French Revolution 230 Years After

Home , Hippolyte Taine

FRENCH REVOLUTION 230 YEARS AFTER The conference is organized by the Institute for – A CRITICAL VIEW – Political Studes and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

The Festival of the Supreme Being by Pierre-Antoine Demarchy FRENCH REVOLUTION 230 YEARS AFTER PARTICIPANTS – A CRITICAL VIEW –

Dr. habil. Friedrich Romig, Wien Dr. Attila Károly Molnár Thomas Molnar Research Centre, NUPS, Budapest There are few historical events that aspired to what degree was the population of European Francesco Giubilei to such a radical and comprehensive change of states truly prepared to accept French ideas, i.e. Historica edizioni / Giubilei Regnani, Rome reality as the French Revolution. Simultaneously, to show solidarity with Parisian revolutionaries. Dr. Milena Pešić despite its radicalism, there are only a few events The issue of the channels through which revo- Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade in world history around which, at least on the lutionary ideas were spread across Europe is also continent, such firm consensus has been created. of special concern. This particularly regarding Dr. Christian Machek Bertha-von-Suttner-Gesellschaft, Wien Not only has the Revolution itself been positive- the actions of the “Pilgrims of Revolution” and ly evaluated but also all of its (conceptual) con- various European clubs that served as hubs of Julien Rochedy, Paris sequences have been accepted without critical revolutionary propaganda dissemination; name- Dr. Dušan Dostanić assessment. On the other hand, too often have ly, as a support to the French army. Regarding Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade the dark sides of the Revolution been interpreted revolutionary ideas, a light should be once again simply as exaggerations and a deviation or as a shed on the connection between revolutionary Dr. Stefano Lo Re SASSP, University of St Andrews, St Andrews deterioration of basically good ideas. In this con- terror and revolutionary ideals, both in and out- text, the critics of the Revolution have often been side France. There can be no doubt anymore that Paola Gentile, PhD cand. pushed aside and marginalized, and—as in the the terror during the Revolution—in its overall University of Bologna time of the Revolution—labeled as “obscurants”. scope, was not just an accidental outburst of vio- Dr. Thomas Flichy de La Neuville This dominant black and white image is far lence but was rather firmly embedded in its pil- The Institute of World Politics, Washington from objective historical reality. The anniversary lars from the beginning, as its inseparable part. Gregor Schäfer, lic.phil.I / M.A. might be seen as a good opportunity for a critical It is necessary to pay special attention to the University of Basel reflection on the Revolution as a historical event, counter-revolutionary side as well, particular- Henrik Hőnich and for rethinking its ideological postulates, ly because of the politicization of public opin- Thomas Molnar Research Centre, NUPS, Budapest intellectual roots, and its spiritual and political ion under the influence of the Revolution. The legacies. Under the phrase “the consequences of counter-revolutionary camp was far less homo- Dr. Marko Pejković the Revolution” one has to have in mind its intel- geneous than it might seem at first glance because Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade lectual heritage, that is, the influence it has left not everyone opposed the revolution for the same María Sánchez Castellanos, PhD cand. on the formation of modern political ideologies, reasons nor for the same ideals. European mon- Benjamin Franklin Institute. University of Alcalá, Madrid especially totalitarian ones. archies were not ready for the battle over ideas, Dr. Aleksandar Novaković From its outbreak, unlike earlier times, the so the spiritual defense against the Revolution Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade Revolution has massively politicized and divided was mainly in the domain of individual writers Zoltán Petö the public across Europe and almost every single who were sometimes gathered within a few rela- Thomas Molnar Research Centre, NUPS, Budapest political theorist of the 19th century had to define tively short-lived journals. One should not forget his own attitude according to revolutionary the fact that many of those who supported the ideas. Therefore, it is necessary to critically asses Revolution at the beginning very soon became its the influence of revolutionary, i.e. contra-revolu- fierce opponents (Edmund Burke, Luis de Bon- tionary ideas outside France. The question arises ald, Friedrich von Gentz, Joseph Görres). Dates: 14-15 October 2019 Host organisation: Institute for Political Studies (IPS), Belgrade Support: the Ministry of Science, Education and Technology of the Republic of Serbia Organizers: Dušan Dostanić (IPS), Aleksandar Novaković (IPS), Marko Pejković (IPS) Venue: Krsmanovic House, Terazije 34, Belgrade

