"The Culture of French Revolutionary Diplomacy" Topic

"This book examines the culture of the French diplomatic corps from 1789 to 1799. It analyzes how the French revolutionaries attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to transform the diplomatic culture of the old regime, notably in etiquette, language and dress and how the ideology and dynamic of the Revolution affected certain aspects of international affairs"
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Amicalement
Armand

French revolutionary diplomacy! Surely a contradiction in terms?

As the Freys have written in one of their many other publications on this subject:

'Revolutionary France destroyed the informal contacts and the sociability that had expedited agreements in the ancien régime. Furthermore, their attention to form masked a larger issue, a major shift in the way revolutionaries conducted diplomacy. They were less accommodating, more intransigent, and blunter than those of the ancien régime. Revolutionaries belligerently adhered to certain conditions and refused to participate in the give and take so integral to the old diplomacy: ‘The concessive world of eighteenth-century diplomacy, conducted by ambassadors who were members of the same international society, had collapsed to be replaced by a much more confrontational and grasping approach.'5 The hypocrisy between private convictions and public assertions which smoothed diplomatic relations was rejected by the French; revolutionary zeal with its emphasis on transparency had by definition to be flaunted.'

Hamish Scott, ‘Diplomatic Culture in Old Regime Europe', in id. and Brendan Simms, eds., Cultures of Power in Europe During the Long Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, 2007), p. 83.

Quite pricey isn't it!

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand