French Society in Revolution 1789-1799

In recent years historians have been drawn to the political culture of dictatorial violence surrounding this period in French history, at the expense of recognizing the profound liberation, and ultimate social transformation, that the period represented for the French people. This work aims to retrieve the social history of the French Revolution from unjustified neglect. This study plots a narrative course through a turbulent time, examining both the structural and cultural elements behind the breakdown of the 18th-century monarchic state and its aristocratic social system. Engaging with the late-1990s historical research, it presents a picture of the tensions evolving in this system and tracks elements of conflict throughout the revolutionary decade. The limitations and failings of revolutionary attempts at liberation are confronted, particularly in the fields of gender and the treatment of poverty, and the beliefs and situations that hindered efforts to create a genuine political community are analyzed. The Revolution is firmly acknowledged as failing within its own time to fulfil its goals, but the continual attempts by counter-revolutionaries to destroy it must be recalled as part of the explanation for this. Ultimately, the Revolution is seen as having long-term benefits for the French population and for European society.