Table Of ContentThe Shaping of
M ODERN FRANCE
Edited by
JAMES FRIGUGLIETTI
The University of Rochester
and
EMMET KENNEDY
Kent State University
Introduction
by
CRANE BRINTON
Harvard University
The Macmillan Company
THE
SHAPING
OF
MODERN
FRANCE
WRITINGS
ON FRENCH HISTORY
SINCE
1715
Collier-Macmillan Limited, London
© Copyright, The Macmillan Company, 1969
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without per
mission in writing from the Publisher.
First Printing
Library of Congress catalog card number: 69-10541
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
COLLIER-MACMILLAN CANADA, LTD., TORONTO, ONTARIO
Printed in the United States of America
Preface
zsm/i)
Numerous texts have been written to explain French history to Americans,
but anyone who has studied or taught the subject at the college level realizes
that the standard textbook approach is far from satisfactory. No single book
can treat all aspects of modern French history in depth; no one author can be
master of the many complex problems of interpretation involved.
The Shaping of Modern France is designed to remedy this shortcoming
by offering the student a large collection of narrative and interpretive
writings by specialists in their fields and taken from a variety of sources,
many of which were previously unavailable to the general reader. Almost
half of the material was edited from scholarly journals, and more than a third
of the selections were translated from the French originals. Arranged
chronologically and topically, the chapters may thus be used to supplement
any text or even be read independently. The introduction to each chapter
ties the selections together, interprets the character of the given period or
movement, and indicates problems of interpretation. The “Suggestions for
Further Reading” at the end of each chapter offers a guide to wider study.
An index is included to facilitate reference.
For reasons of space, the editors have had to eliminate most of the original
footnotes, but they have added explanatory notes when necessary and have
translated all passages in French. All deletions in the text are indicated by
ellipses. James Friguglietti is responsible for Chapters Four, Six, Eight, Nine,
Ten, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, and Eighteen; Emmet Kennedy is
responsible for Chapters One, Two, Three, Five, Seven, Eleven, Twelve,
Thirteen, and Nineteen.
In preparing this volume, the editors have had the assistance of many
individuals. They are especially grateful to Miss Louise Apfelbaum, Hans D.
Kellner, Miss Nancy Marcolla, Miss Ann New, Charles L. Noyes, Robert
Pawlowski, and John S. Whitehead for the translations which appear with
their names in the footnote acknowledgments; to Mrs. Jane M. Kennedy
and Hans D. Kellner for helping to prepare the manuscript; to James
McMahon, Joseph Werne, and Claudia Schulte for their valuable proof
reading assistance; to M. Gérard Regnier of the Louvre Museum for
suggestions incorporated into the introductions to Chapters Twelve and
vi PREFACE
Nineteen; to Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Kennedy for their helpful editorial
suggestions and proofreading ; to Professor Norman F. Cantor, whose book
The English Tradition supplied a model for this work; and to the late Profes
sor Crane Brinton for his interest and encouragement in this project from
the time of its inception.
J.F.
E. K.
Contents
o w
i INTRODUCTION BY CRANE BRINTON
C hapter O ne: SOCIAL CLASSES UNDER THE OLD
REGIME
6 Introduction
8 FRANKLIN L. FORD
Robe and Sword, the Regrouping of the French Aristocracy After
Louis XIV
12 ALBERT GOODWIN
A Re-evaluation of the “Aristocratic Revolt”
l 8 GEORGE V. TAYLOR
Capitalist and Proprietary Wealth and the Definition of the
Bourgeoisie
25 GEORGES LEFEBVRE
The Peasantry on the Eve of the French Revolution
30 MAURICE G. HUTT
Ideas of Reform Among the French Lower Clergy, 1787-1789
33 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Two: THE ENLIGHTENMENT
36 Introduction
38 CRANE BRINTON
Desertion of Intellectuals and Nobles as a Pre-Revolutionary
Phenomenon
42 PETER GAY
The Philosophes and Their Environment
47 R. R. PALMER
The French Jesuits in the Age of Enlightenment
53 EVERETT C. LADD, JR.
The Political Philosophy of Helvétius and d’Holbach
58 HENRI PEYRE
The Influence of Eighteenth-Century Ideas on the French Revolution
• •
VU
• ••
vin
CONTBNTS
63 DURAND ECHEVERRIA
The Image and Influence of America in the French Enlightenment
67 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter T hree: THE DECLINE OF THE OLD REGIME AND
THE DEBACLE OF FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY
70 Introduction
71 G. P. GOOCH
Louis XV : The Monarchy in Decline
74 ALBERT SOREL
The Diplomatic Revolution and the Debacle of French Foreign
Policy
78 ALPHONSE AULARD
France and the Financing of the American Revolution
82 ALFRED COBBAN
The Parlements of France in the Eighteenth Century
87 DOUGLAS DAKIN
Turgot and the Fate of His Six Edicts
93 ERNEST LABROUSSE
The Fiscal and Economic Crises at the End of the Ancien Régime
97 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Four: FRANCE MAKES A REVOLUTION
100 Introduction
102 GEORGE RUDÉ
Why Was There a Revolution in France ?
IIO ALBERT SOBOUL
The “Mainspring of the Revolution”: The Paris Sans-culottes
120 ALBERT GOODWIN
The Directory — A Revaluation
130 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Five: THE COUNTERREVOLUTION
134 Introduction
136 EMMANUEL VINGTRINIER
Counterrevolutionary Politics : The Emigration and Intrigues of the
Princes
I4I ANDRÉ LATREILLE
The Church and the Counterrevolution
CONTENTS ix
146 CHARLES TILLY
A Sociological Analysis of Counterrevolution: The Vendée
152 HARVEY MITCHELL
Counter-revolutionary Espionage: Francis Drake and the Comte
d’Antraigues
157 JACQUES GODECHOT
Counterrevolutionary Terror
161 PAUL H. BEIZ
Counter-revolutionary Thought
165 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Six: NAPOLEONIC IMPERIALISM
168 Introduction
170 GEORGES LEFEBVRE
Napoleon Seizes Control of the Revolution
176 FELIX MARKHAM
Napoleonic Imperialism at Its Zenith: The Grand Empire and the
Continental System
183 LOUIS MADELIN
The Spirit of the Napoleonic System
189 HANS KOHN
Napoleon and the Age of Nationalism
193 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Seven: THE RESTORATION AND FALL OF THE
BOURBONS
196 Introduction
197 GEORGES LACOUR-GAYET
Talleyrand at the Congress of Vienna
201 FREDERICK B. ARTZ
The Electoral System in France During the Bourbon Restoration,
1815-1830
207 GUILLAUME DE BERTIER DE SAUVIGNY
French Society Under the Restoration
212 VINCENT W. BEACH
Charles X, Polignac, and the Application of Article XIV of the
Charter
217 DAVID H. PINKNEY
A New Look at the French Revolution of 1830
222 Suggestions for Further Reading
X CONTENTS
C hapter E ight: BOURGEOIS MONARCHY AND
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
226 Introduction
228 JEAN LHOMME
Bourgeois Supremacy During the July Monarchy
235 DOUGLAS JOHNSON
A Reconsideration of Guizot
242 ALBERT J. GEORGE
The Romantic Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in France
248 PETER AMANN
The Changing Outlines of 1848
255 ANDRÉ-JEAN TUDESQ
The Napoleonic Legend in France in 1848
262 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter N ine: “SOCIALISM” AND “CAESARISM” :
THE DOMESTIC POLICIES OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
264 Introduction
265 GEORGES PRADALIÉ
The Economic Transformation of France Under the Second
Empire
273 HENDRIK BOON
The Social and Economic Policies of the Emperor
282 MARCEL PRÉLOT
The Constitutional Significance of the Second Empire
291 THEODORE ZELDIN
The Myth of Napoleon III
296 Suggestions for Further Reading
C hapter Ten: “THE EMPIRE MEANS PEACE” :
THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
300 Introduction
302 LOUIS GIRARD
The Second Empire and Italian Unity
309 j. p. T. BURY
“The Great Idea of the Reign” : The Mexican Expedition
314 LYNN M. CASE
Napoleon III and the Austro-Prussian War
323 MICHAEL E. HOWARD
“Red Rag” and “Gallic Bull” : The Hohenzollem Candidature
330 Suggestions for Further Reading
