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Galway and Mayo

James G. Patterson

in In the Wake of the Great Rebellion: Republicanism, Agrarianism and Banditry in Ireland After 1798

This chapter closely examines the massive wave of agrarian agitation which manifested itself in Galway and Mayo during the winter of 1798–1799. On 22 August 1798, prophesies of a French invasion were ... More

This chapter closely examines the massive wave of agrarian agitation which manifested itself in Galway and Mayo during the winter of 1798–1799. On 22 August 1798, prophesies of a French invasion were apparently fulfilled with the appearance of a small squadron in Killala Bay. Unfortunately, the great rebellion of 1798 had been suppressed several weeks earlier. Nonetheless, the tiny French army was joined by thousands of Irish volunteers. In the succeeding 200 years, historians have failed to explain satisfactorily what drove as many as 10,000 supposedly complacent Irish peasants to partake in such an apparently ill-conceived endeavour. The existence of an underground Catholic gentry with long-term connections to the continent and the interrelated presence of a pervasive smuggling culture, coupled with traditional agrarian discontent, had produced a deeply rooted, albeit unfocused, anti-state mentalité into which the radical organizations tapped.Less

Invasion

in Mandarins and Martyrs: The Church and the Nguyen Dynasty in Early Nineteenth-Century Vietnam

This chapter reports a very different picture of social and political tensions on the eve of the Franco-Spanish invasion, which undercut the grounds for accommodation and compromise that had ... More

This chapter reports a very different picture of social and political tensions on the eve of the Franco-Spanish invasion, which undercut the grounds for accommodation and compromise that had previously allowed special arrangements to smooth many of the tensions between congregations and local officials. The French invasion produced unprecedented and irreversible social division. Their rule offered new and different opportunities, and the Catholics enjoyed an advantage in asserting their religious and political needs for the first time. The growing Catholic presence combined with the emerging political setting under French rule resulted in a complete reconfiguration of power relations in society and inflamed local antagonisms. As the French fused their position in Saigon from 1860 to 1862, Catholic missionaries throughout the kingdom fled to the safe haven to escape the recriminations occurring elsewhere.Less

Science and Barbarism

Jeremy Salt

in The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands

This chapter focuses on the British and French armies' entry into the Muslim lands of the Near East. It discusses the second French invasion of Algeria in 1830 and the British invasion of Egypt in ... More

This chapter focuses on the British and French armies' entry into the Muslim lands of the Near East. It discusses the second French invasion of Algeria in 1830 and the British invasion of Egypt in 1882. The chapter describes the machine-gun slaughter of protonational Sudanese tribal warriors in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, which was considered as the triumph of science over barbarism.Less

Bonaparte’s Burka

Ian Coller

in Muslims and Citizens: Islam, Politics, and the French Revolution

This chapter explores Napoleone di Buonaparte's fascination with Islam. It argues that the impulsion that eventually took him to Egypt was formed in the context of his early experience of Corsican ... More

This chapter explores Napoleone di Buonaparte's fascination with Islam. It argues that the impulsion that eventually took him to Egypt was formed in the context of his early experience of Corsican nationalism, radical disappointment, and revolutionary commitment to the new France that emerged after 1789. The belief that this invasion would be welcomed by Muslims—indeed, that they would somehow greet the French as fellow believers—was the product of a revolutionary politicization of Islam that was further overheated under the Directory. Indeed, the era of the Directory was the scene of a curious religious experimentation. The chapter shows how the catastrophic decision to invade Egypt effectively brought the Revolution to an end: Buonaparte brought back the taste for arbitrary rule he had established in Egypt to his rule over France and much of Europe.Less

Negotiating for a Victorious Republic: Franco-Ottoman Diplomacy 1794–1798

Pascal Firges

in French Revolutionaries in the Ottoman Empire: Diplomacy, Political Culture, and the Limiting of Universal Revolution, 1792-1798

Chapter 3 examines Franco-Ottoman negotiations in the years from 1794 to 1798. It presents the repeated efforts of the Ottoman state to mediate a general peace in the ongoing Revolutionary War. From ... More

Chapter 3 examines Franco-Ottoman negotiations in the years from 1794 to 1798. It presents the repeated efforts of the Ottoman state to mediate a general peace in the ongoing Revolutionary War. From the Ottoman perspective, a general peace was a desirable precondition for an alliance with France, as the Ottoman government did not want to join the French war with Britain. In 1796, the French government refused to ratify a defensive alliance with Sultan Selim III, on the grounds that a secret convention discharged the Ottoman state from the obligation to assist France in conflicts with Britain. The chapter also discusses when and why the French Republic changed its policy towards the Ottoman Empire, from seeking an alliance to invading Egypt.Less

Slave Traders and French Invaders

in Zachary Macaulay 1768–1838: The Steadfast Scot in the British Anti-Slavery Movement

This chapter examines Zachary Macaulay's work as deputy governor in Sierra Leone, describes his relationship with former governor John Clarkson and acting governor William Dawes, and considers their ... More

This chapter examines Zachary Macaulay's work as deputy governor in Sierra Leone, describes his relationship with former governor John Clarkson and acting governor William Dawes, and considers their views on slavery. It discusses Macaulay's relations with the settlers in Sierra Leone and with the slave traders, and highlights criticism on his immediate surrender during the French invasion of Sierra Leone. The chapter mentions that it was during this time that Macaulay's enthusiasm to end the slave trade was fired up.Less

The Collapse of the Spanish Monarchy

in “We Are Now the True Spaniards”: Sovereignty, Revolution, Independence, and the Emergence of the Federal Republic of Mexico, 1808-1824

This chapter places the 1808 French invasion of Spain within the broader context of the eighteenth-century international conflicts among European powers and the major transformation of the Atlantic ... More

This chapter places the 1808 French invasion of Spain within the broader context of the eighteenth-century international conflicts among European powers and the major transformation of the Atlantic World in the second half of the century. It examines the impact of the political crisis caused by the French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1808 and the destruction of the Spanish Monarchy. It also analyzes the similar responses of Spain and New Spain to the crisis; the attempts of novohispanos to establish an autonomous government in the name of the king; and the golpe de estado (overthrow of the government) by a few European Spaniards to prevent the formation of a congress of cities in that kingdom.Less

The Civic Landscape

Ian F. Mcneely

in The Emancipation of Writing: German Civil Society in the Making, 1790s-1820s

This chapter introduces the scribes by exploring their institutional power and demographic profile, but it unfolds at a measured pace, by first situating them in Württemberg's pre-Napoleonic civic ... More

This chapter introduces the scribes by exploring their institutional power and demographic profile, but it unfolds at a measured pace, by first situating them in Württemberg's pre-Napoleonic civic landscape. It also discusses the political culture and social geography of the old-regime duchy, and then moves on to anatomize the institutions where scribes and citizens encountered each other before the French invasions. The Landtag's independence from the duke gave significant vitality to the sphere of burgher-dominated local administration, one which belied the conservatism of the estate's representatives in Stuttgart. The canton was the central mediating institution between the state and the local community in old-regime Württemberg. The office of the town scribe, the Schreiberei, was the nexus of administrative life in Württemberg. Württemberg's clergy could boast membership in one of the best-run and most politically independent Protestant church hierarchies in Germany, and in many ways constituted an organic intelligentsia.Less

Representation, Politics, and Law in the Assassination Plot

Rachel Weil

in A Plague of Informers: Conspiracy and Political Trust in William III's England

This chapter discusses the Assassination Plot of 1696, which can be defined narrowly or broadly. Narrowly, it was a plan to ambush King William in a narrow lane between Richmond and Brentford as he ... More

This chapter discusses the Assassination Plot of 1696, which can be defined narrowly or broadly. Narrowly, it was a plan to ambush King William in a narrow lane between Richmond and Brentford as he returned from hunting. Broadly defined, the Assassination Plot was a plot to encourage a French invasion and raise a rebellion at home to restore James II. The trials of the conspirators signified a victory for the government. It persuaded the courts and the public that the broad and narrow versions of the Assassination Plot were an organic whole, that the purpose of killing the king was to enable the invasion and rebellion to succeed. By insisting that the assassination was inseparable from the uprising and invasion that would follow on its heels, the government tried to infuse the latter with the horror evoked by the former.Less

1809

Stephen Rumph

in Beethoven after Napoleon: Political Romanticism in the Late Works

This chapter briefly sorts Beethoven's works chronologically, beginning in 1814 with the Congress of Vienna, which articulates the notorious dualism between late Beethoven and Rossini. 1809 is ... More

This chapter briefly sorts Beethoven's works chronologically, beginning in 1814 with the Congress of Vienna, which articulates the notorious dualism between late Beethoven and Rossini. 1809 is described as a crucial year for the confluence of political, economic, and musical events and shows an entirely new direction in Beethoven's political aesthetic. The traditional early, middle, and late periods are referred to as “the music up to the French invasion of Vienna (1809),” “Beethoven and early Romanticism,” and “the late works.” These three periods form the moments in a dialectic between Beethoven's earlier music and Romanticism, therefore defining the political history and sociology as a music cycle as 1809 is described as a year marked not only by biographical and stylistic changes, but also by fundamental shifts in the political and economic terrain. Finally, the chapter describes the period of Beethoven's romantic crisis, combining biography, economics, political history, and sociology.Less

Epilogue

in Mandarins and Martyrs: The Church and the Nguyen Dynasty in Early Nineteenth-Century Vietnam

