this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2025
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... the Federalists and Lyon revolts were literally reactionary, though.
Considering that the aristocracy and clergy still held immense power, to the point of rallying a continent-wide coalition to reinstall them as well as a civil war to help them along?
I feel very comfortable saying that their execution was the execution of an established ruling power, and that "Government offices are no longer officially monopolized by them for a whole two years" doesn't really change that.
I mean... no? They erupted in response to the purge of the Girondins, which wasn't very revolutionary. Unless you define the revolution to mean Paris, fighting against authoritarian centralisation of power seems very in line with the Revolution even if the leadership of the revolts did tend to have conservative sympathties.
That's... uh... wow. You should revisit the French Revolution and surrounding wars, seriously. For reference, though, the civil war was based in pretty legitimate grievances against Paris authoritarian overreach, the purge of the Girondins for the Federalists and religious oppression+conscription for the Vandee folks. As for the Revolutionary wars, France literally declared war first; everyone else wanted it to collapse in silence so they could focus on Poland. Neither of these were significantly affected by the aristocratic sour grapes.
The Girondins who were purged for being too far-right for the Jacobins' tastes? The Girondins who promptly made common cause in the Federalist Revolts with literal royalists?
Interpreting the French Revolution, an incident sparked by the demands of a national congress for national standardization of representation in a centralized system, as anti-centralization is a very curious take; dismissing the conservativism of the leaders of the opposition is even more curious.
Are we going to ignore the deep interconnected nature of both the European aristocracy and the monarchist regimes of each polity?
The overwhelming objection was not that Paris's power was centralized - a matter they were more than happy to support when it suited them - but that the regime in Paris was too radical for their tastes.
Like Confederates barking about "States' rights", all it ever really meant was "We aren't in power and we don't like that".
The purge of the Girondins was a triggering event, but not the basis of the Federalist revolts, which occurred overwhelmingly by the support of the wealthy bourgeoisie which felt the Revolution had gone 'too far', in concert with royalist counterrevolutionaries.
"Religious oppression" here meaning "Not allowing theocracy to continue". Sadly something a great many people regard as religious oppression - as seen in Christofascists in the US, and Islamists in Turkiye.
The threat to declare war was openly and freely made first by the anciens regimes, and armed bodies of emigres not only allowed, but supplied and supported as they built their forces on the borders of France.