French Rev. Final
Étienne Cabet
(1788-1856) French utopian socialist and founder of a communal settlement in Illinois. His book "Voyage to Icaria" argued that people needed to escape the urban world and bourgeois individualism to create a brand new, more equal society elsewhere. He described his theories on the ideal community. He published a newspaper, Le Populaire, which was tracked by the police, attracted a national audience, critiqued Louis Philippe, and published letters written by artisans describing their lives. Artisans, who felt threatened by foreign workers, the fall of the guilds, and increased competition from trade, were susceptible to his message. He became an opponent of Louis Philippe. In the late 1840s, he and his followers left France for the U.S. in order to try to create an ideal community. However, they were unsuccessful and it is likely that Cabet died in St. Louis. Why Utopian Socialists like Cabet were important: they offered a critique of bourgeois society and individualism; they were committed to the reorganization of society (wanted to leave cities and create a new society); professed faith in the ability of people to make a better life with more social harmony; and embraced science.
Valmy
(1792) decisive battle that saved the Revolution. The Prussian march on Paris to restore the French monarchy was halted and the French Revolution saved. The Prussians and the Austrians withdrew in the wake of the battle, allowing the French to continue their invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. The efficiency of the French army had been severely diminished by the flight of noble officers, prompting Austria and Prussia to invade France. The battle emboldened the National Assembly to formally end the monarchy. Victory occurred despite the disorganization of French military forces in the wake of noble officer desertions. The day after Valmy they abolished the monarchy. Louis XVI was seen as lukewarm at best for France's defense (some even thought he supported the Austrians).
The Maximum
(1793) Jacobin policy popular with the poor of Paris implemented during the Reign of Terror that set a maximum price on bread. Many poor people in Paris at the time thought that merchants were hoarding bread in order to drive up prices and so setting a maximum price on bread was popular with them (hoarding conspiracies). It was supported by Jacobins like Robespierre as a way to reward the common people and dissuade hoarding of bread. The Directory reversed the law in keeping with the Directory's liberal economic policies that benefitted the bourgeois. 2/3 of workers' salaries were spent on bread. Moral economy.
The Vendée
(1793-96) site in the west of France that witnessed counterrevolutionary insurrections during the French Revolution. The first and most important occurred in the Vendee. In this fervently religious and economically backward region, the Revolution of 1789 was received with little enthusiasm and only a few minor disturbances. The first signs of real discontent appeared with the government's enactment of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 1790) instituting strict controls over the Roman Catholic Church. A general uprising began with the institution of the conscription acts of February 1793. Reasons for support of the counterrevolution: allegiance to the Catholic Church (still played a major role in people's lives and was the single most important factor in determining someone's support for the revolution); distrust of Paris and new bourgeois elite. Brutality on both sides with numerous executions of peasants and civilians.
Georges Darboy
(1813-1871) a French Catholic priest and later archbishop of Paris. He was a member of a prominent group of hostages (to try to get Blanquis back) executed by the Paris Commune in 1871. His execution, along with other executions of priests, was used by Versaillais forces as an excuse to mercilessly execute captured Communards. He was a Saint-Simonian and wanted to realign religion with science. He strongly opposed the dogma of papal infallibility but he submitted to it once it was adopted. He pushed to reduce poverty in Paris. He organized aid for wounded soldiers in the during the Franco-Prussian war and refused to flee Paris during the Commune. He was arrested by Communards in order to facilitate a hostage trade for Blanquis with the Versaillais but the Versaillais refused to negotiate and eventually used the archbishop's execution as anti-Communard propaganda and an excuse to carry out mass reprisals. His arrest and execution were symptoms of a wider anti-clericalism in the Commune: no more education by the clergy (if clergy were found to be teaching classes as per the Falloux Law, they would be shut down); anger with the church for charging high fees (including to register new babies). His execution was ordered by Ferré, who was himself executed by Versaillais troops.
White Terror
(1815) violence against Napoleon's supporters that in Nimes transformed into violence against Protestants carried out by Catholics in Nimes (the Ultras) and other southern French cities. Nimes was 1/3 Protestant and there was significant tension between rich, educated Protestants and their proletarian Catholic workers. The violence was supported and egged on by Catholic nobles, many of whom were members of the Knights of the Faith. Some 300 victims were claimed, many in brutal fashion. For example, Jacques Dupont, an illiterate agricultural worker, was known for hacking his victims into three pieces and once even burnt a victim alive. He and others were given light sentences after the fact. Protestants sought retribution in the wake of the fall of the Bourbon monarchy in 1830, finding and killing some of the most notorious terrorists.
Sacrilege Law
(1825-1830) law passed by Charles X during the Second Restoration which made it a capital offense to commit a sacrilege in church (steal from the church, pee on the outside of the church, etc.). While the law was never enforced, it was seen as laughably absurd by many Frenchmen and strengthened the liberal opposition. Charles X, in many ways, sought to return the monarchy to its ancien régime roots, including by strengthening the relationship between the monarchy and the Catholic Church. He returned the coronation ceremony to Reims. He even believed in the king's ability to cure scrofula, which had been a part of the myth of the divine right of kings. His regressive policies increased opposition to the Bourbon Restoration and contributed to the July Revolution of 1830, which came after the July Ordinances that would have gotten rid of 3/4 of voters.
"Demoiselles" of the Ariège
(1829-1832) War of the Maidens, a peasant revolt that took place in the department of Ariège. Bourbon King Charles X passed a new forest code that was beneficial to bourgeois industrialists and that mandated the peasants leave the forest. Country men disguised themselves as women, wearing long white shirts, scarves or wigs, and blackened or concealed faces, and attacked in a carnivalesque fashion the guards sent by Charles X and large property owners to enforce the new forest code. In the wake of the July Revolution of 1830, peasants wrote petitions to the Orleanist King Louis Philippe, espousing the rhetoric of liberty and freedom. To them, freedom meant the freedom to continue to live in the forest. The rich, supported by the bourgeois king, however, believed that freedom meant the freedom to use the forest for economic gain. In keeping with his alliance with the bourgeoisie, King Louis Philippe sent forest guards back to the forest and forced the peasants to move, resulting in a mass exodus to Paris and the rest of France.