In the aftermath of the French consolidation around Saigon, the distortions caused by the reconfiguration of power in the far south shaped social structures and influenced the attitudes among ... More

In the aftermath of the French consolidation around Saigon, the distortions caused by the reconfiguration of power in the far south shaped social structures and influenced the attitudes among Catholics and non-Catholics. The Catholics in the new regime became increasingly rigid and distant. The French invasion was a world-changing event and as such it elicited a whole spectrum of responses. Trần Bá Lộc was one of the most successful military officials of the early French colonial regime, and epitomized his generation's experiences of the turmoil in the decades preceding colonization. The rapid deterioration in relations between Catholics and non-converts resulted in the personal and community motivations driving the mass violence.Less

The Crisis of an Empire

Tamar Herzog

in Defining Nations: Immigrants and Citizens in Early Modern Spain and Spanish America

This chapter discusses the French invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 1808. The Spanish king was forced to abdicate in favor of Napoleon, who instituted his brother Joseph as the new monarch of ... More

This chapter discusses the French invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 1808. The Spanish king was forced to abdicate in favor of Napoleon, who instituted his brother Joseph as the new monarch of Spain. Many Spaniards refused to recognize Joseph as their king and maintained allegiance to Fernando, the captive monarch. Adopting early modern contractualist theories to nineteenth-century conditions, they claimed that in Fernando's absence sovereignty returned to the “people” and was now to be exercised by local assemblies or juntas established throughout Spain and Spanish America. After a short period of anarchy, during which each junta acted on its own, claimed sovereignty, and refused to cooperate with the other juntas, in late 1808 the juntas were joined in a single institution, the Junta Central.Less

The End of Controversy: Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801)

Kenneth R. Johnston

in Unusual Suspects: Pitt's Reign of Alarm and the Lost Generation of the 1790s

Gilbert Wakefield was a professional ‘controversialist,’ a polemical writer on disputed topics in religion, literature, education, and politics. His radical independence of expression led him to ... More

Gilbert Wakefield was a professional ‘controversialist,’ a polemical writer on disputed topics in religion, literature, education, and politics. His radical independence of expression led him to resign his Anglican ministry, but he soon found even Dissenting academies too constrictive. In 1798, he attacked Richard Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff, for his fawning Address to the People of Great Britain, approving Pitt’s institution of an income tax to pay for the war. He was charged with seditious libel—by the government, not by Watson. He was sentenced to three years in the harsh Dorchester jail. He tried to improve the conditions of other prisoners, eventually contracting the typhus from which they suffered, causing his own death months after he was released in 1801. Wordsworth covertly alludes to Wakefield in his description of The Solitary in The Excursion, because Wordsworth had also written against Watson, but had been dissuading from publishing it.Less

The Network in Action

Oren Margolis

in The Politics of Culture in Quattrocento Europe: René of Anjou in Italy

This chapter details the military and diplomatic activity that affected René of Anjou’s network through the 1450s and into the beginning of the next decade, especially the two failed Angevin ... More

This chapter details the military and diplomatic activity that affected René of Anjou’s network through the 1450s and into the beginning of the next decade, especially the two failed Angevin campaigns in Italy: René’s war in Lombardy in 1453–4; and John of Calabria’s war against Ferrante in the kingdom of Naples in 1458–64. It analyses the effectiveness in action of René’s network: whether it held together; whether it helped prosecute René’s aims; and, where it failed, why it did so. It also discusses the role in and impact on these events of cultural politics and the networking agenda. While Francesco Sforza now led opposition to René and the Ordre du Croissant foundered in southern Italy, Jacopo Antonio Marcello and the Pazzi family remained key supporters; the underlying strength of the network is seen in its morphing into a faction opposed to the Italian League, and in the way it was reanimated on the 1494 French invasion of King Charles VIII.Less

1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act

in A Community Built on Words: The Constitution in History and Politics

The central point of contention in national politics during 1798 involved foreign policy. Revolutionary France's overbearing and erratic behavior had brought Franco-American relations to the breaking ... More

The central point of contention in national politics during 1798 involved foreign policy. Revolutionary France's overbearing and erratic behavior had brought Franco-American relations to the breaking point, with the generally Francophile Republicans divided and disheartened, and many of the Federalists convinced that the Republic was in mortal peril of a French invasion or subversion from within. In the spring and summer following Calder, the Federalist-controlled Congress took under consideration a battery of laws intended, as Federalists saw it, to put the country in an appropriate state of defense. Among the bills eventually enacted was the famous (or infamous) Sedition Act of July 14, 1798, which prompted the first great debate over the interpretation of the first amendment. (Collectively the statutes were known as the Alien and Sedition Acts and one of the other laws, the Alien Act of June 25, also evoked significant constitutional discussions.)Less