Georges Lefebvre (1) (1874–1959)

[Written in 1970] Someone needs to write a "Come to Jesus" summary of the French Revolution: An assessment that shows what or that the extraordinary effort and sacrifice had a point for all of us.

What we learn from the brilliant historians (and Albert Mathiez and Georges Lefebre who wrote this book are among them) is confusing. We have almost no way to incorporate lessons learned. We remain caught in a fog of indifference and the many distractions created by hysterics. Edmond Burke is still show more cited among English speakers as the expert on the French Revolution. He was not expert in either facts or history or events taking place on another continent in a language he did not speak or remotely understand. He himself betrayed the Directory, which was a conservative effort by the French to recover from the devastations of the Left, and which is what Burke keeps screaming about. By making war on France, the English Burkians pushed France into the hands of Napoleon. Really unforgivable.

Lefebvre gives us the sequence of political events primarily taking place in Paris, 1795-1799. He provides short but keenly accurate biographies of the principals, and makes many of the maneuvres transparent, all without the bias of withholding nasty truth or parading glorious achievements on only one side. No historian or journalist worthy of the name should ever do so. Lefebvre is constantly sifting the grace and cruelties of all sides, although even he has to grit his teeth in doing so. The story is not for sissies.

The story begins after the initial Terror, with the 1795 Directory which served to govern France and which created the platform which Napoleon saved and then seized to become Emperor, in 1799 (the "eighteenth of Brumaire").

Lefebvre carefully goes through the beginning of the Directory and what they had to handle: monetary crisis, completely worthless currency, elections, eruptions of "terror" including the "white terror", betrayals and assassinations, war against England, propaganda, Jacobin and anti-Jacobin insurrections, fraction and civil war, colonial issues, immigration, the Egyptian Expedition, threat of invasion from every neighboring country and all European monarchies, and of course, Napoleon.

"What has endured is the predominance of the notables, the work they completed under his [Napoleon's] guidance, the final consolidation of the Revolution which, by making a dictatorship useless in the future, made it possible to begin the liberal experiment again in 1814. This is the real significance of the eighteenth of Brumaire [1799] [Bonaparte took power upon the false allegations of a terrorist plot]: initiated by a few bold bourgeois, it finally established the power of the bourgeoisie." show less

Only finished Volume 1 and may or may not get to Volume 2. Great, but..... a bit too scholarly for me i guess, as the author constantly throws out names or groups without explanation (and me in the dark). Usually one learns from context and is thereby edified, but not always- sometimes it is just confusing. Having said that, the ground is very well covered. I have been dipping into a few other popular histories of the revolution for context and support and find them too casual- deepening my show more appreciation of the Lefebvre volume. Was a bit hard to get into, as we are graced with maybe 100 pages (???) of financial background to the revolution. Yes, one supposes that was important, but... it isn't really carried forward, so looking back it seems a bit narrow and unbalanced to overweight that so much. show less

Published in 1939 as a celebration of its 150 years, Georges Lefebvre's book offers an easy to understand overview of the beginning of the French Revolution: started by the aristocratie, followed up by the bourgeoisie and, crucially and decisively, later on joined by wide popular revolts in general -peasants in particular- the author indeed let it unfolds under our eyes like a domino effect. Such an overview, sharp, reveals itself to be of an enlightening simplicity. The fact Georges show more Lefebvre solely deals with the year 1789 (until the imprisonment of the king in the Tuileries) without extrapolating upon the events that will follow up just makes this read even more straightforward.

Sure, he is a classic historian of the French Revolution. It doesn't mean, though, that he reduces it only to a simple matter of class struggle. Rightly underlining how cautious we have to be with such a concept for such an event (e.g. there was no unity nor class consciousness among the bourgeoisie and the nobility...) he demonstrates in fact through various factors how it's individuals coming from different strata of society that merged months after months to end the French Old Regime, an end those final stop would ultimately be the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen. Class still matters, but not only.

Thus, reading very simply like a play in four acts (the revolution by the aristocrats, the revolution by the bourgeoisie, the revolution by the people, the revolution by the peasants) 'The Coming of the French Revolution' may still oversimplifies things (in its overall Marxist approach) but, nevertheless, it makes for an accessible and clear snapshots of events otherwise highly complex and controversial. An enlightening read. show less

Two revolutions in two different countries. In one, the bloodthirsty inhabitants turned to a Reign of Terror to achieve their objectives. In the other, disenfranchised shopkeepers threw off their overlords to begin a new nation. The differences between the French and American Revolutions have always intrigued me, which is why I picked up this paperback. What the heck caused the Gallic disturbance to be so...disturbing?

This really is an excellent introduction to the reasons for the French show more Revolution, focusing on each affected group, from king to nobles to middle class to peasants. This is not an overview of the later Reign of Terror or the beginning of the Empire, so the focus is very strong and full of details.

Still, I wonder how the future of France would have turned if there had been stronger protagonists. Danton, Robespierre, Marat, Isnard? Or Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin?

Book Season = Winter (Paris is grey) show less