The French Revolution by Peter McPhee

The French Revolution Reviews

• 
  Aurélien Thomas

  'History is replete with examples of regimes which have collapsed because of their own failure or inability to respond to crisis. It is much rarer that such collapses result in a revolutionary shift in who holds power and for what purposes. France in 1789 was one of those rare occasion.'
  
  I have read this book as part of a MOOC I have done on Coursera - 'The French Revolution' by the University of Melbourne, the author being the tutor. All in all, this is an outline of the said course, but going, obviously, more in depth. What makes it interesting, is the focus of Peter McPhee on events outside France to explain what happened, why it took the turn it took (a descent into civil war and bloodshed barely seen before) and, above all, why the French Revolution had so much impact not only in Europe but also worldwide.
  
  Where other historians before him were keen on explaining then France's financial ordeal by extravagant expenses and inept tax system from a self-serving elite, he is pointing towards the Seven Years' War and the French and Indian War in America as the final cause to the country's bankruptcy. Where other historians before him were keen on finding in Enlightenment philosophes the ideological seed behind it all he is, on the contrary, minimising their influence to find such ideological inspiration in the American War of Independence. Where other historians before him were keen on explaining the global spread of French revolutionary ideals by pointing to the Napoleonic conquests (e.g. the massive impact of the 'Code Napoleon') he is reminding us that the political turmoil engulfing France and Europe also resonated in the colonies across the Atlantic, raising questions especially on how to deal with slavery. In other words, not only he is looking for complementary reasons external to France to explain why the Revolution didn't stop in 1789 (as it should have; after all, the August Decrees were a massive victory in themselves) but, he is doing so by adopting a worldview, one with the Atlantic at its center, that better illuminate what makes such revolution a serie of events unlike any other before. Putting it all in such a global context (Atlantic-centred) which is too often neglected, such perspective is very interesting.
  
  Is it relevant though? As much as I follow him on the minimal impact of the philosophes, I had trouble swinging the pendulum all the way towards what happened in America. Enlightenment philosophy and American politics are indeed to me both the same that is, such crucial debates surely echoed with radical intellectuals (themselves born, ironically, as part of the establishment) but I don't think the sans-culottes cared about it all. And wasn't it the sans-culottes who drove what started as an attempt to reform a system straight into violence, bloodshed, and, ultimately, dictatorship? From the storming of the Bastille to the assault on the Tuilerie and, even, the Terror orchestrated by the most extremists of the Jacobins, it is they who had set the brutal tone of it all; not the intellectuals of 'a republic of letters', whether looking across an ocean or not (a Robespierre had to send them all to the guillotine, this is no coincidence).
  
  Now, sure, there was, undeniably, a cultural zeitgeist that, more and more, were bringing the inadequacies and irrelevance of absolutism and feudalism to the fore. And sure enough, that political zeitgeist owed as much to the philosophes as to the events in America, besides underlying the ideals behind the various drafted Constitutions (and, of course, the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen!). I therefore agree to say (but I am no historian) that the Revolution was unavoidable. But such influences should not be over-estimated.
  
  If America had been such a source of inspiration, France would have been a Republic right from the start; yet it wasn't until 1792, and because of events unrelated to what was going on in the other side of the Atlantic. More importantly, without the sans-culottes' propensity for violence, those ideals may actually have been implemented for good. Instead of that, as the author himself acknowledges, the backlash against their excesses would be such that, the societal landscape in France would be, after it all, pretty much the same as before. A bourgeois elite would replace the noblesse of the Old Regime; women and workers' rights would not progress until late in the 19th and even 20th centuries; not much changed in the daily lives of peasants; and even slavery, abolished in 1794, would be reinstated in 1802! Now, I am not saying such Atlantic-view should be discarded when it comes to understand the causes of it all. It might indeed have influenced the elites who kickstarted it. I am just saying, again, that it shouldn't be granted as much importance as the author does here; as the influence of such elite quickly found itself run over by the mob.
  
  Nevertheless, here's a fascinating read, that I particularly enjoyed because, despite his view, the author doesn't get bogged down into that old academic controversy minimalist vs maximalist (upon which he bounces back, for those unfamiliar with it). On the contrary, he is balancing it all brilliantly. Yes, the political and cultural impact of the French Revolution was absolutely massive (nationalism, liberalism, secularism...). But, yes too, it took time for it to tickle down to those who should have been its beneficiaries that is, commoners themselves. And so the question remains: was such a path needed?
  
  Here's a great overview of a complex serie of events. Clear, it also bluntly demonstrates why it took the turn it took (the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the war against Austria in 1792...). Gosh! Even the Terror is faced with that cold rational understanding it has been needed for so long! It's just, as much as I appreciate the importance of the Atlantic question, in my opinion, the author over-estimate it. Apart from that, this read is like the course it serves as guide to: brilliant.
• 
  Kira Charley

  Concise Overview - perfect for undergraduate
  
  5 stars for breadth over depth. Encompasses the revolution and explains the events and includes light touch historiography without becoming a minefield of names. If you already have a good understanding of the specifics of the French revolution, you can skip this.
• 
  Caleb Cable

  Perfect to clear the fog
  
  France's struggle during the revolution. Presented a very good understanding the workings of the Revolution, how, why, and what happened.
• 
  sabisteb aka callisto

  Kursmaterialien zum Coursera Kurs zur Französischen Revolution. Die Vorlesung wird hier noch einmal in einzelnen Kapitel zusammengefasst und mit entsprechenden Quellen hinterlegt. Im Prinzip, die Vorlesung zum Nachlesen mit ein bischen mehr Hintergrundmaterialien und kein richtiges Geschichtsbuch.
• 
  Dan Vine

  This was the textbook for a course I just finished, taught by the author.
• 
  Colleen

  This wasn't a linear telling of the revolution, which is what I was looking for. It also seemed to pre-suppose a certain level of knowledge, which I didn't have.