Excerpt from The History of the French Revolution, Vol. 3 of 4 Commission of organization and superintendence of the land forces. 10. Commission of the navy and the colonies. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Excerpt from The History of the French Revolution, Vol. 3 of 5 An order of arrest was issued by the commune against the two ministers Lebrun and Clavieres, dismissed after the 2nd of June. Lebrun found means to evade it. The same measure was taken against Roland, who had been removed from office on the 21st of January, and begged in vain to be permitted to render his accounts. He escaped the search made for him by the commune, and concealed himself at Rouen. Madame Roland, against whom also proceedings were instituted, had no other anxiety than that of favouring the escape of her husband; then, committing her daughter to the care of a trusty friend, she surrendered with noble indifference to the committee of her section, and was thrown into prison with a multitude of other victims of the 31st of May. Great was the joy at the Jacobins. Its members congratulated themselves on the energy of the people, on their late admirable conduct, and on the removal of all those obstacles which the right side had not ceased to oppose to the progress of the Revolution. According to the custom after all great events, they agreed upon the manner in which the last insurrection should be represented. "The people," said Robespierre, "have confounded all their calumniators by their conduct. Eighty thousand men have been under arms for nearly a week, yet no property has been violated, not a drop of blood has been spilled, and they have thus proved whether it was their aim, as it has been alleged, to profit by the disorder for the commission of murder and plunder. Their insurrection was spontaneous, because it was the effect of the general conviction; and the Mountain itself, weak and astonished at this movement, has proved that it did not concur to produce it. Thus this insurrection has been wholly moral and wholly popular." This was at once giving a favourable colour to the insurrection, addressing an indirect censure to the Mountain, which had shown some hesitation on the 2nd of June, repelling the charge of conspiracy preferred against the leaders of the left side, and agreeably flattering the popular party, which had behaved so well and done every thing of itself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Beginning with a discussion of familiar images of the French Revolution, this work looks at how the ancien régime became ancien as well as examining cases in which achievement failed to match ambition.
Collating key texts at the forefront of new research and interpretation, this updated second edition adds new articles on the Terror and race/colonial issues, and studies all aspects of this major event, from its origins through to its consequences.
A strinking account of the impact of the French Revolution in Paris, across the French countryside, and around the globe The French Revolution has fascinated, perplexed, and inspired for more than two centuries. It was a seismic event that radically transformed France and launched shock waves across the world. In this provocative new history, Peter McPhee draws on a lifetime’s study of eighteenth-century France and Europe to create an entirely fresh account of the world’s first great modern revolution—its origins, drama, complexity, and significance. Was the Revolution a major turning point in French—even world—history, or was it instead a protracted period of violent upheaval and warfare that wrecked millions of lives? McPhee evaluates the Revolution within a genuinely global context: Europe, the Atlantic region, and even farther. He acknowledges the key revolutionary events that unfolded in Paris, yet also uncovers the varying experiences of French citizens outside the gates of the city: the provincial men and women whose daily lives were altered—or not—by developments in the capital. Enhanced with evocative stories of those who struggled to cope in unpredictable times, McPhee’s deeply researched book investigates the changing personal, social, and cultural world of the eighteenth century. His startling conclusions redefine and illuminate both the experience and the legacy of France’s transformative age of revolution. “McPhee…skillfully and with consummate clarity recounts one of the most complex events in modern history…. [This] extraordinary work is destined to be the standard account of the French Revolution for years to come.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
In this age of globalization, the eighteenth-century priest and abolitionist Henri Grégoire has often been called a man ahead of his time. An icon of antiracism, a hero to people from Ho Chi Minh to French Jews, Grégoire has been particularly celebrated since 1989, when the French government placed him in the Pantheon as a model of ideals of universalism and human rights. In this beautifully written biography, based on newly discovered and previously overlooked material, we gain access for the first time to the full complexity of Grégoire's intellectual and political universe as well as the compelling nature of his persona. His life offers an extraordinary vantage from which to view large issues in European and world history in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and provides provocative insights into many of the prevailing tensions, ideals, and paradoxes of the twenty-first century. Focusing on Grégoire's idea of "regeneration," that people could literally be made anew, Sepinwall argues that revolutionary universalism was more complicated than it appeared. Tracing the Revolution's long-term legacy, she suggests that while it spread concepts of equality and liberation throughout the world, its ideals also helped to justify colonialism and conquest.
