On France

Author: Joseph de Maistre
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: On France is the masterpiece of Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821), Count, written in 1796 during the Directory period. After the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the clergy and nobility were impacted, and Maistre began his lifelong exile in 1792. In this book, Maistre focuses on the dynamics of the French Revolution's occurrence and development, the constant presence of war factors in the revolution, and the issue of how his conception of divine providence is reflected throughout the revolution. Unlike other scholars who focus on social factors in the revolution, such as the status tensions among the elite, the mismatch between population and wealth growth and the channels for status advancement, or ideological factors, whether the French Revolution was a ritual completion of legitimacy determination, Maistre firmly emphasizes historical empirical facts, appealing to observations of human behavior. He advocates for the sacred past, the virtues of the classical era, and inevitability, highlighting the role of the spiritual realm, which constitutes Maistre's own constructed history of the French Revolution.