Guizot Law 1833
(1833) law that provided for the establishment of normal primary schools, in each department, aimed at the training of primary education teachers. The law required that all communes of 500 or more people build a school for boys. It required that each commune have a school. It established the principle that secular primary education should be accessible to all citizens, which would to a certain extent be undermined by the Falloux Law of 1850. Teachers of primary education had to attend the normal primary schools and obtain a diploma called the 'brevet de capacité'. These requirements applied to teachers in both public and private schools. Teachers were expected to teach in French in order to spread the French language and a French national identity and undermine other commonly spoken languages like Patois, Basque, and Catalan. However, many teachers continued to use the other languages in order to communicate with parents or so that students could understand them. Teachers were very respected in their communities thanks to their linguistic abilities (special place in the town like the mayor). Guizot was the leader of the constitutional monarchists during the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe (1830-1848),
Falloux Law of 1850 (France)
(1850) act granting legal status to independent secondary schools in France. Under the guise of freedom of education, it restored much of the Catholic Church's traditional influence in France. It aimed to promote Catholic school teaching. It was passed during the conservative French Second Republic and signed by then president Louis Napoleon III. Catholic schools were especially useful in schooling for girls, which had long been neglected. It marked the successful conclusion of a 10-year Catholic effort to secure greater influence in education. The Catholic Church was then seen as a bulwark against communism and for order in the wake of the 1848 Revolution. Within half a century, half of secondary school students were enrolled in Catholic schools. It was a part of a trend of rechristianization that started in 1814 amongst the aristocracy and now spread to the bourgeoisie. Liberal anti-clericalists opposed the law, viewing Catholic schools as brainwashing institutions and informing their opposition to the Conservative order. In reality, it was a compromise legislation and not nearly as bad as some liberals claimed.
Elizabeth Dmitrieff
(1850-1918) Russian-born feminist and revolutionary of the 1871 Commune. She was a friend of Karl Marx's in London. Karl Marx sent her to Paris to report on the events of the Paris Commune in 1870. She sent Marx detailed descriptions of events of 1870. During the Paris Commune Revolt of 1870, Dmitrieff organized the Union of Women for the Defense of Paris and the Care of the Wounded, a branch of the Socialist International. She called for the elimination of all competition and for equal salaries for male and female workers, as well as a reduction in work hours. She also demanded the creation of workshops for unemployed women and asked that funds go to aid nascent working-class associations. Her flashy clothing, which often included the color red (the color of revolution and socialism), reflected her determination to effect change. She helped form the Union des Femmes, which called for women to form branches in each arrondissement and organize to fight until the very end to defend the Commune. Many women served and died in the Paris Commune. They were looked upon as animals and brutes by supporters of the Versaillais and were executed along with the men in the wake of the battle. When the Communards were defeated, she escaped to Russia, where she died in exile.
Credit Mobilier
(1852) French banking company that helped finance numerous railroads and other infrastructure projects by mobilizing the savings of middle class French investors as capital for vast lending schemes. It sold mortgages. It was heavily invested in the Parisian public transit system. Its investments in train development were supported by Napoleon III, connected many cities to Paris, further centralizing the French state, and helped develop the French economy, promoting industrialization, lowering the price of agricultural products (including wine), and, along with new agricultural techniques, decreasing the frequency of famine. Napoleon III used capital to reward areas that supported his regime and punish those that didn't. Much of this development coincided with Louis Napoleon's empire, which saw France's industrialization and economic expansion. However, it was replete with corruption like much of France's government during Louis Napoleon's time as emperor. Corruption in Napoleon's administration.
Cobden-Chevalier Treaty
(1860) Anglo-French trade agreement that provided that French protective duties were to be reduced to a maximum of 25% within five years with free entry of all French products except wines into Britain. To pass it, Napoleon III had to overcome protectionist factions, which wanted to protect their goods from foreign competition. The Treaty had a positive effect on competitive French industries but contributed to the decline of small-scale production. The Treaty was in line with Napoleon III's other efforts to liberalize the French economy, including by eliminating internal tariffs and promoting industrial development. However, the Treaty contributed to some workers' anger over the changing economic landscape, competition from foreign workers, and further industrialization. Chevalier was a Saint-Simonian, someone who believed in faith and progress.
The Commune
(1871) Insurrection of Paris against the French government from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It occured in the wake of France's defeat in the Franco-German War and the collapse of Louis Napoleon's Second Empire. Because elections had been rushed, France's rural regions voted for royalist/conservative candidates. Republicans in Paris feared that Thiers' government in Versailles would restore the monarchy and prepared to resist. Thiers tried to disarm Paris' National Guard, which had just finished bravely resisting the year-long Prussian siege of Paris, which had seen massive popular participation and political meetings which called for greater freedom, and now felt as if Thiers' conservative government wanted to undermine the cause for which they had fought. Resistance broke out in Paris in response to Thiers' action. Municipal elections a week later returned a revolutionary government, which formed the Commune. Other Communes around France were quickly suppressed. The Commune in Paris, however, organized a relatively effective defense, maintained order and public utilities in Paris, and implemented republican reforms. The Commune resisted for many months but faced a numerically daunting force, which was supplemented by soldiers whom the Prussians had recently released from POW camps. The Versaillais or government troops entered Paris in an undefended section and proceeded to capture much of Paris, killing prisoners as they went along. Versaillais propaganda, which had demonized Parisian Communards as anarchists and selfish, convinced many Versaillais soldiers to summarily execute anyone they suspected of being attached to the Commune during Bloody Week. About 200,000 insurrectionists were killed, compared to 750 government troops. In the aftermath of the Commune, the government undertook further repressive action: 38,000 Communards were arrested and more than 7,000 were deported. The summary executions carried out by the Versaillais troops against poor working class Parisians were the first examples of the kind of state-sanctioned violence that would characterize the 20th century.
Law on Public Meetings
(June 1868) Decree issued by Napoleon III that made it legal for ordinary people to meet. Before this law was passed, people needed the prefect's approval to meet in public, which reduced the number of political meetings and made it difficult for the opposition to organizeThis led to a movement of public meetings in which people discussed the Social Question, the Republic, and Napoleon III's leadership. In this way, Napoleon III provided the opposition with the means to resist his reign. While his leadership tenure started on a more conservative note with the arrest of revolutionaries, he took a more liberal tack (1859-1870) in order to win political support. In 1859, he offered amnesty to people who had participated in the insurrection of 1851. He relaxed restrictions on voting and lifted censorship controls, which led to the publication of newspapers critical of his leadership and supportive of the opposition. In 1864, he legalized strikes, which resulted in a nationwide movement of strikes. He followed this up with the Law on Public Meetings. His policies, however, gave his opponents the power and opportunity to resist his reign and build support for an alternative future.
