Description
Book Synopsis A pendant to two well-received books by the same author on the departmental clubs during the early years of the Revolution, this book is the product of thirty years of scholarly study, including archival research in Paris and in more than seventy departments in France. It focuses on the twenty-eight months from May 1793 to August 1795, a period spanning the Federalist Revolt, the Terror, and the Thermidorian Reaction. The Federalist Revolt, in which many clubs were involved, had momentous consequences for all of them and was, in the local setting, the principal cause of the Reign of Terror, a period in which more than 5,300 communes had clubs that reached the zenith of their power and influence, engaging in a myriad of political, administrative, judicial, religious, economic, social, and war-related activities. The book ends with their decline and final dissolution by a decree of the Convention in Paris.
Trade Review "... prodigious research ... results in a perceptive analysis ... the outcome is an exemplary work and a major contribution in understanding the role of the Jacobin clubs in the history of the French Revolution." · Choice
"... a solidly researched and well-written book. Kennedy has done much to provide new information regarding the inner workings of the Jacobin clubs in the Revolution." · Labour/Travail
Table of Contents Preface
Archival Abbreviations
A Note on Dates
Acknowledgments
PART I: THE FEDERALIST REVOLT
Prologue
Chapter 1. The Sections and the Coup of 2 June 1793
Chapter 2. The Revolt by Region
PART II: THE TERROR
Chapter 3. The Revolutionary Government
Chapter 4. Revolutionary Justice
Chapter 5. Club Life
Chapter 6. The Members and the Galleries
Chapter 7. The Subsistence Crisis
Chapter 8. Property Rights and Land Reform
Chapter 9. Local Interests and Public Education
Chapter 10. Dechristianization
Chapter 11. The Cult of Reason
Chapter 12. Traditional Faiths
Chapter 13. Spectacles
Chapter 14. The Army and Munitions
Chapter 15. Jacobin Cavalrymen
Chapter 16. Casualties, POWs, and the Naval War
PART III: THE THERMIDORIAN REACTION
Chapter 17. The “Last Stand” of the Clubs
Chapter 18. The Great Dying
Bibliography
Index