Desecration of the Royal Tombs in the Abbey Church of Saint Denis, painting by Hubert Robert some of them against any dogmatism and Who Would Conserve towards a dispositional interpretation of con- What? servative politics. On the other hand, the permanent shift of leftists further to the left cre- Attila K. Molnar ated the problem of conservative identity. The UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:329.1/.6 dispositional conservatives could only slow The French Revolution not only subverted down but not stop or turn back the results of the world of ancien régime, but it created the leftist politics. That’s the reason why one can new political landscape where there are leftists see several efforts to find and summarize con- and rightist, progressives—including num- servative principles. berless subtypes—and conservatives. In this Because of its practical, historical and deep- paper, I focus on the habits of conservation and ly anti-dogmatic character and the permanent change as a dividing line between large groups radicalization of its opponents, conservative of political and cultural actors. thinking resists definition. The post-war American thinking has picked Keywords: conservatism, change, conserva- change and time as the cores of difference tive identity between progressives/leftist and conservatives, while there were countless efforts to collect the Italian Critique of the dogmas these political families’ principles. In this paper, I argue that both approaches Revolution are unsatisfactory concerning conservatives. Francesco Giubilei First, conservatives cannot be defined by bold UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:321.01(450) conservation of whatever at hand. In this way they would lose their history and identity, for Counter-revolutionary thought has devel- example an old-fashioned communist of 1989 oped in Italy from the first years after the or a hard liner liberal today could be labeled French revolution and actualized by a series of as conservative. And conservatives, obviously, conservative authors, philosophers and think- are not against change if it will hopefully solve ers, and through strong ties with the Catholic some practical problems, but against change in world. The reaction to the French revolution fact, if it happens in the name of some ideolog- was actualized through the birth of movements ical-utopical plan or legitimized by so-called and associations operating as counter-revolu- historical inevitability, progress, etc. tionary think-tanks. Second, time—i.e. the speed of change—or The traditional Catholic world has a prima- the idea of golden mean seems to be unsatisfac- ry role with the secret association “Christian tory, as well, because this approach would shift Friendship”, born in Turin and led since 1798 the content of conservative politics in terms of by Father Pio Burnone Lanteri, author of some its leftist/progressive opponents. thirty texts of criticism of revolutionary ideas, Finally, there is a rather permanent debate while in 1815, the association “the Holy Union” inside the conservative camp about the desir- was born in the Papal State to defend the tem- ability of the list of values, principles or dogmas poral powers of the Roman state. Thanks to the of conservatism. The habit of this dogmatiza- influence of authors such as de Bonald, Lamen- tion was started in the twentieth century, fol- nais and De Maistre, Italy developed critical lowing the ideology fabricating the character of thought against the revolution and Enlighten- the leftist/progressive opponents. This debate ment, defending tradition. Among the main can be easily found in the Conservatism vs. authors, we remember Antonio Capece Minu- conservatives debate. The skeptical and practi- tolo, prince of Canosa and a reference point in cal, policy and governing—that is, action-ori- the Restoration period, Clemente Solarodel- ented character of conservatives always turns la Margherita, from Piedmont and among

1 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade the principal opposers of Cavour, Monaldo Keywords: Counter-revolution, Traditional Leopardi, father of the most important Italian Catholic Church, Restoration, Conservatism author Giacomo Leopardi, and author of various works such as his Autobiography, in which A Liberal’s Strange Conversion: he summarizes his counterrevolutionary ideas, and Giacinto de’ Sivo, high commissioner of the James Mackintosh’s Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Msgr. Giuseppe Counter-Revolutionary Turn Baraldi and the political philosopher Emiliano Zoltán Pető Avogadro della Motta. Two other important UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:321.01 Mackintosh J. figures, both founders of the magazine “Civ- iltà Cattolica” are Luigi Taparelli D’Azeglio and James Mackintosh wrote a treatise with the Antonio Bresciani. A notable influence also title of Vindiciae Gallicae at the age of 25 to crit- comes from the Spanish author Juan Dono- icize Edmund Burke’s antirevolutionary atti- so y Cortés and more recently from the book tude and writings. Although he was the young- by Plinio Correa de Oliveira Revolution and est member amongst the enemies of Burke, Counterrevolution. Another important writer maybe he had the deepest and most profound was Vincenzo Cuoco, author of the Historical understanding of Burke and of his age. His Essay on the Revolution in Naples, in which he treatise was not written in a popular and jour- condemns Jacobins. In addition, the principal nalistic manner as Thomas Paine’s but he wrote Italian conservative, Giuseppe Prezzolini, in to a studied audience. Later, the escalation of his famous Manifesto of Conservatives, writes the revolutionary violence caused a change in a chapter about the “conservation of history” his views, and from 1792 he started to distance opening with the theme of the counterrevolu- himself from his own previous stance, in 1796 tionaries. he met Burke personally to excuse himself. By In more recent times, criticism of the that time, the optimism of radical writers was French revolution continues on criticism of the reduced following revolutionary violence, the movement of 1968, as in the case of the Cath- stage of “great fear” and the bloody rule of the olic philosopher Augusto Del Noce, who criti- French Jacobins. William Blake and Word- cizes the drift of contemporary society caused sworth in England, just as Novalis and Schlegel by the French revolution and the spirit of ’68. in Germany, became skeptics although they A counterrevolutionary analysis is also found had initially supported the revolution. in the writing of Julius Evola and especially his Mackintosh wrote to Burke on 22 December book Revolt Against the Modern World where 1796, saying that “From the earliest moments he identifies four moments of decadence in of reflection your writings were my chief study modern civilization (Renaissance, Protestant- and delight... The enthusiasm with which I ism, French revolution, Bolshevik revolution). then embraced them is now ripened into solid Giovanni Cantoni, one of the main intellectuals Conviction by the experience and meditation studying the Counterrevolution, distinguishes of more mature age. For a time indeed seduced two phases of the Counter-revolutionary school by the love of what I thought liberty I ventured of thought: an initial one with a more apolo- to oppose your Opinions without ever ceasing getic background and a second one, more sys- to venerate your character... I cannot say... that tematic. As well as the intellectual field, oppo- I can even now assent to all your opinions on sition to revolutionary ideas surfaces through the present politics of Europe. But I can with so-called “insurgencies”, popular insurgencies truth affirm that I subscribe to your gener- taking place between 1796 and 1799 against al Principles; that I consider them as the only republican governments, which emerged after solid foundation both of political Science and the French revolution. Proper Counterrevolu- of political prudence” (R. B. McDowell and tionary demonstrations from the people. John A. Woods (eds.), The Correspondence