June Days
(June 23-26, 1848) a brief and bloody civil uprising in Paris in the early days of the Second Republic. Louis Philippe abdicated and fled earlier in 1848 when his armies proved unprepared for a mass insurrection and when he proved unable to satisfy people's desires for increased voting rights. He was replaced by a moderate provisional government. The provisional government instituted numerous radical reforms--including reinstating freedom of the press and political assembly and universal male suffrage--but the new elected assembly, mainly composed of moderate and conservative legislators, was determined to cut costs and risky experiments like public works programs--state workshops--to provide for the unemployed. Many Parisians were upset with the election results, which returned mostly moderate and conservative candidates from the countryside and felt as if they hadn't been allowed time enough to organize a campaign. Thousands of Parisian workers--suddenly cut off from the state payroll--were joined by radical sympathizers and took to the streets in spontaneous protest. The archbishop of Paris was murdered by the crowd. Many of the revolutionaries were immigrants from other parts of France, including the forests of the Ariège. The assembly gave General Louis-Eugene Cavaignac authority to suppress the uprising, which he did by bringing artillery up to the barricades and killing at least 1,500 rebels and arresting 12,000 people, many of whom were exiled to Algeria. After the revolt, the infamous Cavaignac ran for president but lost to Louis Bonaparte III, who won because of his name recognition and because he called for a number of reforms meant to benefit the working class. The National Assembly followed the June Days by repressing the left and journalists who had been critical of the government and limiting voting rights to the rich. Eventually, their repressive tactics backfired and Louis Napoleon orchestrated a coup, which elevated him to the presidency.
Please place the Paris Commune of 1871 in the context of themes we have emphasized in this course (e.g., state centralization, the emergence of popular politics, etc.)
1) Background on the Commune: (1871) Insurrection by the people of Paris against the French government. It occurred in the wake of France's defeat in the Franco-German War and the collapse of Louis Napoleon's Second Empire. The conservative and potential royalist Thiers tried to disarm Paris' National Guard, which had just finished bravely resisting the year-long Prussian siege of Paris, which had seen massive popular participation and political meetings calling for greater freedom, and now felt as if Thiers' conservative government wanted to undermine the cause for which they had fought. Resistance broke out in Paris in response to Thiers' action. Municipal elections a week later returned a revolutionary government, which formed the Commune. Other Communes around France were quickly suppressed. The Commune in Paris, however, organized a relatively effective defense, maintained order and public utilities in Paris, and implemented republican reforms. The Commune resisted for many months but faced a numerically superior force, which was supplemented by soldiers whom the Prussians had recently released from POW camps. The Versaillais or government troops entered Paris through an undefended section and proceeded to capture much of Paris, killing prisoners as they went along. Versaillais propaganda, which had demonized Parisian Communards as anarchists and selfish, convinced many Versaillais soldiers to summarily execute anyone they suspected of being attached to the Commune during Bloody Week. About 20,000 insurrectionists were killed, compared to 750 government troops. In the aftermath of the Commune, the government undertook further repressive action: 38,000 Communards were arrested and more than 7,000 were deported. The summary executions carried out by the Versaillais troops against poor working class Parisians were the first examples of the kind of state-sanctioned violence that would characterize the 20th century. 2) Major themes of the course and their connection to the Commune: a) State Terror: - Communards formed their own Committee of Public Safety to organize Paris' defense and associate themselves with the Jacobins. Did not share the same all-encompassing power of the Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre. - Versaillais/Forces of Order: mass executions of prisoners of war/wounded/anyone suspected of supporting the Commune (20,000 Communards died compared to 750 government troops). Wanted to cleanse Paris and ensure that radical, working class Parisians never again tried to rise up or threaten order. - Propaganda villainized and dehumanized working class people as threats to order and France. - Similar to Napoleon III's repressive actions against peasants in the wake of the December revolt/his coup. Also not unusual for government forces to deem themselves the "forces of order"--similar to Louis Philippe's government, which cultivated the bourgeois elite's support by repressing uprisings. -The Terror: Wars in the Vendée b) Popular politics: -The Commune and proletarianization: Mass participation in public meetings discussing France's future and the potential for a social republic. Political clubs modeled off of those of the Revolution--like the Jacobins--restarted and gained adherents (or is this limited to 1848?). Many working class individuals, including women, joined the barricades and resisted government forces. -Bastille: people from working class neighborhoods took matters into their own hands, seizing the Bastille to get their hands onto weapons and seize a symbol of repression. -Sans-culottes: Politicization of regular people--solidarity. They refused to wear knee breeches in order to distinguish themselves from aristocrats. They addressed each other using the familiar 'tu' rather than the formal 'vous'. Like the Communards, they banded together to resist counter-revolutionary forces/support radical policies. -1848 June Days: Working class people, upset over the newly-elected conservative National Assembly's decision to cut funding for national workshops that provided work to people during an economic recession, rose up but were brutally suppressed by government forces like the Communards. Similar to working class Parisians' resenting Thiers' government's decision to reinstate rent payments so soon after the end of the siege, working class individuals in 1848 were politicized and took action as a result of the government's decision. c) Dechristianization: -Execution of Archbishop Darboy demonstrates the Commune's dechristianization policies. While the Commune tried to orchestrate a hostage transfer, government troops refused to negotiate. So, as Versaillais troops approached central Paris, Communard leaders ordered Darboy executed. His execution prompted an outcry amongst government supporters and was used in government propaganda to depict Communards as godless and a threat to French society. -Dechristianization was an ongoing process throughout the 19th century. -The Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution forced clergy members to swear an oath of allegiance to the nation. - The Vendée (1793): the dechristianization process affected some areas more than others. Some like the Vendee continued to resist government interference in religion and actually took up arms against the Revolution and were brutally suppressed. -Falloux Law (1850): republicans and leftists resisted the Falloux Law, which permitted religious primary education, and condemned government support of the Catholic Church. d) Class identity/conflict: -Reinstatement of rents in 1871: The Siege of Paris in 1870 worsened working class individual's economic fortunes as food prices grew exponentially and Parisian life revolved around war. Thus, the government had put rents on hold during the siege. Thiers, after negotiating France's surrender, quickly required payments on rent, benefitting wealthy bourgeois landlords at the expense of working class Parisians who had just sacrificed a great deal. -Proletarianization: Development of separate class identity (workers vs. bourgeois industrial business owners). Industrialization put workers together. Napoleon III's law made unions legal and increased the number of strikes. -Social Question: (check Merriman) -1848 June Days: class conflict. Working class people stayed in Paris and resisted the government while rich people escaped and likely supported the government troops. Vilification of working class Communards, especially women (animal language). f) Rural vs. Urban: -Commune: A few fellow Communes formed in other French cities but were quickly suppressed. Government propaganda portrayed Parisians as godless, craven, socialists. This may explain why government forces were so ruthless towards Communards, executing them in cold blood. -December 1851 Riots: Rural insurrection to defend the Republic after Napoleon III's coup. They received next to no urban support because Paris' resistance had already been crushed during the June Days of 1848. -1848 elections: rural areas returned a conservative National Assembly, which angered Paris republicans and contributed to the outbreak of revolution. -Vendée: The rural region of the Vendée resisted the dechristianization policies of Paris and the Revolution.
