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Title: Revolutionary Movement in France 1815 to 1871 by John P. Plamenatz ISBN: 0-88355-809-2 Publisher: Hyperion Press Incorporated of Westport, CT Pub. Date: 01 May, 1986 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $19.25

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (1 review)

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Summary: A Scholarly Review
Comment: In The Revolutionary Movement of France: 1815-1871, Plamenatz provides a pragmatic look at the political parties that had direct impact in the involvement of various revolutions. Plamenatz states, "What I will be trying to do is to describe, not the evolution of political theories, but the behavior of political movements" (5). He holds that if one looks at the theories of the movements then comprehension of those theories becomes distorted. Further, Plamentz states that

"political theory is often difficult to calculate. Theories must be reduced to slogans before they can inspire conduct, and only small parts of them can be reduced. They must also, if they are to be useful in practice, be distorted and mixed up with fragments taken from other systems. It would be a mistake to introduce long accounts of socialist theories into what is intended to be a history not of ideas but of political movements" (5).

The Revolutionary Movement In France is presented in a chronological, almost story-like manner. Although, it points out many facts that have already been researched and analyzed, Plamenatz reassembles them in a grandiose blend that easily clarifies the instigation of various revolutions for the reader. Specifically, he incurs that every revolution consists of peacetime, agony, and secret resistance. These are the fuels that light the fire of resistance. If these events did not occur, revolutions would never become a reality. A revolution is composed of the consequences of many minor events; to divert any attention from the contextual matter of these events by dissecting any theories behind a specific revolution detracts from the dramatic feelings that are the essence of a revolution. Revolutions are dramatic. They provide a type of unity for those involved in the revolution. Unity binds each scene from beginning to end. If even one scene is overlooked, it is possible to miss the significance of the entire revolution. The central theme throughout The Revolutionary Movement of France focuses on the effects socialist thinking had on the people and their actions towards the government. Even before the ideology of socialism had been technically named, the masses of France responded to situations as though it were a concrete law. Plamenatz suggests, "the different classes acquire incompatible ideologies suitable to their irreconcilable interests" (177). Accordingly, as many leaders of the time were not called socialists by name, they were friends of the poor. These leaders did not intentionally stipulate the idea of socialism upon the French people. Rather, they helped the masses develop a sense of self worth and ability to think for both individually and as valuable members of society. Socialism was conceived in the minds of the Bourgeois; the workers held onto as much of these ideas as they could comprehend. The author writes that it was because, "they had first accepted the principles of 1789, and because they had learnt that the '"rights of man"' were meant as much for them as they were for other people" (100). The revolutionaries of France were never linked to one another. They each fought for different causes. With the help of Rousseau and Proudon, Plamenatz wrote,

"their writings had a great impact on the minds of the masses of each time period. It was from them that they learned to distrust all governments that were not directly responsible to the people, to consider wealth of the few incompatible with the independence of the many, and to believe that justice is impossible without equality and equality without freedom" (178).

John Plamenatz uses a variety of sources that support his theories and research. His citing of Karl Marx's The Eighteenth Brumarie of Louis Bonaparte and J. Jaures' Histore Socialiste (Vol. XI) are significant additions pertaining to the socialist influence on the revolutionaries of this period. In addition, Plamenatz also uses sources from other well know authors and thinkers of that period of time including Guizot, Louis Blanc, LaMartine, and Fabre. Their contributions add credibility making The Revolutionary in France both a complete and factual literary work. As a whole, however, the presentation of this work was deficient in several areas. For such an in-depth piece of work, this book contained no "tools" to aid in the full comprehension of many of Plamenatz. In The Revolutionary Movement of France: 1815-1871, the presence of pictures would allow a reader to visualize what is being read. It is more entertaining and helpful to see exactly how "pear-shaped" Louis Philippe actually was, or just how narrow the streets of Paris actually were so that the barricades that were made in them could actually stop the King's troops from advancing. In addition, the use of charts or graphics presenting the role of individual classes within a rebellion or which classes were presently in control of the French senate may help the to more clearly visualize potentially confusing information. As stated in Plamenatz's thesis, the only effective way to look at this period of history is chronologically. The text of this work is wonderfully constructed in this manner, thus making it easier to follow and comprehend. Looking at the subject area chronologically and not topically allows the text to appeal to a diverse audience. Personally, I gained no new knowledge the subject of French revolutions. The Revolutionary Movement of France is simply another book overflowing with facts and dates; it doesn't offer any additional information I could not find in another history textbook. Regardless, this book does reveal that there is more than one way of looking at the numerous revolutions that have occurred within French history. When one looks at each revolution as a sequence of events as opposed to a struggle of political parties that driven to instill their beliefs and theories in others, one can begin to appreciate what the French went through many years ago. John Plamenatz understands and wrote about the personal face on each one of these revolutions. To whom the revolutions were not just power struggles between political theorists, but were struggles between real people concerned with their future livelihood.