2 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade of Edmund Burke. Volume IX: Part One May of revelation and genuine philosophy in particular 1796-July 1797. Part Two: Additional and with its teaching about the cosmos as a source of Undated Letters (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- order. versity Press, 1970), p. 193.) Hegel was like most thinkers in that his thin- Mackintosh called the French Revolution king had many facets and layers, which also deserve a “shameless thing,” and he wrote that he very acknowledgment, bearing in mind that he under- much hated and despised it. stood man as a zoon politikon. Yet, how is he to be In my lecture, I would like to show how and understood properly? Can he be understood as a why this change happened, and how it could philosopher of Enlightenment, at least a Christi- perhaps affect our present view of the revolu- an philosopher or even as a reactionary glorifier tion. I would also like to present how this could of the Prussian state? All these categorizations are affect the history of conservative thought. of secondary importance considering that Hegel Keywords: Scottish Enlightenment, Burke, declared himself to be a philosopher of the French Counter-Revolutionary, Regicide Peace Revolution. Voegelin confirms this self-evaluation when he claims that Hegel’s ideas lead to an “ego- Hegel’s “Egophanic phanic revolt” of the mind. Voegelin explains this with the reduction of the logos of revelation to a Revolt” and Voegelin’s system of absolute knowledge through a libido Critique dominandi in Hegel’s thinking. In Hegelian ideolo- Christian Machek gy man does not live in an in-between (metaxy), in UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:[1 Hegel+321.01 Voegelin E. a participatory tension towards the “divine ground of existence”, rather he constructs a false conscious- As the title indicates the thought of the Ger- ness which wants to give him power over reality. man philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Ultimately without God, Hegel’s constructed (1770-1831) and its critique is the subject-matter abstract System of Science puts the self-reflective of my paper. This implies that Hegel is understood consciousness (Bewusstsein) on the metastasis of to be at least a sympathizer of the French Revolu- reality. Hegel wants to accomplish this imaginative tion, rather than just a translator and even more construction with words of sorcery (Zauberworte) a transformer of the revolutionary ideas. As an in a dialectic process in order to create a new, second outstanding thinker of German Idealism, Hegel reality. The second reality is the source of social and together with Immanuel Kant (1742-1805), where political disorder, the “first” reality as an expressi- both should be understood as Protestants, had an on of spiritual substance, and source of order is enormous impact on German intellectual life and thus eliminated. One aspect of this is the Hegelian also the so-called “West” even today. understanding of an “absolute state,” which blends Even though neither Hegel nor Kant were poli- out the search for an ideal state (Strauss). tical executors of their own ideas, both revolutioni- “The Idea is the absolute power that brings its- zed German philosophy thus becoming part of the elf forth” (Hegel). Hegel considered Napoleon to intellectual legacy of the Revolution. My paper will be the Great Man, because he is the world-historic focus on the analyses and critique of the political servant of the Idea as it comes to its fulfillment. The theorist Eric Voegelin (1901-1985), who together abstractness of the idea of freedom as part of a fal- with Leo Strauss (1899-1973) is known to be criti- se, second reality, which degenerated into violence cal about modern thinking and to have had consi- and terror, moved from France to Germany, Hegel derable academic influence in the US in the 20th wrote in 1814. century. Both had a clear foundation for formula- Keywords: Hegel, Voegelin egophanic revolt, ting their critique of modern political ideologies, freedom, philosophy of history, progress, German namely Platonic philosophy. According to them, Idealism modern ideologies are the cause of the disorder and the crises of Western civilization; its cure is to be found in the history of ideas, rooting in concepts

2 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade 3 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade the good peasant of the good people whose Similarities Between the image we passionately love but whose image Enlightenment and we never really approach. Progressivism in Terms of What is striking in the observation of these dreamy aristocrats, is the extraordinary rel- Reasoning and Psychology evance of their thoughts, their misdeeds, and – How the Heads Roll their psychology, for our current time. Often, Julian Rochedy when reading their work and letters, one could UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:141.7 be tricked into thinking that one is listening to representatives of our current left-wing and It’s an undeniable fact that without the liberal elite. Which is not too surprising, con- Enlightenment the French Revolution would sidering that their progressive ideology direct- have never come about. It was by virtue of the ly derives from the enlightenment. But the new ideas introduced in the eighteenth century similarities are not limited only to the elite: it that mentalities were transformed enough to appears that most postmodern Europeans feel envisage and then accomplish a radical trans- and think exactly like 18th-century aristocrats formation of society. It’s quite remarkable and when it comes to the outside world. Like priv- even a bit counterintuitive to come to the real- ileged gentlemen full of good intentions, gen- ization that these new ideas were, to a great tility and naivety, they are so blinded by their extent the product of, and, at the very least quest for happiness that they create conditions carried out by, the same group that would later that will eventually leave them in horror. become the very victim of these ideas: the aris- Some behaviors weaken and transform psy- tocratic elite. chologies so much so that they start to produce In order to become a victim, the aristocra- and then adopt ideas detrimental to their exis- cy first had to yield to the reasons of its exe- tence. This is what the history of the French cutioners. This phenomenon is common in Revolution demonstrates regarding enlighten- even the most basic principles of psychology. ment and nobility, and it seems that it contin- Both conceived and supported by aristocrats, ues to demonstrate this phenomenon through these so-called “idées des lumières,” will never progressivism and our contemporaries. cease to disarm them morally and undermine Keywords: Progressivism, Enlightenment, their authority. All of this whilst sharpening Aristocracy, Decline the blades that will soon be used to reap them in the name of Good, Justice, Liberty, Equality, Humanity and all other concepts with a capital Convention and Innovation: letter. Contexts of Hungarian For such suicide to occur, particular psy- Radicalism in Late chology, born from new living conditions, was 18th-Century Hungary required, (these conditions and new psychology were perfectly studied by Hippolyte Taine Henrik Hőnich and to a lesser extent by Gustave Le Bon). UDC 321.01(439)”17”:94(44)”1789/1799” The French nobility, in its state of decay, The political discourses in 18th century began to read Rousseau instead of Bossuet; fell Hungary cannot be described as homogeneous asleep in an idleness that rendered itself useless systems of modes of speaking, but rather as and vicious; abandoned its virile nerve that had compounds of diverse functional elements, been vital to its very existence; suddenly sought stemming from different historical and dis- to seek happiness where its used to seek honor; cursive contexts. Accordingly, one key feature began to naively dream of an inherently good of the predominant formation among them, universal human nature, often represented by the collective identity discourse of the estates,