Napoleonic Code
A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon. Napoleon actively participated in the drafting of the new civil codes. Under the code, all male citizens are equal: primogeniture, hereditary nobility, and class privileges are extinguished; civilian institutions are emancipated from ecclesiastical control; freedom of person, freedom of contract, and inviolability of private property are fundamental principles. The Code, however, contained regressive policies towards women: it subordinated women to their husbands and fathers, who controlled all family property, determined the fate of children, and were favored in divorce proceedings. More articles about cattle than women. It was spread by the Grand Army.
Girondins
A moderate republican faction active in the French Revolution from 1791 to 1793. The Girondin Party favored a policy of extending the French Revolution beyond France's borders. They were a moderate bourgeois faction. They were committed to representative democracy, supported the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, believed in an aggressive foreign policy against supporters of emigrés--Austria--and supported a declaration of war. They were blamed for the military setbacks which followed the declaration of war. They believed in classical liberal economics and so were disliked by the poor who wanted a maximum price on bread to be instituted. They opposed the centralization of the Revolution by the Jacobins in Paris. Revolts in support of the Girondins in the provinces were brutally crushed by revolutionary armies. Their leader is Brissot.
Could Zola have written L'Assommoir in the 1830s or 1840s? If so, why? If not, why not?
Background on L'Asommoir: Story about Gervaise, a laundress, in Paris who tries to build a business. She achieves some success but her husband's drinking problem threatens her business's success. As her husband refuses to work and spends all her money on drinking, she takes up drink herself, loses her business, watches her daughter become a prostitute, and becomes a beggar. Her fall from any modicum of success or sense of self-worth is driven by alcohol abuse and is made worse when Haussmann's rebuilding of Paris further isolated her and made her feel worse about her declining appearance (growing disparity between the way working class Parisians lived and Paris' increasingly beautiful façade). Zola wanted to use the novel to compel government intervention to curb France's drinking problem. Answer: Maybe but probably not. Why? 1) Drinking problem in France was less well-developed and just then becoming a reason for concern as France drank itself to death: In 1830, there were 282,000 places authorized to sell alcohol (excluding Paris). In 1865, that number had grown to 365,000 (excluding Paris) even as the French population began to level out. By 1901, there were 464,000 (including in Paris). The increase in the number of alcohol sellers was accompanied by an increase in annual consumption of alcohol. In 1790, the average person consumed 61 liters of alcohol per year. By 1850, that number was up to 75 liters and by 1895, it was all the way up to 125 liters. While we don't have statistics on it, these increases in alcohol consumption were likely accompanied by increased death rates from alcoholism. People were allowed to drink on the job and so were less productive. Still no temperance movement. France's population was only beginning to decrease by the 1860s, so this was only then becoming a major reason for concern. 2) Urbanization -- Haussmann -Reasons why Haussmann rebuilt Paris: (1) bring more air and light into the city; (2) free the flow of capital (department stores, easier to transport goods to and from, support economic growth); (3) hinder the building of barricades in France (easier for troops to retake the city and crush revolts). -Suburbs: building outside of Paris' walls as industrialization. People living in close quarters (heavily populated). -Public health: Haussmann built Paris' sewer system to clean the streets and water supply and reduce the incidences of disease. -Beautification: Paris was becoming more beautiful and habitable even as Gervaise becomes an alcoholic, loses her business, and retreats from her responsibilities. Had this been written in the 1830s and 1840s, this contrast in Paris' facade and how actual people lived would not have existed and been nearly as powerful. 3) Proletarianization and class consciousness: - 1848: the urgency of the Social Question becomes clear in the wake of the June Days: workers rise up after conservative government shuts down National Workshops and so threatens Parisians' ability to make a living. -Commune: added urgency to try to understand why life for the poor is so uniquely awful. Why had the poor risen up? -Industrialization: Goujet was an ironworker. Supports Gervaise throughout the novel but his living is threatened by the advent of machines--metaphor for Parisian working class. Thanks to the Credit Mobilier and railroad building, industrialization took off during this period, reshaping French society. More and more Frenchmen work in factories, reshaping their lives. There was a greater need to discuss this industrial trend alongside alcoholism (workers spending all their hard-earned money in bars). 4) Naturalism: Zola's writing style with its emphasis on how real working class Parisians lived, talked, and viewed the world had not developed and might not have been accepted in 1830 or 1840. People were upset with him for using poor language but he said it was just how working class people spoke and he wanted to remain true to that. This style may have been censored in 1830s. Compared to Old Man Goriot, which was written in the 1830s, the story of L'Assommoir with its focus on the very poor and next to no interaction with the lifestyle of the richest is unique to the 1870s and was unlikely to appeal to an audience in the 1830s and 1840s. 5) Education: More people read by the 1870s than the 1830s and 1840s as a result of the Guizot Law (universal secular primary education) and the Falloux Law (Catholic education). Thus, there was a wider audience for this kind of work outside of the rich who might have ignored the message if it had come out in the 1830s and 1840s, not appreciating his natural writing style.
