Diplomatic History of Europe 1500 - 2000 | Revolutions (Lecture 11)

Lecture 11: We turn next to examine a crucial period of upheaval: the era of the American and French Revolutions. Historians describe this period as pivotal in the transformation of European politics. New ideological energies of nationalism and mass politics were unleashed on Europe. The French Revolution of 1789, announcing liberty, fraternity, and equality, also touched off a quarter-century of war in Europe, which redrew the diplomatic map and reordered politics. We observe the dramatic collision of traditional regimes with dynamic revolutionary forces and see how the ultimate diplomatic survivor, French Foreign Minister Talleyrand, managed to profit by the chaos as an insincere servant of successive regimes.

Essential Reading:
Paul Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848, pp. 1–230.

Supplementary Reading:
Michael Hochedlinger, “Who’s Afraid of the French Revolution?: Austrian Foreign Policy and the European Crisis 1787–1797,” German History, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2003), pp. 293–318.