OCC CIV NOTES 1/25

most of the books are on 2-hour reserve at the library or on e-reserve (dickens)

interpretations of the french revolution
1. Bourgeois
2. Marxist
3. Burke & Conservatives
4. Furet/totalitarians
5. Hunt and the other revolution
6. 21st century

for a long time, the dominant view of the french revolution was the first- bourgeois
sieyes
guizot saw the revolution as a method to overthrow the aristocracy/monarchy and establish a constitution

revolution hastened not liberal constitutionalism, but centralization and order (epitomized by Napoleon)

marxists-
all you need to run a country is some smart people, and you put them in charge (not too hard)
-why didnt this happen?
marx explained that this was because all human society goes through 5 stages
-primitive
-slaveholding
-feudal
-capitalist
-communist
in each system, marx hypothesized that the nature of the economic system determines the nature of the superstructure above it
-economics determines not only government structure, but also church teachings, etc
why do you need a revolution to switch from feudal to capitalist?
-because the monarchy would never willingly give up power

the (political) right demonized the revolution
-they were fans of security and stability, not revolution
burke was a huge critic of the revolution
-said the english revolution was great, french not so much
the right-wing criticism of the revolution morphed into cults of religion and race
-aided the spread of facism

totalitarian
this view started to get popularized after documents and evidence started coming out of the soviet gulag
-there ended up being an intellectual revolt against communism in europe
-leader of the revolt was francois furet
when leftists start to slide to the right, they dont know when to stop
-eventually the leftists drifted rightward

Hunt
looks for the 'true idea of the revolution'
-finds human rights
how far is too far in the dehumanization of enemies by the state?
human rights woo. ok. continue...
most interesting feature of the french revolution is not the effort to make a better society, but the massive violence
calls napoleon a despot, usurping the power of the people
huge uprising called the 'vendee' that had huge punishments for any counter-revolutionary activities