It is the morning of December 4, 1851. You are a peasant living somewhere in the south of France. Even before you leave for the market in a nearby bourg, a shoemaker whose acquaintance you have made on market day suddenly appears at your door. He informs you that the Constitution has been violated and the Republic destroyed in a coup d'état by President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. He says members of the secret society "New Mountain" will be taking arms to defend the "democratic and social Republic." You take a moment to reflect upon the course of events that have touched your life over the past four years. Based on these hurried thoughts, you come to a resolve and inform the shoemakers of the reason for your decision. What have you decided, and why?
Background on historical events leading up to this moment: -1848 Revolution had overthrown Louis Philippe's Bourgeois monarchy after his troops found themselves unprepared for resistance in Paris. Louis Philippe never had mass support. Opponents launched a banquet campaign in 1846 and 1847 to expand voting rights and decried the completion of forts around Paris, which could be used to fire upon Paris itself. - A moderate provisional government was put in place. The people of France were repoliticized as newspapers which tied themselves to the Revolution proliferated and as political clubs like the Jacobin Club and various women's clubs returned. These clubs discussed how to solve the Social Question, how to implement a minimum wage, and how to protect workers from foreign competition. Workers were especially mobilized and eager to address some of the grievances of industrial life. - The moderate government created Municipal Clubs, which paid people to do odd jobs, dig ditches, etc., and through the Luxembourg Commission studied work (how to make it better) - June Days - So when a conservative National Assembly was elected (thanks to conservative results in rural areas which radicals in Paris attributed to insufficient time to organize) that announced the end of the national workshops, a bloody insurrection followed. Masons, day laborers, small scale merchants, mechanics, ordinary people living in the same neighborhoods--though the majority of them actually came from outside Paris--that had launched the French Revolution in 1789 rose up and confronted the government's soldiers. The archbishop of Paris, Archbishop Joffre, was killed in the fighting. At least 1,500 rebels were killed while 4,500 others were jailed. - Napoleon III was elected President and set out to undermine the Republic. He was joined by the conservative National Assembly, which censored the press, locked up political opponents, repressed workers' cooperatives, purged key administrative posts (mayors, schoolteachers, prefects, etc.), outlawed the color red (which was associated with socialism, and (with the law of May 31st, 1850) and disenfranchised 1/3 of voters (people who had not lived in the same place for 2 years). Their repressive actions had convinced many elite bourgeois individuals to exit politics and had eliminated the National Assembly's base of support, so Napoleon was able to launch a coup, extend his power, and end the Second Republic. - Formation of a republican underground: secret societies formed amongst peasants, including the Mountain, which was named after the radical group of Jacobins in the National Assembly. They discussed "Marianne in chains" and vowed to defend the nation as it was threatened by Napoleon III's efforts to overthrow the Republic. Secret societies formed in French-speaking and non-French speaking areas of France. Following the coup d'état of December 2, 1851, secret societies sparked the largest nationwide riots of the 19th century. -Results of rural insurrection in the red south of France of December 5 and 6: the better organized Forces of Order defeat the rural secret societies, which for the most part failed to capture prefects. 25,000 revolutionaries were arrested and put on trial and most of them were convicted; of those who were convicted, many were made to live elsewhere in France so as to separate them from their hometowns; others were put in jail; and the most dangerous were sent to Algeria. After laying out the background to December 4, I would then describe my person: - He likely voted for Napoleon III in the 1849 election for president because he recognized his name and maybe wanted to return France to the glory of the Napoleonic Empire. He also may have heard about Cavignac's repressive and violent actions against Parisians and recognized him as the "butcher," leaving Napoleon III as the only alternative. He also may have been impressed with Napoleon III's book "The Extinction of Pauperism." -As a peasant, he likely had become involved in politics in the past years while visiting towns and overhearing conversations about injustice and repression. Markets were hotbeds of political discussion. He likely cared about education in the towns, wanted lower taxes on the poor, and wanted to target unfair lending practices. -While he may have originally supported Napoleon III, he may have been disappointed by the repressive actions of the conservative National Assembly, which had reduced the eligible voting population, repressed newspapers, and fired left-wing officials across France. -He also may have been stirred by discussion of defending Marianne--the female image of liberty--and the democratic and social Republic and so joined a secret society in the years before. Marxist argument: Three main types of bourgeois (landlords, industrialists, and capitalists). Landlords wanted the Bourbons, industrialists supported Orleans, and capitalists supported a republic. Because peasants hated landlords, they could not support the Bourbons and so voted for Napoleon, who promised progress and a return to glory. Moreover, peasants did not always share the same interests as capitalists and so were not swayed by the same arguments. -Thus, he probably participated in the riots alongside his peasant neighbors. However, lacking any military training or any leaders he could follow, his efforts to seize the local town proved ineffective. Like others, he may have been arrested by better organized government forces and forced to move elsewhere in the wake of the insurrection. Since he was not an organizer, he was likely not imprisoned or shipped to Algeria. But he still likely had to leave his hometown and the life he had known. That is, until Napoleon III pardoned those who had participated in 1859.
Grand Army
Combined French armies under Napoleon that he used to conquer much of Europe. Virtually destroyed during Napoleon's ill-fated Russian campaign. Beginning in 1798, the levies of the Revolution were replaced by a regular method of conscription, which sapped the manpower of France and led many men to move to the mountains in an attempt to avoid military service. It consisted of a mix of French, Lithuanian, Polish, and German soldiers, reflecting the scale of the Napoleonic empire. His army was extremely well organized and often out fought its opponents on the battlefield. As time went by and his best soldiers died, Napoleon's armies became gradually less effective. His soldiers committed atrocities, killing an anti-Napoleonic bookseller and killing guerrillas and civilians in Spain and Italy in the name of French nationalism. His Grand Army dissolved in the Russian winter of 1812, as tens of thousands of men perished across Russia. Napoleon was then forced to build an army on the fly in both 1813 and 1815 with limited success. Moreover, while able to crush his Prussian and Austrian opponents repeatedly, Napoleon failed to defeat the British because his navy was never able to defeat the British Royal Navy, which prevented French armies from launching an invasion of Great Britain. In each country, he implemented reforms like the elimination of feudalism and spread the Napoleonic Code.
