The French Revolution

542 Pages·1964·14.739 MB·English

by  Albert Mathiez

THE
FRENCH
REVOLUTION
ALSO BY ALBERT MATHIEZ
THE FALL
OF ROBESPIERRE
1927
ALBERT MATHIEZ
PROFESSOR OP MODERN HISTORY AT THE FAC\)LTY OP LETTERS
OF THE UNIVERSITY OP DIJON; LECTURER ON THE HISTORY OP TH•
FRENCH REVOLUTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS
THE
FRENCH
REVOLUTION
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
CATHERINE ALISON PHILLIPS
WILLIAMS AND.NORGATE LIMITED
14 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W. C. 2
LONDON
ORIGINAL TITLE
La Revolution Franfaise
[ln Three Volumes]
COPYRIGHT 1922, 1924, 1927 BY
MAX LECLERC ET Cl~
?ARIS
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
The translator would like to express her gratitude to Mr. Henry
Higgs, C.B., Professor of Economics at the University of Bangor,
for kindly reading the chapters on finance and giving her the
benefit of bis advice; also to her husband, W. Alison Phillips,
Lecky Professor of Modern Historl nt the University of Dublin,
for bis advice and assistance throughout.

PREFACE
Since this book is intended for the cultivated general public, all
learned apparatus has been omitted. This does not mean, however, that
no attempt bas been made to bring it up to date in respect of the latest
scientific discoveries. Indeed, specialists will see-at least we hope so
tbat it is based upon an extensive use of authorities, some of them unpub
lished, interpreted by an independent critical method.
But erudition is one thing; history is another. Erudition seeks out
and collects the evidence of tbe past, studies it piece by piece and by
confronting these pieces of evidence with one another, brings the trutb
into the full light of day. History reconstructs and expounds. The former
is analysis,- the latter is synthesis.
In this book we have attempted to perform the function of a his
torian; that is to say, we have tried to draw a picture, as accurate, clear,
and living as possible, of the different aspects of the French Revolution.
We have made it our especial aim to set forth the concatenation of events
by explaining them in the light of the ideas of the time and the play of
interests and forces involved; nor have we neglected individual factors,
in those cases where we have been able to trace their action.
The limits imposed upon us have made it impossible to say every
thing. We have been obliged to make a selection among the events, but
we hope we have omitted nothing essential.
DIJON, OCTOBER 5, 1921

CONTENTS
BOOK ONE
The Fall of the Monarchy
1787-1792
I. The Break-down of the Ancien Regime 3
I I. The Revolt of the Nobility 16
II I. The States General 30
IV. The Revolt of Paris 40
v. The Revolt of the Provinces 49
VI. Lafayette as Mayor of the Palace 58
VII. The Reconstruction of France 82 '.
VIII. The Financial Question 95
IX. The Religious Question 109 .
x. The Flight of the King 119
I
XI. The War 133
XII. The Overthrow of the Throne 148 .
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BOOK TWO
The Gironde and the Mountain
Part One
The Last Days of the Legislative Assembly.
August IO-September 20, 1792
I. The Commune and the Assembly 163 '
I I. September 178
III. The Elections to the Convention 192
IV. Valmy 214
Part. Two
T be Girondin Government
I. The Three Days' Truce 225
I I. The Attack on the "Triumvirs" 237
III. The Formation of the Third Party 246
IV. The Trial of the King 254
v. Finance and the Rise in the Cost of Living 266
VI. The Conquest of the Natural Frontiers 275
VII. The First Coalition 289
VIII. The Treason of Dumouriez 296
IX. The Vendee 304
x. The Fall of the Gironde 313 •
BOOK THREE
The Terror
I. The Federalist Revolt 331
II. Early Days of the Great Committee of Public Safety (July,
1793) 341
I I I. The Crisis of August 1793 351
IV. The Hebertist Bid for Power and the Inauguration of the
Terror 363
V. Hondschoote and Wattignies 373
VI. The Establishment of the Revolutionary Government 383
VI I. Revolutionary Justice 394
V 111. The Foreign Plot 405
IX. The Indulgents 427
X. From the Citra-revolutionaries to the Ultra-revolutionaries 440
XI. The Fall of the Factions 453
X 11. The Reorganization of the Revolutionary Government 466
XII I. Fleurus 477
XIV. Thermidor 487
Index Following page 5 IO