4 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade characterised by the preponderance of noble role in building up and deploying conceptu- corporatism and the ethnogenetic narrative al frameworks, which may be described as of the nobility, was the interdependent coexis- “unconventional” as regards to their relation tence of relatively disparate semantic, rhetoric, to formulations giving expression to particular symbolic and narrative configurations. On a aspects of the hierarchy of values determined historical level, a sort of integrative potential is by the idea of the ancient constitution and that to be regarded as one key factor and indicator of the privileges of the estates. On this level of the complexity of this ensemble of different of investigation, I intend to analyse (partial) motifs, narratives and political languages. In redescriptions of “conventional” usages of the this regard, first and foremost, the process of political vocabulary of the time. Besides, by cultural transfer holds enormous significance, examining a handful of other passages from the which contributed to a great extent to the for- same corpus, I am also going to analyse some mation, reception, and transmission of new “standard” applications of elements taken from patterns of political thinking in the region. the estates’ collective identity discourse. However, it must be pointed out that the By means of the text analysis, I would like same tendency of semantic openness and flexi- to demonstrate that it is inevitable that even bility come into view from another perspective the most innovative discursive acts rely in on one and the same phenomenon. In my pre- some respects on prior, “conventional” forms sentation, I would like to highlight the fact that of argumentative frameworks, semantic struc- the above sort of textual (semantic and rhetori- tures and rhetorical formulations. Consequent- cal) versatility is not only traceable in works or ly, their interpretation ought to be carried out argumentations characterized by the predom- from an intellectual history perspective, which inance of the hierarchy of values determined not only reckons with the individual’s capaci- by particular elements of the identity construct ty to use collective (historical-situational and of the estates. Drawn from the analysis of a discursive- linguistic) structures in creative corpus consisting of political pamphlets and forms but which also takes into consideration treatises from the first half of the 1790s, main- the potential of these structures for providing ly from authors classified usually as members some leeway and setting limits for these indi- of the tiny group of “radical reformers”, one vidual acts at the same time. of the principal conclusions of my lecture will In concrete historical terms, if we are inter- be that the tendency toward “hybrid forms” of ested in understanding the complexity of the political thought and a(nother) kind of het- semantic interconnections within particular erogeneity can also be observed in works of layers of political discourses in 18th century the most radical thinkers of the time, most of Hungary, it seems to be insufficient to apply them sympathisers or advocates of the French the binary opposition based on the simple Revolution and some of them affiliated also to counter-position of “conservative” and “pro- the Hungarian Jacobin movement led by Ignác gressive“ sets of values and the corresponding Martinovics. linguistic tools for expressing them. Content- In my talk, employing a conceptualist ing ourselves with normative metaconcepts for approach, my aim will be to demonstrate, inter- describing contemporary political discourses, pret and contextualise applications of concepts we deprive ourselves of being able to under- belonging to the social and political vocabulary stand the complex mechanisms of how seem- of the time. The focus of attention will be on ingly irreconcilable discursive configurations terms with social and political capacities like can work perfectly well alongside one another “law”, “common good,” “patriot” or “nation.” in a given text. Thus, it is of utmost importance From the perspective of my lecture, the signifi- to prescind from the subsequent historical sig- cance of social and political terms lies first and nificance of value attributions and argumenta- foremost in the fact that they played a crucial tive frameworks, often interpreted as manifes-

