pichegru, this government became divided in the aftermath of the Coup of 18 Fructidor. This government’s legislature was consisted of the Counsel of Ancients and Council of Five Hundred, which were stormed by grenadiers in the Coup of 18 Brumaire. The Consulate replaced, for the point, what government which formed after the fall of Robespierre in 1794? ANSWER: French Directory 3) The relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas were donated by Pope Urban V to this city’s Church of the Jacobins. This city was the capital of a kingdom that was conquered by Euric after the Visigoths expanded to Arles and Marseilles, although it was captured and sacked by the Franks under Clovis after the Battle of Vouillé. After Septimania merged with this city’s namesake county, this city became the capital of Languedoc. For the point, name this southern French city, the historic capital of Occitania. ANSWER: Toulouse (or Tolosa) 4) In addition to the Federalist Revolts, the bloodiest of these events was put down by General Turreau’s “flying columns” and failed to take Nantes. During that example of these events, priests who refused to agree to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy were tied to barges and drowned in the Loire.
    [Show full text]
  • After Robespierre
    J . After Robespierre THE THERMIDORIAN REACTION Mter Robespierre THE THERMIDORIAN REACTION By ALBERT MATHIEZ Translated from the French by Catherine Alison Phillips The Universal Library GROSSET & DUNLAP NEW YORK COPYRIGHT ©1931 BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS La Reaction Thermidorienne COPYRIGHT 1929 BY MAX LECLERC ET CIE UNIVERSAL LIBRARY EDITION, 1965 BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 65·14385 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFACE So far as order of time is concerned, M. M athie( s study of the Thermidorian Reaction, of which the present volume is a translation, is a continuation of his history of the French Revolution, of which the English version was published in 1928. In form and character, however, there is a notable difference. In the case of the earlier work the limitations imposed by the publishers excluded all references and foot-notes, and the author had to refer the reader to his other published works for the evidence on which his conclusions were based. In the case of the present book no such limitations have been set, and M. Mathiei: has thus been able not only to state his con­ clusions, but to give the chain of reasoning by which they have been reached. The Thermidorian Reaction is therefore something more than a sequel to The French Revolution, which M. Mathiei:, with perhaps undue modesty, has described as a precis having no independent authority; it is not only a work of art, but a weighty contribution to historical science. In the preface to his French Revolution M.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean-Baptiste Lingaud Papers Ms
    Jean-Baptiste Lingaud papers Ms. Coll. 515 Finding aid prepared by Anton Matytsin. Last updated on April 24, 2020. University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts July 2004 Jean-Baptiste Lingaud papers Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................3 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative Information........................................................................................................................... 4 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................5 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 6 Mayor’s Office of Limoges.....................................................................................................................6 Personal Papers of Lingaud...................................................................................................................29 - Page 2 - Jean-Baptiste Lingaud papers Summary Information Repository University
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1. Introduction 1. Jean Tulard, Le My the De Napoleon
    Notes Chapter 1. Introduction 1. Jean Tulard, Le My the de Napoleon (Paris: Armand Colin, 1971), pp.47, 51 etc. 2. Addicts may consult Jean Savant, Napoleon (Paris: Veyrier, 1974); Frank Richardson, Napoleon, Bisexual Emperor (London: Kimber, 1972); Arno Karlen, Napoleon's Glands and Other Ventures in Biohistory (Boston: Little Brown, 1984). 3. J.M. Thompson, Napoleon Bonaparte (Oxford: Blackwell, 1988), p.389. 4. J. Tulard, Napoleon: The Myth of the Saviour, trans. T. Waugh (London: Methuen, 1985), p.449. For the poisoning allegations, see Sten Forshufvud and Ben Weider, Assassination at St Helena: The Poisoning of Napoleon Bonaparte (Vancouver: Mitchell Press, 1978), and Frank Richardson, Napoleon's Death: An Inquest (London: Kimber, 1974). 5. G. Ellis, Napoleon's Continental Blockade: The Case ofAlsace (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981); Alan Forrest, Conscripts and Deserters: The Army and French Society during the Revolution and Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989); Michael Broers, The Restoration of Order in Napoleonic Piedmont, 1797-1814, unpublished Oxford D .Phil. thesis, 1986. Chapter 2. Bonaparte the Jacobin 1. J. Boswell, An Account of Corsica, the Journal of a Tour in that Island and Memoirs ofPascal Paoli (London, 1768). 2. Peter A. Thrasher, Pasquale Paoli: an Enlightened Hero, 1725-1807 (London: Constable, 1970), e.g. pp.98-9. 3. D. Carrington, "Paoli et sa 'Constitution' (1755-69)", AhRf, 218, October-December, 1974,531. 4. J. Tulard, Napoleon: The Myth of the Saviour (London: Methuen, 1985), p.24. 301 302 NOTES 5. S.F. Scott, The Response of the Rnyal Army to the French Revolution: The Rnle and Development of the Line Army during 1789-93, (Oxford, 1978).