proletarianization
In the 19th century, working class people began to see themselves as a class apart--the proletariat. In the wake of the 1830 Revolution and the bourgeois policies of Louis Philippe, people began to contemplate the Social Question. The development of a separate class identity began among artisans and skilled workers, who formed mutual aid societies that acted as de facto unions. The development of a proletarian identity was spurred on by the elimination of the guilds during the French Revolution, which resulted in a huge expansion in the number of people carrying out these trades, spurred competition, and resulted in many people losing their living. Thus, working class people began to want the state to protect them, especially from international competition and technological change (glass making and porcelain making mechanized) that threatened to make workers obsolete. The introduction of factory techniques furthered the development of a class identity as people began to compare themselves to their industrial bourgeois bosses and began to feel solidarity with their fellow workers. Implications: 1848 June Days (working class people angry when government cut off relief efforts and felt solidarity with one another) and 1871 Commune (stood together to resist government forces and stand for socialism). E.g. Goujet A Marxist term, of how more people move into the proterariat, forced to work for capitalist-subsistence/provided wages. To Marx, this was the worst form of existence, but also this was the beginning of the movement which would culminate in the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. The relevance for this course is through the industrialization of France and what it does to the average frenchman. - In L'Assommoir, the negative stance many had on this dehumanizing process is perhaps best synthesized by the character of Goujet, whose work in the forges is deemed as powerful and beautiful, yet who keeps losing wages every few months because machines are able to do his work far quicker. This also triggers a bit of a romantic reaction, albeit before Zola's time. - This gets to Marx's interpretation of 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte: - 3 main factions of French bourgeoisie: Landlords, industrialists, capitalists. Landlords and industrialists form the "Party of Order" - landlords want Bourbon restoration. Industrialists want Orleans. Capitalists want the republic because it allows them to stop the sufficient backlash of the proletariat - Also disillusioned many of the utopians who felt that urban life crippled the soul and reduced communal bonds.
Cottage Industry
Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found in France before the Industrial Revolution. With the Industrial Revolution spreading to France, manufacturing was intensified and replaced rural industry and home production, which was mostly carried out by women (silk weavers). Small shops based in homes often only consisted of a few workers. Different sections of France had different specialties: in Paris, women produced garments; in Lyon, the silk industry was prevalent. With time, however, these small productions were replaced by larger factories. In Paris, these factories were often located outside the city walls in the suburbs so as to be able to avoid tariffs. Textiles and metallurgical production were at the forefront of France's Industrial Revolution, spurred on by trains and investment during the July Monarchy of Louis Philippe and under Napoleon III. The cottage industry was effectively crushed thanks to free trade legislation like the Chevalier Treaty of 1860.
Why was Napoleon?
My question: Why was Napoleon able to consolidate power and have a lasting impact on France's collective memory? 1) Who was Napoleon? -Corsican roots: From Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean that was annexed by the French. He was sent to school in France, where he felt like an outsider--people made fun of his accent-- and continued to harbor Corsican nationalism, defending Paoli and his efforts to establish an independent Corsica. His transition to identifying as French (by the time he was exiled to St. Helena he said he had always felt French) was emblematic of a wider trend of growing French nationalism as people were brought together through war, political discussion, and a more powerful, centralized state. -Careers open to talent: Successful artillery officer. Rose through the ranks as Revolutionary France confronted various foes. -The Directory: He became a general during this period and achieved a number of victories, launching an invasion against Egypt. Despite abandoning his forces in Egypt after the Royal Navy won a victory, his star continued to rise and he managed to overthrow the middling Directory. -He read the works of many philosophes and like Robespierre, submitted essays on Enlightenment ideas to competitions. 2) How did he consolidate power and what was his relationship to the Revolution? -Weakness of the Directory: threatened from both the left (Jacobins) and the right (monarchists); oversaw economic recovery but never managed to be popular. -Consolidated some of the gains of the Revolution. -Military victories: He was a tactical genius. He managed to defeat Prussian and Austrian armies at battles like Austerlitz. His military victories secured trading partners with France and helped reduce the burden of the wars on the French people. -Concordat: He managed to bridge the divide between the Catholic Church and the Revolution. Religious tensions had plagued the Revolution from the beginning: while some parts of France embraced dechristianization and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, others like the Vendée continued to practice their religion and actively resisted the Revolution's dechristianization policies, which the pope had deemed sinful. Napoleon managed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the French state--Napoleon was given power to nominate bishops and the Church accepted that its property that had been nationalized would not be returned--while still recognizing the Catholic Church as the majority religion in France. Napoleon also gave his empire legitimacy by forcing the pope to crown him. -Napoleonic Code: The Napoleonic Code solidified some of the gains of the Revolution. Under the Code, all male citizens were made equal: primogeniture, hereditary nobility, and class privileges are extinguished; civilian institutions are emancipated from ecclesiastical control; freedom of person, freedom of contract, and inviolability of private property are fundamental principles. While it contained some regressive policies about women, the Code built support for Napoleon and undermined the liberal opposition. Abolished serfdom as he conquered different areas. 3) What aspects of his character contributed to his legend? -Russian collapse--> tragic figure: Destruction of his Grand Army in Russia (Russian winter, desertions, etc.). After the Battle of the Nations in 1813, he was exiled to Elba. -100 Days: Returned from Elba and quickly returned to power, overthrowing the First Restoration. He quickly organized another army and was then defeated at Waterloo by the slimmest of margins. -Era of French glory: Military victories, spread of Napoleonic Code and revolutionary ideals, economic success, etc. His name alone was enough to elect Napoleon III president of the Second Republic. -Bonapartists -Symbol: Vendome, Louis Philippe, paintings (Jacques Louis David), art, tomb (built during Louis Philippe's reign)
Marianne
The female symbol of French nationalism and liberty. When Louis Napoleon staged a coup in 1851, his opponents in the countryside used graphic rhetoric describing his move as "defiling" or "violating" Marianne and undermining French liberty. Hence, peasants rose in revolt to defend Marianne's "honor." Hers was an important image in the formation of the republican underground (the new Mountain, e.g.) to resist Napoleon III's undermining of the Second Republic, as people said that Marianne was in chains and called on others to defend the female image of the Nation. Delacroix's Liberty Leading The People includes an image of Marianne leading the 1830 Revolution.