4 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade 5 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade tations of a supposed “(proto)liberalism and/ revolution’s republican spirit will not or should or (proto)nationalism”. To overcome decontex- not be forgotten, perhaps because it is expres- tualisation and to get closer to revealing con- sion of some universally valid principles which textual meanings, the approach of close textual only needs to be discovered, then a historical analysis provides useful tools. trigger for moral enthusiasm is unnecessary. Keywords: Radicalism, proto-liberalism, The upshot is that Kant’s sympathy for the proto-nationalism, Hungary, 18th century French Revolution, even merely qua expression of certain ideals, should not be seen as stemming from intrinsic features of the historical Kant and the French event itself. However, this puts extra pressure Revolution: Can There be on Kant’s argument for a teleological concep- Historical Signs of Moral tion of history, because events in history do not seem to afford any epistemic support to it, how- Progress? ever tenuous. Kant must retreat to a practical- Stefano Lo Re ly grounded hope that the influence of certain UDC 94(44)“1789/1799“:1 Kant principles in history is self-reinforcing. The paper explores the significance of his- Keywords: Kant, moral progress, philoso- torical events to the question of the nature of phy of history, political resistance humanity’s moral progress by considering the case of Immanuel Kant’s approach to the Revolutionary Ideals from French Revolution. I set the context by con- necting Kant’s historical interpretation of the Raison to Domination facts of the Revolution, his theoretical rejection Paola Gentile of a right to resist, and his praise of the Rev- UDC 323.27/.28 olution, or at least of its ideals. I then turn to In his philosophy, Hegel reserves a promi- Kant’s argument in the Conflict of Faculties. nent place to Enlightenment and French Revo- There, he asks whether the human race is pro- lution as the first attempt of building the realm gressing towards the morally better. He argues of Reason in the historical reality. He attributes that this question cannot “be resolved directly its failure to a shortcoming in its insight of through experience,” and “yet the prophetic raison. That became tragically apparent under history of the human race must be connected the Terror, “real of absolute freedom” where, to some experience.” What we need, he argues, in Hegel’s words, death has “no more meaning is an event that points to the presence of a mor- than chopping off a head of cabbage or swal- al disposition in the human race, a “historical lowing a mouthful of water.” In his view, the sign” that “would allow progress toward the Terror represents the fanatic essay of erasing all better to be concluded as an inevitable con- singularity, a mere “fury of disappearing” that sequence”. Kant introduces “an occurrence in reflects Reason’s ambition to impose itself as [his] time which demonstrates [a] moral ten- immediately universal. It follows the annihila- dency of the human race”. The “sign” is the tion of all social organization, namely a political purely moral enthusiasm the French revolution resolution where a supposedly universal pow- raised in spectators outside of France. Finally, I er operates only trough negation, by putting turn to a problem, namely, that the enthusiasm to death anyone who stands his individuality may be prompted by other events in history. against it—sequence of cold and plate deaths Some of Kant’s pre-1789 texts seem to lean in “without any meaning.” Operating this way, this direction, which would support the view the Revolution that once brought to the fore that his argument in Conflict of Faculties need the great negative power of intellect reaches the not single out the French revolution as a his- nonsense of an insane and total massacre: by torical unicum. If so, if the argument is that the

6 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade their degeneration into the Terror, revolution- tion, the French Revolution has to be regarded ary ideals overtake the religious fanaticism they as the impulse for the foundation of a new type pretended negate. In the pages of Phenomenol- of thinking. It marks, as such, paradigmatically ogy of Spirit dedicated to Terror, Hegel points the manifestation of modernity in its both the- out the paradox concerning revolutionary oretical and practical, both metaphysical and ideas: at the beginning enhancement of criti- normative claim to emancipation from the old cal human reason, they come in the wrecking life and to the beginning of a new life, of a new of concrete individuals, sacrificed in the name type of thinking and acting within the world. of a murderous universality. In the Dialectic of For Hegel, the French Revolution consti- Enlightenment published in 1944, Horkheimer tutes the emphatical actuality, the present time and Adorno renew the Hegelian critique in the that philosophy—as Hegel puts it famous- light of the terrible historical breakdown that ly—has to “grasp in thoughts”. By grasping reason just demonstrates with the outcome its time in concepts, speculative thinking—as of the First World War and the ascension of which Hegel understands his philosophy—is totalitarian powers. The starting point of their not mere philosophy, but implies, as such, a reflection is the original purpose of Illuminist practical dimension. The French Revolution project, namely make men free from fear. This manifests an event that, as such, performs the task, undertaken by the domination of natural identity of theory and praxis. In this revolution, forces trough technique knowledge, continues as Hegel puts it, the “divine” of former meta- with the dominance of inner nature as control physics becomes, as such, practical, finding its of impulsions and instincts; this constitutes the reconciliation with the social-political world. psychological basis of repression, mechanism This event, thus, for Hegel, is qualitatively more that will be widely exploited by totalitarian than a merely empirical-historical event. It’s governments. Revolutionary Terror represents very specific actuality does not depend on and the archetype of retrogression of the Raison cannot be falsified by its problematic outcome – turned in its proper contrary. Its fatal results, criticized and problematized by Hegel himself. according to Adorno, show that the reason From the perspective of speculative thinking, and the liberal principles of Revolution cannot the revolution indicates the specific presence of promise anymore a conciliation among men. an “interregnum”, the critical momentum of a The question arises of how to preserve raison space and time between the old world and the and the conquests of Revolution without dom- new world—the transition to something really ination: we shall, therefore, discuss the forms new where everything that before seemed to be of political mediation that could determinate fixed once and for all “now” becomes radically rational principles in a non-repressive way. transformed. The crisis marked by the revolu- Keywords: Enlightenment, Terror, domination is the necessary precondition for both uni- tion, Reason versal and singular actuality in that “the birth of the new world” takes place. The “spirit” of Philosophy as Revolution. On the Revolution, for Hegel, is characterized by this specific type of speculative actuality. Hegel’s Speculative Thinking It is the aim of the present paper to outline of the (French) Revolution this Hegelian perspective on the concept of rev- Georg Schafer olution. By this, it puts forward the argument UDC 94(44)”1789/1799”:1 Hegel that this speculative perspective accounts for an understanding of “interregnum”—of cri- Without any doubt, the event of the French sis—that as such remains actual also for our Revolution is the central reference for the own time. From this perspective, the French whole sequence of German Idealism; for Kant, Revolution is not a historical past but remains Fichte, Hegel, Schelling as well as for many oth- the epochal actuality in which we still think er thinkers within this philosophical constella-

