The People’s Revenge -- or Tragedy?

Paradox of Revolution: “the best intentions to make people good… would ultimately necessitate killing them all.”

-- Anatole FranceIdeals of Revolution: liberty,

justice, fraternityView of Mankind: Guided by

Reason, innate goodness, pity, perverted by society

Goals of Revolution: Regeneration of mankind

Revolutionary Radicalization

Circumstances: inflation, famine, war losses, besieged by allied enemies

Polarization: Civil Constitution of the Church, king’s trial, geographical divide

Sans-culottes Enragés (included women) Struggle between Girondins and Montagnards 31 May- 2 June, 1793

The double-edged sword of terror

“One scoundrel less crawls in this slime. Virtue applauds you. Hearken to the majestic voice of its virile praise, fair heroine. O Virtue, the dagger, the only hope of the world, is your sacred weapon, as long as thunder allows crime to prevail and sells you into its power.”

-- André Chénier, Ode to Marie-Anne Charlotte Corday

Revolutionary State -- The Convention, Sept. 1792 Committee of Public Safety, April 1793

Members: Robespierre, Danton, Saint-Just, d’Herbois Achievements: mobilize state for war (levée en masse)

Aug. 23, 1793, nationalize economy, price controls (Law of the Maximum), suspend civil rights and due process

Centralization: deputies on mission, “revolutionary armies”

Instruments of Terror

Technology Police, network of spies (mouchards) Censorship Henchmen Show trials Laws

– Law of Suspects 17 Sept 1793- Law of 22 prairial 1794 (deprived of all rights to

defend themselves) 1,300 people condemned in six weeks in Paris,

17,000 1793-1794

Robespierre: Virtue and Terror

“If the spring of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the springs of popular government in revolution are at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a special principle as it is a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most urgent needs.”

François Furet, Interpreting the French Revolution, 1971

“Revolutionary activity par excellence was the production of a maximalist language through the intermediary of unanimous assemblies mythically endowed with the general will….

Politics was a matter of establishing just who represented the people, or equality, or the nation: victory was in the hands of those who were capable of occupying and keeping that symbolic position.” (48)

…. While he [Robespierre] lived, he embodied “the people” for a longer time and with greater conviction than anyone else.”

Assignments -- past and future

If you turned your paper in by deadline, you’ll receive it Tues. Feb. 6, later Thurs. Feb. 8

Grade deductions for deadlines hurt me as much as they hurt you -- don’t make me do it

Next assignment: midterm, Tues. Feb. 13. Take home questions e-mailed Thursday 4pm. Due Tues. 5pm.

In class id exam 30 minutes Tues. Feb. 13 Tues. Feb. 13 select top 3 choices for final

project topics

Topic Choices for Group Documentary Film Proposal(choose 3, from most to least preferred) Revolutionary France1 Public opinion, public

sphere, press, etc.

2 Private life, family, everyday life

3 Theater, spectacle, arts

4 Terror, violence

Revolutionary Russia5 Public opinion, public

sphere, press

6 Private life, family, everyday life

7 Theater, spectacle, arts

8 Terror, violence

How to write a successful essay/facilitation Venture an original argument: don’t be lame, don’t be

obvious, don’t be all over the place (FOCUS) Demonstrate knowledge of the texts

1) Introduce the text with a brief explanation of its argument2) Use the most appropriate quotations, and indent them if necessary. Learn footnote style!3) Analyze the quotation (don’t plop it down): tell me what it means and why what it means proves the argument you are making

• Make specific points that you can prove using the material: don’t make generalizations that you can’t prove

• Demonstrate your command of the material: don’t bungle names/dates/places -- check spelling, accents

Tips for the facilitation: don’t be an automaton!PRESENT THE ARGUMENT OR YOUR OWN ANGLE ON THE

TEXTSummary and argument vive la différence!You are summarizing if:

you follow the author’s scriptyou present the details of the author’s evidenceyou find yourself going on too long

You are presenting the author’s argument if:you suck the vital juice out of the article and spit it out in 2-5 sentences: what’s important about what you just read? Not facts, but essence!

Show that you have thought about the article: are there contradictions, omissions, counter-arguments? Connect it to other topics we have covered