Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution
Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 635 g
ISBN: 978-0-19-957630-2
Verlag: Oxford University Press, USA
The Jacobin leaders' entire political careers were constrained by their need to be seen by their supporters as 'men of virtue', free from corruption and ambition, and concerned only with the public good. In the early stages of the Revolution, being seen as 'men of virtue' empowered the Jacobin leaders, and aided them in their efforts to forge their political careers. However, with the onset of war, there was a growing conviction that political leaders who feigned virtue were 'the enemy within', secretly conspiring with France's external enemies. By Year Two, the year of the Terror, the Jacobin identity had become a destructive force: in order to demonstrate their own authenticity, they had to be seen to act virtuously, and be prepared, if the public good demanded it, to denounce and destroy their friends, and even to sacrifice their own lives. This desperate thinking resulted in the politicians' terror, one of the most ruthless of all forms of terror during the Revolution. Choosing Terror seeks neither to cast blame, nor to exonerate, but to understand the process whereby such things can happen.
Zielgruppe
Historians of the French Revolution, particularly those interested in how it has shaped modern politics; general readers with an interest in the French Revolution
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
- Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Revolutionäre Gruppen und Bewegungen, Bewaffnete Konflikte
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Geschichte der Revolutionen Französische Revolution
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
Weitere Infos & Material
Political Identity and the Jacobin Leaders
1: The Eighteenth-Century Man of Virtue
2: 'How the Face of Things Has Changed!'
3: New Men for New Politics: the First Jacobin Leaders
4: The Ascendancy of the Girondins and the Path to War
5: Choosing Sides: Friends, Factions and Conspirators in the New Republic
6: A Conspiracy of Girondins
7: Being Cincinnatus: The Jacobins in Power
8: The Enemy Within
9: The Robespierrists and the Republic of Virtue
10: Final Choices: Thermidor
11: Achieving Authenticity
Conclusion