6 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade 7 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade and live. Speculative thinking, thus, can help us be clarified in the Greek case. The ‘’anathema’’ think and conceptualize the crisis with which of the Greek Uprising by the Patriarch Gregory – as a heritage of the French Revolution – we V was artificial inasmuch as it was a desper- obviously are still confronted. ate maneuver to prevent large-scale atrocities. Keywords: Crisis, Emancipation, German The Patriarch considered it possible, with this Idealism, Hegel, Metaphysics, Speculative ‘’extorted’’ anathema, to avert a fatwa from the thinking Shaykh al-Islām against all Greeks of the Otto- man Empire, causing an unbridled tide of total The Difference Between the extermination of civilians. The Patriarch suc- ceeded—the fatwa was not issued. Neverthe- French Revolution and the less, the Sultan’s wrath against him was not mit- Serbian and Greek National igated. The Patriarch was executed precisely for Uprisings of the 19th Century complicity in the preparation of the Uprising Marko Pejković (a charge that was actually founded). Shortly UDC 94(44)“1789/1799“:[94(497.11)”1804”+94(495)”1821” before the execution, the ‘’extorted’’ anathema was revoked by the Patriarch and his bishops My conference paper will try to demysti- synodically in secret. fy the claims of many prominent Serbian and Keywords: French Revolution, Serbian Greek historians (Batakovic and Kordatos Uprising of 1804, Greek Uprising of 1821, con- respectively) regarding the alleged resemblance servativism, religion, clergy, rational construc- between the Serbian and Greek national upris- tivism ings of 1804 and 1821 and the French Revo- lution. Quite the contrary, I argue that these uprisings have nothing to do, neither with the The Impact the American intellectual mindset of the French Revolution Revolution on the French nor with its political goals. The French revo- Revolution lutionaries were imbued with ideas of ratio- María Sánchez Castellanos nal constructivism (Hayek), while the leaders UDC 94(73)”1775/1783”:94(44)“1789/1799“ of Serbian and Greek Uprisings were inspired by traditional religious beliefs. The goal of Traditional French historiography has not the French Revolution was to destroy the old recognized enough the enormous role that the political order and create а new one based on American ideas had in the burst of the French a rational plan of a democratic republic and Revolution. Filtered through various channels universal citizen rights. The goal of the Serbian into France, the ideas of human rights, social and Greek Uprisings was to liberate the Serbs and legal equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, and Greeks from Turkish rule (or more precise- virtuous citizenship, republicanism, freedom ly occupation) and form an independent state of religion and of the press, and many other based on traditional non-constructivist prin- liberal revolutionary ideas provoked a serious ciples. The cornerstone of delineation between change of mind among the French. France had the Revolution and these uprisings is the role her own philosophers or philosophes and had of traditional religion and clergy. While the for a long time read about similar ideas but Roman Catholic clergy was severely persecuted had never put them actually into practice. The by the French revolutionaries and its political important change came when the French saw role was absolutely denied, the Serbian and their philosophy materializing for the first time Greek clergy of the Orthodox Church worked in America. They realized those were no longer shoulder to shoulder with the respective rebel their ideas, but instead they had become facts. leaders of the two people in order to attain the The ideas were now the reality, happening in common goals of liberation. This will especially front of their eyes in a country that was previ-

8 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade ously under the dominion of a monarchy, just and even the Comité de Salut Publique derive like France was. Suddenly, this people broke off from their equivalent names in English. and became free, independent republics with Keywords: American revolution, French a genuine form of government that could only revolution, liberalism, enlightenment remind them of ancient Greece and its “democracy,” a term that would begin to popularize right at this time. The Romantics and the To what extent did the American Revolution French Revolution impact the French Revolution? We will look Dušan Dostanić into the publications that circulated France in UDC 7.035(430)+821.112.2”17/18”]:94(44)“1789/1799“ the “inter-Revolution era,” that is, between the American and the French Revolutions, to see This conference paper will argue that the exactly how the French reacted to this phe- German Romantics had never been fervent nomenon. We will examine that the impact in ideological supporters of the French Revolu- pre-revolutionary France was so great that it tion or its goals and ideas. Contrary to some divided the philosophers and the enlightened interpretations (Beiser, Brinkmann), we claim elite in two main ideologies: those for and that the initial approval of the Revolution by those against following the American exam- some Romantics was not ideologically moti- ple to reform France. The fact that France took vated, and had nothing to do with their polit- part for America in her War of Independence ical conceptions or ideas. Rather, it was an made her the channel through which these lib- expression of their enthusiasm for a new and eral ideas would enter the Old World, spread- strange phenomenon combined with repulsion ing and unifying the entire Western World in a towards the reality of the life in, mechanistic, common Atlantic revolution that would make German absolutist bureaucratic and mechani- us share the same principles upon which we cal states. We also claim that this initial enthu- erected our singular Western Society. The role siasm did not last long. Up to 1800, all repre- that the veterans had initiating the riots in the sentatives of the Romantic Movement turned dispersed provinces within France results of away from the Revolution and became its crit- tremendous importance, for they had experi- ics and even stronger proponents of conserva- mented the American dream and they were the tive ideas. In the early days, the Romantics had ones that brought it back to their home coun- already formulated all the important concepts try. The role of the peasant soldiers mobilizing of their criticism of the Revolution which they the common people is comparable to the role later developed in detail. This criticism of the politicians like Franklin or Jefferson and phi- Revolution was in accordance with the Roman- losophes like Condorcet and Brissot had in tic understanding of the concepts of tradition, influencing the high circles of French society. state and religion as well as with their general When the Estates General were summoned and criticism of the Enlightenment and modernity. the National Assembly formed, all these writ- Keywords: French Revolution, Romantic ings and private political meetings had already Movement, Novalis, Friedrich Schlegel provided the representatives with all the argu- ments and ideas about the advantages and dis- The Slow Burning-Fuse advantages of implementing and adapting the American model to the reforms for France. of the Revolution Plenty of examples evidence this tremendous Aleksandar Novaković influence, for instance, the names of some of UDC 94(44)“1789/1799“:321.7 the most “genuinely” French institutions were, in fact, taken from America. The Assemblée The French Revolution, regardless of the Nationale, the Patriotes party, the Convention, unprecedented unleashed terror, is still per- ceived as a civilizational milestone in the

