THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL Political Strategies of Laughter in the National Convention, 1792-1794 being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of PhD in the University of Hull by Jacob Charles Zobkiw, MA, BA (University of Newcastle) March 2015 Acknowledgements This thesis evolved from a combination of curiosity and fascination with the various colourful personalities and characters who were elected to the National Convention. I have been led to this topic through my struggle to understand the rhetoric of the French Revolution, which at times can be incomprehensible, as well as a desire to appreciate the extraordinary circumstances and choices the men who spoke such a language were faced with. I have been fortunate enough to have received the continual support and help from many historians, friends and peers, without whom this body of work would not have been possible. I wish to thank the University of Hull, for awarding me a studentship to finance my research. Vital to my studies was the generous travel grant provided by the Society for the Study of French History, in addition to the constructive feedback its members gave me. I am grateful to the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) for instilling me with confidence and encouragement. I am in gratitude to the many suggestions and advice from the University of Hull history faculty. In particular, I would like to thank Professor Peter H. Wilson for pointing me in the right direction and encouraging my ideas. Above all, I am indebted to Dr Thomas Biskup for his patience, wise comments, guidance, and constant support. Without him, this work would be much poorer. Finally, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to my loved ones for their unfailing support. When I was preoccupied with work, they supported me with good-humour, even if they did not quite understand what I was talking about. All mistakes and errors are my own. i Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... i Introduction: The Importance of Strategies, Emotions and Laughter in the Convention .................. 1 Laughter in the Convention ................................................................................................................ 1 The Problems of Representative Democracy and Progress ................................................................ 2 Addressing the Influence of the Enlightenment towards a Typology of Laughter ............................. 8 The Problems of Analysing Laughter: Sources and the Factions of the Convention ........................ 13 Interpreting Laughter: The Problem of Emotions ............................................................................. 16 Chapter 1: Laughter, Progress, and the Regenerated Patriot ........................................................ 19 The National Convention Assembles, Progress Commences ............................................................ 19 Refuting the Past ............................................................................................................................... 26 The Laughter of Regeneration .......................................................................................................... 32 Letters to the Convention: Truth without the Facts ......................................................................... 38 Growing Discontent .......................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 2: The Strategy of Surveillance ....................................................................................... 54 High Ideals, Harsh Reality ................................................................................................................. 54 Containing liberty of speech ............................................................................................................. 56 Censoring Denunciations .................................................................................................................. 64 The Heroes of the Republic ............................................................................................................... 74 Representing Sentiment ................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3: The Last Remnants of Satire? ..................................................................................... 87 Regenerative Language: Satire and Heroic Sensibilité ...................................................................... 88 The Satirical Press and the Resistance to Radicalisation .................................................................. 99 The Judgement of the King signals the end of Satire? .................................................................... 115 Chapter 4: The Strategy of Denunciation ................................................................................... 124 Fear and Cynicism ........................................................................................................................... 124 The Emergence of Intimidation in the Convention ......................................................................... 130 The Mockery of Jean-Marie Roland and the Fear of Womanly Virtue ........................................... 140 Denunciation and Mockery ............................................................................................................. 151 Chapter 5: Strategies of Laughter during the Terror ................................................................... 161 Progress or Crisis? The Dichotomy of Laughter .............................................................................. 161 ii Unmasking Conspirators: The Laughter of Denunciation and Progress in the terror .................... 167 Reconfiguring the Present: The Laughter of Repudiation .............................................................. 174 Controlling the Laughter of the Revolution .................................................................................... 181 Epilogue: Laughter and Robespierre ......................................................................................... 197 Justifying Terror after Danton ......................................................................................................... 197 The Ridiculous Supreme Being ........................................................................................................ 198 Ridicule in the Convention .............................................................................................................. 202 The Return of the Regenerated Patriot .......................................................................................... 207 Conclusion: The Importance of the Strategies of Laughter ......................................................... 212 Laughing at the Past: The Strategy of Repudiation......................................................................... 212 Laughing to Police the Present: The Strategies of Surveillance and Denunciation ........................ 214 Laughing to Project the Future: The Strategy of Regeneration ...................................................... 215 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 219 iii Introduction The Importance of Strategies, Emotions and Laughter in the Convention Laughter in the Convention On 23 September 1792, Maximilien Robespierre stood at the tribune of the National Convention and delivered his first speech in the Republic. His intention was to alleviate the suspicions of his compatriots; some had said he had orchestrated the September Massacres in a ploy to become dictator of France. Robespierre denied the accusations and made clear his resentment at being treated as a criminal. Indeed, he claimed his persecution was the result of a secret cabal from within the Convention that conspired against not only him, but the people. The deputies laughed at his audacious claims. Robespierre, in retaliation, rebuked this strategy of ridicule: “Je demande que ceux qui me répondent par des rires, par des murmures, se réunissent contre moi, que ce petit tribunal prononce ma condamnation, ce sera le jour le plus glorieux de ma vie.” The conventionnels may have laughed at Robespierre’s denunciations in order to reject their credibility, but Robespierre drew attention to the unseemliness and conspiratorial qualities of laughter to prove his own point.1 This vignette demonstrates that the deputies in the National Convention, although aware of the gravity of their mission, were not averse to ridiculing each other for the sake of political gain. It also shows how the nature and function of laughter were disputed by the patriots. Nor is this example featuring Robespierre an isolated incident. In just over 22 months, from the inception of the Convention on 21 September 1792 to the fall of Robespierre on 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor), laughter occurs on 394 separate occasions by my count in response to the multitudinous situations the deputies experienced. This number is based upon the records of the Archives Parlementaires and does not include additional anecdotal or eyewitness accounts of laughter from participants and witnesses.2 At no other time do politicians of the revolution laugh more in the assembly of France than in the first two years of the Convention.3