France Under The Directory

On 9 thermidor Year 2, Robespierre fell; on18 brumaire Year 8, a coup d'état brought Bonaparte to power. This book demonstrates that the interval between these two momentous events was also of crucial importance. Using the findings of recent research, it presents a balanced appraisal of the thermidorean and directorial regimes to the English student. For Jacobin sympathizers thermidor and the Directory represented the betrayal of the revolutionary idea; for Bonapartist propagandists it represented chaos and corruption, and the darker the Directory could be painted, the more Bonaparte's reputation would be flattered. Dr Lyons attempts to dispose of these myths. He stresses the Directory's successes as well as its failures, and emphasizes elements of continuity which link it both with the Jacobin regime and with the Consulate. The regime inherited a heavy burden of war, inflation and food shortages, yet it remained revolutionary in its Republicanism, its anticlericalism, and its desire to carry the fruits of the Revolution to the rest of Europe. At the same time it laid the foundations of financial stability and administrative efficiency on which Bonaparte was to build.

A classic social history of France in the Napoleonic period—now available in English to a new generation of readers Presented here is an English translation of a study that was part of a distinguished French series on the country's post-Revolution history. Unlike much Napoleonic literature that features the personality and foreign policy of the emperor, France under Napoleon describes the condition of France and the French people during the fifteen years immediately following their great revolution. Applying the methods of the new social history (Annales school), Louis Bergeron covers the political, administrative, social, economic, and cultural facets of the First Empire. He begins with the domestic program and institutions under Napoleon and the fervor of the new chief of state as he sought to establish a coherent, efficient, and thoroughly controlled regime. Bergeron then examines the opposition to his system and the reasons behind the imperfect realization of his ideal. It discusses population and demographic trends, social structure, and economic activity—all of which eluded Napoleon's grasp.

This is the most authoritative, comprehensive history of the French Revolution of 1789. Published to mark the bicentenary of its outbreak, this survey draws on a generation of extensive research and scholarly debate to reappraise the most famous of all revolutions. Opening with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, the book traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-revolution, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802; and analyses the impact of events both in France itself and the rest of Europe. William Doyle shows how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for the millions of ordinary people all over Europe whose lives were disrupted by religious upheaval, and civil and international war. It was they who paid the price for the destruction of the old political order and the struggle to establish a new one, based on the ideals of liberty and revolution, in the face of widespread indifference and hostility. - ;France under Louis XVI; A crisis of confidence; The collapse of Government, 1776-1788; The Estates-General, September 1788-July 1789; The principles of 1789 and the reform of France; The breakdown of revolutionary concensus, 1790-1792; Europe and the Revolution, 1788-1791; The Republican Revolution, 1791-January 1793; War against Europe, 1792-1797; The revolt of the Provinces; Government by terror, 1793-1794; Thermidor, 1794-1795; Counter-revolution, 1789-1795; The directory, 1795-1799; Occupied Europe, 1794-1799; An end to Revolution, 1799-1802; The Revolution in perspective; chronology; annotated list of further reading -

This book argues that the introduction of popular sovereignty as the basis for government in France facilitated a dramatic transformation in international law in the eighteenth century.

"Examines the American experience of a group of French liberal aristocrats who had participated in the early years of the French Revolution and subsequently lived as political refugees in Philadelphia from 1793 to 1798"--Provided by publisher.

How the Radical Enlightenment inspired and shaped the French Revolution Historians of the French Revolution used to take for granted what was also obvious to its contemporary observers—that the Revolution was shaped by the radical ideas of the Enlightenment. Yet in recent decades, scholars have argued that the Revolution was brought about by social forces, politics, economics, or culture—almost anything but abstract notions like liberty or equality. In Revolutionary Ideas, one of the world's leading historians of the Enlightenment restores the Revolution’s intellectual history to its rightful central role. Drawing widely on primary sources, Jonathan Israel shows how the Revolution was set in motion by radical eighteenth-century doctrines, how these ideas divided revolutionary leaders into vehemently opposed ideological blocs, and how these clashes drove the turning points of the Revolution. In this compelling account, the French Revolution stands once again as a culmination of the emancipatory and democratic ideals of the Enlightenment. That it ended in the Terror represented a betrayal of those ideas—not their fulfillment.

This is the most authoritative, comprehensive history of the French Revolution of 1789. Published to mark the bicentenary of its outbreak, this survey draws on a generation of extensive research and scholarly debate to reappraise the most famous of all revolutions. Opening with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, the book traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-revolution, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802; and analyses the impact of events both in France itself and the rest of Europe. William Doyle shows how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for the millions of ordinary people all over Europe whose lives were disrupted by religious upheaval, and civil and international war. It was they who paid the price for the destruction of the old political order and the struggle to establish a new one, based on the ideals of liberty and revolution, in the face of widespread indifference and hostility. - ;France under Louis XVI; A crisis of confidence; The collapse of Government, 1776-1788; The Estates-General, September 1788-July 1789; The principles of 1789 and the reform of France; The breakdown of revolutionary concensus, 1790-1792; Europe and the Revolution, 1788-1791; The Republican Revolution, 1791-January 1793; War against Europe, 1792-1797; The revolt of the Provinces; Government by terror, 1793-1794; Thermidor, 1794-1795; Counter-revolution, 1789-1795; The directory, 1795-1799; Occupied Europe, 1794-1799; An end to Revolution, 1799-1802; The Revolution in perspective; chronology; annotated list of further reading -