8 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade 9 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade epochal change that shaped the world we live porary nanny state. The very acknowledgment in. However, the world in which we live is of the fact that the power of the modern state gradually becoming more centralized, mono- and totalitarian potential it invokes enormous- lithic, uniformed, more politically controlled ly surpasses the most autarchic monarchy of and politized, with the ever-encroaching state the past times should diminish and relativize swallowing remaining parts of personal liberty. the initial appreciation for the Revolution— Frantic appeals for more freedom and equality especially among people who cherish liberty. in the form of new freedoms and new segments Those sympathies should be suppressed from of equality—that mighty hand of the central- the start, lest their advocates share the same istic democratic state has to secure—are seen fate as Malesherbes. as direct consequences of the progressive ide- The following presentation embraces clas- al of the Revolution. Although its initial ideals sical views on democracy of Aristotle and were liberty and the rule of law conceived in Plato, as well as the views of the Revolution’s Lockean tradition, they were promptly sup- contemporaries and its eminent critics Burke, planted with the leveling down egalitarianism Tocqueville, Constant and others. Notably, the of the democratic ideal of Rousseau. What the presentation will build on some of the most Revolution brought in a highly condensed form penetrating but neglected insights on the Rev- of its short-lived but profoundly devastating olution, such as those presented in the work of totalitarian phase has been steadily evolving Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn. through the political history for several centu- Keywords: French Revolution, democracy, ries, sometimes in the extreme guises of the red egalitarianism, centralism, nationalism, liber- and black terrors and sometimes as crawling alism, Kuehnelt-Leddihn totalitarianism disguised under the cloak of democratic legitimacy. To fully understand the significance of the Revolution, it is thus neces- The Posterity of Hippolyte sary to analyze and comprehend its enduring Taine’s Origins of Contem- attractiveness. Only then can we build the pro- tective mechanisms that will preserve civiliza- porary France - 1879 tion from the menaces of a new totalitarianism. Thomas Flichy de La Neuville Complementary with these considerations, UDC 94(44)“1789/1799“:321.01 Hippolyte T. the intellectual legacy of the Revolution raises Living at the margins of the University, Hip- the question of the philosophical character of polyte Taine devoted most of its efforts to the political ideas and their historical incarnation. constitution of an opus magnum on the rev- For the Revolution is the most striking example olutionary episode. Les origines de la France of how highly attractive political concepts tend contemporaine, published in 1879, are written to blend with entirely different and even oppos- by a positivist historian, whose heritage will ing political ideals—as when liberty drowned be claimed by the French monarchists of the and disappeared in yearnings for equality. 1930’s before falling into oblivion. Why has Sometimes political ideas are like slow-burning Taine’s work been systematically attacked by fuses—it can take centuries for their authentic the official republican historiography? Sever- nature to be revealed, but then it might be too al reasons can be examined. First of all, The late. The much-admired aspects of the Revolu- origins of contemporary France—which are tion—namely, that it initiated the termination divided into three volumes corresponding to of preexisting order of artificially sustained the end of the monarchy, the history of the rev- privileges and hierarchies in Europe have to olution and its extinction by Bonaparte—dis- be taken into consideration simultaneously turb, because they elaborate a general theory with all other important developments that it of decadence, based on the examination of the inspired, such as the formation of the contem- psychology of the elites. For Hipolyte Taine,