Dechristianization
The lessening of the Catholic Church's authority and membership in France. The Revolution accelerated the process in France. However, some regions were more affected than others. In regions like the Vendée, where many priests refused to swear allegiance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the Church maintained its hold over the people. The goal of the campaign was the destruction of Catholic religious practice and of the religion itself. In 18th century France, 95% of the people were Catholic. During the Revolution, Church lands were confiscated, iconography was destroyed, including church statues, church crosses were destroyed, new institutions, including the Cult of Reason, were established, and a law was passed in 1793 making hiding a Church leader punishable by death. Priests were forced to swear an oath to the country, but many did not. Tensions around dechristianization resulted in the counterrevolution in the Vendée. These tensions continued to plague France until Napoleon's Concordat with the Pope. Bourbon Restoration restored Catholic position in society to an extent though never to its ancien régime status. However, Charles X did try to promote respect for the church with the Anti-Sacrilege Act of 1825, which made it a capital offense to commit a sacrilege like peeing on a church or stealing from a church. Falloux Law (1850) allowed the Catholic Church back into primary education. Execution of Archbishop Darboy in the Commune: liberal anti-clericalism.
Octroi (customs barrier)
Walls surrounding Paris served as the customs barriers. There were gates or checkpoints through which all carriages and individuals entering Paris had to pass. A lot of corruption around it during the French Revolution. At these gates or customs barriers, individuals had to pay tariffs on the items they wished to bring in or take out of Paris. This punished working class people, especially, many of whom moved outside of Paris' walls to avoid them. Many factories, also, were located outside of Paris, so that they did not have to pay tariffs on the goods they produced or the raw materials they required for production. These customs barriers contributed to the development of Paris' suburbs. Punished working class people
Absinthe
a green, aromatic liqueur that is 68% alcohol, is made with wormwood and other herbs, and has a bitter, licorice flavor: now banned in most Western countries. It was very popular with the Parisian working class and contributed to the country's severe drinking problem. In L'Asommoir, for example, Gervaise eventually turns to drinking absinthe as she becomes an alcoholic and as her life falls apart around her. France's Drinking Problem France was literally drinking itself to death in the 19th century--at least that's the way Zola saw it. In 1830, there were 282,000 places to drink in France (in 1937, there was 1 place for every 97 people including babies to buy a drink). In 1865, there were 351,000 places. People drank more and more. In 1790, the average person drank 61 liters of alcohol per year. In 1850, they drank 75 liters per year. And in 1895, that number was up to 125 liters per year, not counting absinthe, which became extremely popular amongst the poor. People were even permitted to drink on the job. There was collective denial of drinking problem compared to UK and the US and temperance movements never gained traction in France. Wine production increased in the 1840s and became progressively cheaper thanks to railways, making wine more readily available for the poor. Drinking was especially popular along the border with Belgium and in Brittany. L'Assommoir drew attention to France's drinking problem, selling over 100,000 copies. But thanks to the powerful wine lobby, which published a rejoinder to his work, his efforts to prompt government action to combat alcoholism were unsuccessful
If you had lived in France during the decade that began with 1789, you might have witnessed or even participated in several different revolutions. Imagine that you are two of the following five characters and please describe your response to these dramatic years. Be sure to consider the response of people like you to the French Revolution. a) a peasant from Poitou; b) a wine merchant from Bourdeaux Lyon; c) a shoemaker living in the Marais in Paris; d) a noble spending lots of time in Versailles; e) a seamstress living in Toulouse;
a) A peasant from Poitou: -Poitou is located in the Vendée region, which was the site of a counterrevolution led by peasants. -Peasants in the region were extremely impoverished and highly religious. -At the start of 1789, peasants in this region were still subject to the feudal system, which forced peasants to pay taxes, give portions of their harvest to nobles who owned their land, and show proper deference to nobles. This was the only life they or their ancestors had ever known. -Like other regions around the country, the peasants in Poitou may have participated in the Great Fear where rumors that aristocrats had hired brigands to attack and starve the people prompted riots in the countryside. These riots resulted in the abolition of feudalism on August 4, 1789, radically transforming peasant life. -As the National Assembly adopted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which ordered clergy-members to swear an oath of allegiance to the nation as opposed to the Catholic Church, peasants in Poitou were likely appalled when the pope condemned this. While many priests took the oath in other parts of France, a vast majority chose not to in the Vendée region because they maintained the support of the populace there. Thus, peasants in the region were likely angered by the bureaucrats Paris sent to shut down the churches of those who refused to take the oath. -The National Assembly's conscription laws (the Levée en Masse was the straw that broke the camel's back) in 1793 to raise more soldiers to defend the nation ignited a counterrevolution in the region. Peasants, who were not particularly sympathetic to the ideals of the Revolution and resented Paris' interference, did not wish to die for a cause they did not believe in. Thus, peasants formed gangs, attacked towns and Jacobin officials, and used brutal tactics against their foes. -Under Robespierre's leadership, the peasant counterrevolutionaries of the Vendée were crushed with brutal tactics--cold-blooded executions--including the guillotine--and slaughter of prisoners and anyone suspected of sympathizing with or giving aid to counterrevolutionaries. In fact, the vast majority of the people killed during the Terror lived in counterrevolutionary sections of the country like Poitou and the Vendée. - If the peasant was fortunate enough to make it out alive during the Terror, he may have been conscripted into the army during the Directory. During the many wars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period, tens of thousands of soldiers from all parts of the country died in battle or from disease fighting wars of expansion. - Moreover, he likely opposed the Directory's continued anti-Catholic policies, which were reversed with Napoleon's Concordat, but did not take action considering the Jacobins' brutal response to the last counterrevolution. He may have continued to practice in secret throughout the period. b) A wine merchant from Bordeaux Lyon: -As a merchant, he was likely a member of the bourgeoisie/Third Estate. As such, he likely supported the Revolution in its early, pro-bourgeois stages, appreciating the National Assembly's efforts to open careers to talent as opposed to aristocratic privilege, the Le Chapelier Law which banned strikes, and other pro-business policies. He was also probably happy to finally have nobles contribute to the state's tax revenues instead of having the burden lie on the Third Estate. -He may have participated in political clubs, discussing the latest Enlightenment books and spreading new ideas. -Since he did not live in Paris, he likely opposed the state centralization carried out by the Jacobins. With the Committee of Public Safety accumulating more power over other departments and issuing harsh decrees that punished anyone suspected of not supporting the Revolution, power flowed away from the Departments and towards Paris. - Federalist Revolts: upset over the Jacobins' centralizing policies and increasingly