Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction: culture and power during the long eighteenth century
- 2 When culture meets power: the Prussian coronation of 1701
- 3 Military culture in the Reich, c. 1680–1806
- 4 Diplomatic culture in old regime Europe
- 5 Early eighteenth-century Britain as a confessional state
- 6 ‘Ministers of Europe’: British strategic culture, 1714–1760
- 7 Confessional power and the power of confession: concealing and revealing the faith in Alpine Salzburg, 1730–1734
- 8 The transformation of the Aufklärung: from the idea of power to the power of ideas
- 9 Culture and Bürgerlichkeit in eighteenth-century Germany
- 10 The politics of language and the languages of politics: Latin and the vernaculars in eighteenth-century Hungary
- 11 ‘Silence, respect obedience’: political culture in Louis XV's France
- 12 Joseph II, petitions and the public sphere
- 13 The court nobility and the origins of the French Revolution
- 14 The French Revolution and the abolition of nobility
- 15 Foreign policy and political culture in later eighteenth-century France
- 16 Power and patronage in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflöte
- 17 Between Louis and Ludwig: from the culture of French power to the power of German culture, c. 1789–1848
- Index
14 - The French Revolution and the abolition of nobility
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction: culture and power during the long eighteenth century
- 2 When culture meets power: the Prussian coronation of 1701
- 3 Military culture in the Reich, c. 1680–1806
- 4 Diplomatic culture in old regime Europe
- 5 Early eighteenth-century Britain as a confessional state
- 6 ‘Ministers of Europe’: British strategic culture, 1714–1760
- 7 Confessional power and the power of confession: concealing and revealing the faith in Alpine Salzburg, 1730–1734
- 8 The transformation of the Aufklärung: from the idea of power to the power of ideas
- 9 Culture and Bürgerlichkeit in eighteenth-century Germany
- 10 The politics of language and the languages of politics: Latin and the vernaculars in eighteenth-century Hungary
- 11 ‘Silence, respect obedience’: political culture in Louis XV's France
- 12 Joseph II, petitions and the public sphere
- 13 The court nobility and the origins of the French Revolution
- 14 The French Revolution and the abolition of nobility
- 15 Foreign policy and political culture in later eighteenth-century France
- 16 Power and patronage in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflöte
- 17 Between Louis and Ludwig: from the culture of French power to the power of German culture, c. 1789–1848
- Index
Summary
The French Revolution is perhaps the first movement in history to be remembered largely through its dates. The most famous is, of course, 14 July 1789, the day the Bastille fell; but there are a number of others, scarcely less famous: 10 August 1792, the overthrow of the monarchy; 9 Thermidor 1794 in the revolutionary calendar, the fall of Robespierre; or 18 Brumaire 1799, the accession to power of Napoleon. Those who know the field more closely could easily suggest more, but few, perhaps, would instantly think of 19 June 1790 among them. Yet on that day, two events happened in the National Assembly, both memorable in their way. One was essentially trivial, the other quite momentous. And yet the trivial incident often claims more space in histories of the revolution, while the momentous one scarcely rates more than a passing mention or a footnote in most general accounts.
The trivial one arose out of the order of the day in the National Assembly. The first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille was approaching, and the Assembly was discussing how to commemorate it. It decided first of all to set up a special uniformed company to be called the ‘Conquerors of the Bastille’ and made up of those who could prove that they had been present on the great day. It then decided to admit a number of deputations keen to express their patriotic sentiments.
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- Cultures of Power in Europe during the Long Eighteenth Century , pp. 289 - 303Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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