Urban Rivalries in the French Revolution

Erscheinungsjahr 1992
ISBN: 978-0-691-00891-2
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 528 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 848 g

The reordering of France into a new hierarchy of administrative and judicial regions in 1791 unleashed an intense rivalry among small towns for seats of authority, while raising vital issues for the vast majority of the French population. Here Ted Margadant tells a lively story of the process of politicization: magistrates, lawyers, merchants, and other townspeople who petitioned the National Assembly not only boasted of their own communities and denigrated rival towns, but also adopted revolutionary slogans and disseminated new political ideas and practices throughout the countryside. The history of this movement offers a unique vantage point for analyzing the regional context of town life and the political dynamics of bourgeois leadership during the French Revolution. Margadant explores the institutional crisis of the old regime that brought about the reordering, considers the rhetoric and politics of space in the first year of the Revolution, and examines the fate of small towns whose districts and law courts were suppressed. Combining descriptive narrative with statistical analysis and computer mapping, he reveals the important consequences of the new hierarchy for the urban development of France in the post-Revolutionary era.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Margadant, Ted W.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte Europäische Regional- & Stadtgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Geschichte der Revolutionen Französische Revolution
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Revolutionäre Gruppen und Bewegungen, Bewaffnete Konflikte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of MapsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction3Pt. 1The Institutional Crisis of the Old RegimeCh. 1Towns and the Old Regime21Ch. 2The New Division of the Kingdom84Ch. 3Urban Crisis and Bourgeois Ambition111Pt. 2The Rhetoric and Politics of SpaceCh. 4The Rhetoric of Contention145Ch. 5The Politics of Parochialism178Ch. 6Urban Rivalries and the Formation of Departments220Ch. 7Disputes over the Seats of Departments257Ch. 8The Struggle for Districts and Tribunals287Pt. 3The Fate of Small TownsCh. 9Judicial Reform and the Politicization of Urban Rivalries327Ch. 10The New Urban Hierarchy368Ch. 11The French Revolution and Urban Growth in the Nineteenth Century396Conclusion442Appendix 1: Statistical Procedures457Appendix 2: Population Size Estimates and Institutional Characteristics of Major Towns463Bibliography467Index of Place Names487General Index499