    [Show full text]
  • HSTR 352.01: French Revolution 1789-1848
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Summer 6-2016 HSTR 352.01: French Revolution 1789-1848 Linda S. Frey University of Montana - Missoula, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Frey, Linda S., "HSTR 352.01: French Revolution 1789-1848" (2016). Syllabi. 4242. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/4242 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Summer 2016 Prof. Frey FRENCH REVOLUTION Required Reading Wright, France in Modern Times Tocqueville, The Old Regime and the French Revolution Palmer, Twelve Who Ruled Rowe, “Civilians and Warfare during the French Revolutionary Wars.” (reserve) Holtman, The Napoleonic Revolution Walter, Diary of a Napoleonic Soldier Supplementary readings are available at the reserve desk at the Mansfield Library. Exams This class is only offered for a traditional grade. Midterm (tentative date June 8) will cover Wright pp. 3-56, Tocqueville, Rowe, Palmer, and readings on reserve. Final will cover Wright, pp. 57-122, Holtman, and Walter, and readings on reserve. Papers are due June 13 at the beginning of the class hour. No electronic submissions will be accepted. LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Length: 5-7 pages double spaced. Style: Chicago Manual of Style, Footnotes. All papers should be submitted with the usual scholarly apparatus, that is, title page, footnotes, and bibliography.
    [Show full text]
  • Tyranny Plagued the French Revolution
    Coastal Carolina University CCU Digital Commons Honors College and Center for Interdisciplinary Honors Theses Studies Spring 5-7-2020 Tyranny Plagued the French Revolution Christy Leigh Salinari Coastal Carolina University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/honors-theses Part of the Other Political Science Commons, and the Political Theory Commons Recommended Citation Salinari, Christy Leigh, "Tyranny Plagued the French Revolution" (2020). Honors Theses. 369. https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/honors-theses/369 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College and Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at CCU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of CCU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tyranny Plagued the French Revolution By Christy Leigh Salinari Political Science Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts In the HTC Honors College at Coastal Carolina University Spring 2020 Louis E. Keiner Kimberly Hurd Hale Director of Honors Assistant Professor HTC Honors College Political Science Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts ABSTRACT Liberty, equality, and fraternity were the three original pillars of the French Revolution at the start in 1789. The slogan became the rallying cry for the embittered French people in their initial pursuit for political and social transformation. The French Revolution is perhaps the most prominent contemporary illustration of a violent revolution which ultimately was successful, resulting in a model of democratic government. The French Revolution reached a decade in length wherein there were countless demonstrations, massacres, wars, civil unrest, and political enlightenment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pitiful King: Tears, Blood, and Family in Revolutionary Royalism
    The Pitiful King: Tears, Blood, and Family in Revolutionary Royalism Victoria Murano Submitted to Professors Lisa Jane Graham and Linda Gerstein In partial fulfillment of the requirement of History 400: Senior Thesis Seminar Murano 1 Abstract When the French Revolution erupted in 1789, revolutionaries strove to foster a sense of freedom of expression, guaranteeing a brief freedom of the press. The eleventh article of the 1791 Declaration of the Rights of Man asserts that “The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of man’s most precious rights; all citizens may therefore speak, write, print freely, except to answer for the abuse of this liberty in cases determined by law.” However, as France became further embroiled in the Revolution, it abandoned its allegiance to the universality of these rights, propagating pro-republican thought, and persecuting anyone who did not share these views. The royalist press was a major concern to the new republican government, because it continued to speak out in support of the king and criticize the Revolution. The existence of royalist journalists and writers thus posed a problem for revolutionaries who wanted to establish a monolithically-minded republic. Therefore, over time, they enacted repressive censorship and punishment to crack down on royalist sympathizers. Although they sent many royalist writers to prison or the guillotine, the revolutionaries ultimately failed to silence their political enemies. This thesis uses newspapers, images, and other printed media to explore royalist coverage of three events that diminished royal power: Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes in June 1791, his execution in January 1793, and the death of his nine-year-old son and heir, Louis XVII, in June 1795.
    [Show full text]
  • Gracchus Babeuf and the Revolutionary Language of Thermidor
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 3-1997 From the Printing Press to the Guillotine: Gracchus Babeuf and the Revolutionary Language of Thermidor David Brian Audley Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the European History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Audley, David Brian, "From the Printing Press to the Guillotine: Gracchus Babeuf and the Revolutionary Language of Thermidor" (1997). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5740. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7611 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. THESIS APPROVAL The abstract and thesis of David Brian Audley for the Master of Arts in History were presented February 14, 1997, and accepted by the thesis committee and the department. COMMITTEE APPROVALS: Thomas M. Luckett, Chair Robert Liebman Representative of the Office of Graduate Studies DEPARTMENT APPROVAL: G~s,~ Department of History * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ACCEPTED FOR PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY BY THE LIBRARY by ABSTRACT An abstract of the thesis of David Brian Audley for the Master of Arts in History presented February 14, 1997. Title: From the Printing Press to the Guillotine: Gracchus Babeuf and the Revolutionary Language of Thermidor. The traditional history of Fran9ois-Noel 'Gracchus' Babeuf has been centered on politics and socialism. Sine his death in 1797 historians have attempted to show the foundations of nineteenth and twentieth-century social revolution and communism in the polemical works of Babeuf.
    [Show full text]