10 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade the monarchical state has reduced the action is finally ended by a determined condottiere of intermediate bodies to nothing. In a world who seems to come directly from the Genoese marked by hollow speculation, Taine notices a 15th century. Taine disturbs because his imag- general dissolution of existing bonds. For him, ination is served by a magnificent style, and the engine of the revolution is a determined moreover because he combines psychological, and violent sect of ideologues associated to a cultural and political aspects to restore a lively, band of criminals. These criminals are well savage and colourful portrait of the revolution- paid and ruthlessly used in order to reach the ary episode. As his account was very carefully initial aim of the semi-philosophers: the substi- sourced, he was considered an immediate dan- tution of a cynical plutocracy to an aristocracy ger: in 1879, no alternative to the official his- which has dissolved itself into its exacerbated toriography was acceptable, especially when it sensitivity. The revolution is seen as the plot of originated from a non-Catholic. a minority, determined to use violence in order Keywords: minorities, revolution, Taine, to retain power. The analysis of the action of héritage, decline minorities, engine of the revolution, obviously ran against the republican fabula of a sponta- neous popular upraise. But Hippolyte Taine is The Man Who Ate Death not content with just elaborating a general the- –Borislav Pekic’s Literary ory of the revolutionary mechanic, his thoughts Homage to De Tocqueville are nourished by a multitude of singular anec- dotes. In order to unveil the machinery of the Milena Pešić UDC 94(44)“1789/1799“:[321.01 Tocqueville A.+821.163.41.09 Pekić B. revolution, Taine portraits the governing trio, Danton, the barbaric engineer of the revolution, This paper is an attempt to synthesize two Robespierre, the supreme aborted, and Marat, critical views of the French Revolution, which the monomaniac homicide. Hippolyte Taine at first glance, with the exception of the object describes with precision the way in which the of criticism, provide no basis for deeper con- frightened herd of parliamentarians is intim- nections. These are Tocqueville’s observa- idated by subordinate revolutionary agents tions made in his work The Old Regime and placed in the tribunes. These agents are paid the French Revolution, on the one hand, and to drive the parliamentary cattle in the direc- Borislav Pekic’s narrative The man who ate tion given by the hidden brain. This is how the death. Although these are two very different radical minority drives the majority. The exter- discourses, scientific and literary, as well as nal pressure always triumphs over the internal authors shared by a two-hundred-year peri- indecisiveness. Sometimes this pressure is not od, we find that linking their complementary sufficient. This explains the reason why the insights regarding the meaning, character, and minority resorts to electoral manipulations. effects of the French Revolution provides one, As for the political executioners of the orders if not a new, and undoubtedly interesting view given by the committees, they are progressively to this problem. purified of their most resistant elements, espe- Describing the intellectual and political cially those who are not content with their role sources of the French Revolution, Tocqueville of puppets. Taine explains the reason why the develops three important concepts: individual- majority remains paralysed: first of all, the old ism, egalitarianism, and democracy. Individu- elites are far too sensitive to struggle against alism and its reverse – atomization of society, ruthless criminals, second, the masses tend for Tocqueville, represent a phase of society, to become inert when the revolution resorts as a product of political centralization that to physical pressure. But the revolution is not destroyed all the mediating structures of civil all-powerful, it cannot last because it has pro- society that could protect the individual from moted the most incompetent ones. Its course the coercive power of the state/government.

10 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade 11 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade The royal administration, as a system of es, this dormant man—being outside the histo- bureaucratic control, concentrates all aspects ry, has been finally awakened. He is now under- of social, political and economic life under its going a series of involuntary transformations, wing, thus creating a symbiotic link between until becoming the savior of many death row an almighty patronizing state and an individual inmates, a hidden and unknown hero, whose deprived of meaningful involvement in public head, finally, finds its place under a guillotine. affairs and anything beyond egoistic self-in- Keywords: French Revolution, Ancien terest. Thus, according to Tocqueville, already Régime, bureaucratic centralization, liberty, under the old regime, the basis was created for egalitarianism, individualism, democracy the deviant form of unifying egalitarianism developed by the French Revolution. Although critically minded, Tocqueville did not deny the value and importance of the French Revolution. With its appearance, for the first time, people of the libertarian spirit began to influence historical events with their teach- ings and works. For the first time in history, something imagined in the theory of philosophers, a different form of order, came to life in a violent revolution in society, although he clearly saw all the negativity of the gap between theory and practice. Tocqueville does not write of revolutionary dynamics, internal transformations, violence, and political upheavals. It does not mention Jacobin messianism, the ideological war that began in 1792. The revolution, for Tocqueville, ended in 1789. The rest is only the consequence of the emergence of democracy whose exacerbated form goes so far as to erase people. Where Tocqueville stopped, Borislav Pekic continues his narrative in a very compelling, synthesizing way, giving the reverse of the French Revolution a more universal anthropo- logical sense, accentuating certain problems as if he were in collusion with Tocqueville. Story The man who ate death follows the time of the so-called power struggles, more specifically the reign of terror of 1793. The hero of the story, Jean-Louis entirely, works as a clerk who lays down the verdicts in the Protocol, which would later be forwarded to the Tribunal for execution. The qualities of the protagonist are com- pletely in line with the time in which they live, they are, in fact, formed under the pressure of a social atmosphere. Being indirectly in the ser- vice of the terror of the revolution, through the combination of ironically shaped circumstanc-

12 French Revolution 230 Year After - A Critical View, 14-15 October, IPS Belgrade Book of Abstracts from the conference: French Revolution 230 Years After – A Critical View

Held at Krsmanović’s House, 14-15 October 2019, Belgrade

Publisher: Institute for Political Studies Svetozara Markovića 36, Belgrade

Editor in chief: Živojin Đurić

Editors: Dušan Dostanić Aleksandar Novaković Marko Pejković

Business secretary Smiljana Paunović

Printed at: Sitoprint Žitište

Quantity: 30 copies

https://doi.org/10.22182/fr230

CIP - Каталогизација у публикацији Народна библиотека Србије, Београд

94(44)”1789”(048)(0.064.2)

CONFERENCE French Revolution 230 Years After-A Critical View (2019 ; Belgrade) Book of Abstracts [Електронски извор] / Conference French Revolution 230 Years After-A Critical View, Held at Krsmanović’s House, 14-15 October 2019, Belgrade ; [editors Dušan Dostanić, Aleksandar Novako- vić, Marko Pejković]. - Belgrade : Institute for Political Studies, 2019 (Žitište : Sitoprint). - 1 електронски оптички диск (CD-ROM) : tekst ; 12 cm

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ISBN 978-86-7419-314-3 FRENCH REVOLUTION 230 YEARS AFTER PARTICIPANTS – A CRITICAL VIEW –

Desecration of the Royal Tombs in the Abbey Church of Saint Denis, painting by Hubert Robert FRENCH REVOLUTION 230 YEARS AFTER The conference is organized by the Institute for – A CRITICAL VIEW – Political Studes and supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

The Festival of the Supreme Being by Pierre-Antoine Demarchy