radical policies--including the Terror, the Maximum price on bread, and the ban placed on the Girondins in the National Assembly--he may have participated in the revolts, which seized control of the town and overthrew the local Jacobin leaders. - Suppression: In keeping with the Jacobins' commitment to Terror as an instrument to maintain order, General Couthon was sent to Lyon to brutally suppress the counterrevolution. To do so, he killed 1700-1900 people and destroyed 27 homes. -If the wine merchant was lucky enough to have survived the repression, he likely waited out the Jacobins' time in power and eventually supported the Directory after the Thermidorian Reaction. The Directory pursued more pro-bourgeois policies, such as eliminating the Maximum and adopting free market policies that benefitted the bourgeois. -In 1799, he may have supported Napoleon's coup because it offered a return to order, which was good for business. c) Shoemaker living in the Marais in Paris: -As a shoemaker in Paris, he was likely eking out a living, living marginally at best. -He may have participated in the storming of the Bastille, responding to rumors of a potential effort by the king to crush the Revolution. He was likely swayed by political discussion in cafés, though he may not have been able to read himself. -Like many other working class people in Paris and across France, he was likely swayed by the king's flight to Varennes that the king was untrustworthy and may have even joined more radical groups in calling for his execution. He was also probably disappointed with the moderate policies of the National Assembly, such as its banning of strikes with the Le Chapelier Law. Champ de Mars Massacre. -As the war began and the French suffered various defeats, he may have participated in the Battle of the Valmy outside Paris, in which a force of Parisians defeated the Prussian and Austrian armies and saved the Revolution. -He likely came to support the more radical politics of the Jacobins, who argued for the Maximum. As someone with a minimal income, price shocks to bread could have been catastrophic. So, Robespierre's efforts to reduce hoarding and make bread affordable likely appealed to him greatly. -He likely supported the Terror, reveling in the executions and the sans-culottes politics of his fellow working class Parisians. He probably felt a sense of purpose and felt as if he was helping defend the Nation. -When Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were toppled in the Thermidorian Reaction, he was probably disappointed but like most of Paris he did not take up arms to defend the Jacobins. -During the Directory, he probably returned to a greater sense of normalcy, though he was disadvantaged by the elimination of the Maximum. d) A noble spending lots of time in Versailles: - Ancien Régime Privileges: As a noble, his interests were clearly aligned with those of the ancien régime. During the ancien régime, he enjoyed special privileges: he did not have to pay taxes, he was allowed to serve in officer positions in the military, he made money off the hard work of peasants on his land, and he likely enjoyed a privileged position in the King's inner circle, enjoying the extravagant parties Louis and Marie Antoinette organized. (1/2 of national budget) - Abolition of Feudalism: He likely opposed the abolition of feudalism in 1789 in the wake of the Great Fear. The power of the peasants to hunt down and overthrow the aristocrat landowners probably scared him. - Bastille: He may have encouraged Louis to take a hard line against the National Assembly, contributing to the storming of the Bastille and the Women's March on Versailles. -Women's March on Versailles: When thousands of Parisian women marched on Versailles to demand that the royal family move to Paris, he probably slipped away and returned to his home in the countryside until things cooled down. -King's Flight to Varennes: But when the king was captured in Varennes trying to escape the country and escape the Revolution, he likely sensed a change in people's feelings towards the king and the aristocracy. Rather than wait for the Revolution to radicalize further, he probably emigrated to Prussia or Austria, joining aristocratic emigrés throughout France. - Nationalization of property: By choosing to flee France, he left his property to be nationalized by the government and sold to bourgeois business owners, reshaping the French countryside and social order both during the Revolution and in its wake. -Terror: He probably watched in horror from abroad as the Terror killed aristocrats, priests, and anyone suspected of opposing the Revolution. -He likely remained abroad, supporting the efforts of other European monarchs to crush the Revolution and restore the Ancien Régime. Maybe supported the invasion of Quiberon Bay (Directory threatened from both the left and the right--left=Gracchus Babeuf and the conspiracy of equals and right=Quiberon Bay) -With Napoleon's rise to power on the 18th Brumaire, he may have chosen to return to France where he supported the new Empire. e) A seamstress living in Toulouse: -Third Estate: During the ancien régime, she and other poor individuals were expected to pay for the king's massive budget while nobles and the Church were tax-exempt. -Cottage industry: the silk industry was often based in people's homes. She probably worked long hours in her home and had trained her whole life to learn how to sew. She may have been the boss of other ladies or involved her entire family in the business. - Political education: She was probably uneducated and so couldn't read. Thus, if she heard about politics, it was likely when other people read aloud or people talked in the markets about current events and political ideas. -Equality: She likely supported the Revolution's efforts to open careers to talent and eliminate some of the trade barriers which hindered her business. - Religion: Unlike the Vendée, people in Toulouse did not resist the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which subordinated the church to the state. If they still went to church, they likely went to churches whose priests had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Nation. -The Maximum: She was probably very poor, barely eking out a living, so possibly supported the Jacobin policy of the Maximum price on bread. -Federalist Revolts: Unlike Lyon and Marseilles, Toulouse did not participate in the Federalist Revolts. People like this seamstress probably did not care about Jacobin centralization and may even have supported some of the Jacobins' more radical policies. - Military service: As a woman, she would not have had to serve. However, many of her family members were probably conscripted during this period through the Levée en Masse or other similar policies. -Language: likely didn't speak French. Spoke Occitaine. Maybe worried about growing French nationalism. Maybe felt more French when soldiers returned and as people discussed the future of the nation. - Dislike the Le Chapelier Law
sans-culottes
in the French Revolution, a label for more militant and radical supporters of the revolution, especially in the years from 1792-95. Sans-culottes means without knee breeches, which was associated with aristocratic dress. Being a sans-culottes was a form of political behavior--support for the revolution. While most sans-culottes were artisans or tradesmen or peasants, nobles, clergy, and women could also be sans-culottes. They supported a maximum price for grain, were against the institutional role of the Catholic Church, and supported people buying nationalized property. Members subscribed to a revolutionary culture: they wore red caps and tricolor cockades to demonstrate their membership; they used the informal 'tu' rather than 'vous' to define themselves as members of a progressive community; they began the tradition of kissing people on their cheeks to reaffirm collective solidarity in a new national community; and they referred to people as 'citoyens' or 'citoyennes' rather than 'monsieur' or 'madame.' They played a critical role in defending the revolution, winning a victory over invading professional armies at Valmy. The Sans-Culottes believed in popular democracy, social and economic equality, affordable food, rejection of the free-market economy, and vigilance against counter-revolutionaries.
