Urban Rivalries in the French Revolution Ted W. Margadant

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Margadant, Ted W., 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political culture.

Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Cities and towns.

Central-local government relations.

Administrative and political divisions.

Political culture--France--History.

Cities and towns--France--History.

Central-local government relations--France--History.

France.

France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Influence.

France--Administrative and political divisions.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource (528 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1992

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The reordering of France into a new hierarchy of administrative and judicial regions in 1791 unleashed an intense rivalry among small towns for seats of authority, while raising vital issues for the vast majority of the French population. Here Ted Margadant tells a lively story of the process of politicization: magistrates, lawyers, merchants, and other townspeople who petitioned the National Assembly not only boasted of their own communities and denigrated rival towns, but also adopted revolutionary slogans and disseminated new political ideas and practices throughout the countryside. The history of this movement offers a unique vantage point for analyzing the regional context of town life and the political dynamics of bourgeois leadership during the French Revolution. Margadant explores the institutional crisis of the old regime that brought about the reordering, considers the rhetoric and politics of space in the first year of the Revolution, and examines the fate of small towns whose districts and law courts were suppressed. Combining descriptive narrative with statistical analysis and computer mapping, he reveals the important consequences of the new hierarchy for the urban development of France in the post-Revolutionary era.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF MAPS

LIST OF TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: THE INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS OF THE OLD REGIME

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 Towns and the Old Regime

CHAPTER 2 The New Division of the Kingdom

CHAPTER 3 Urban Crisis and Bourgeois Ambition

PART TWO: THE RHETORIC AND POLITICS OF SPACE

CHAPTER 4 The Rhetoric of Contention

CHAPTER 5 The Politics of Parochialism

CHAPTER 6 Urban Rivalries and the Formation of Departments

CHAPTER 7 Disputes over the Seats of Departments

CHAPTER 8 The Struggle for Districts and Tribunals

PART THREE: THE FATE OF SMALL TOWNS

CHAPTER 9 Judicial Reform and the Politicization of Urban Rivalries

CHAPTER 10 The New Urban Hierarchy

CHAPTER 11 The French Revolution and Urban Growth in the Nineteenth Century

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX 1. Statistical Procedures

APPENDIX 2. Population Size Estimates and Institutional Characteristics of Major Towns

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX OF PLACE NAMES

GENERAL INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [467]-485) and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691056876

0691056870

9780691230887

0691230889

OCLC:

1245671047