The French Revolutinary Wars Essays - T. C. W. Blanning,

The French Revolutinary Wars THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS: 1787-1802 The French Revolutionary Wars: 1787-1802, by T. C. W. Blanning, is a super Work of historiography. Far more ambitious than its modest title suggests, it is the history of the French Revolution as well as a military and diplomatic history of Europe from 1787 to 1802. Blanning enriches our understanding of the Revolution by placing it in its European context, by showing how it affected and was affected by France's neighbors. He is especially well placed to take on this task. Not only has he written extensively on the French Revolution; he has written a book on Mainz under the Old Regime and the revolutionary republic, another on the French occupation of the Rhineland, and two biographies of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. [1] He is one of the few historians who can move comfortably from France to Germany to the vast Habsburg empire stretching from Belgium to the Balkans, and he has filled in the remaining gaps with extraordinarily vast reading. Among the thousand or so footnotes in The French Revolutionary Wars are references to works in German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, as well as French and English. Yet this book is more than a tour de force of erudition. It is a richly textured, engaging narrative punctuated by cogent, often brilliant analysis. Blanning begins by arguing that French defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756-63) stimulated reforms in the army which are normally associated with the Revolution: the breaking up of armies into smaller, more flexible divisions; the use of columns in addition to lines; an increasing reliance on light troops; and the use of artillery. More controversial, however, were the reforms introduced in 1787 and 1788, which slashed the number of officers in an army that was, in Blanning's words, absurdly over-officered (p. 19). These reforms, coinciding with the revolt of the parliaments, added fuel to the fire of the aristocratic revolution by alienating many of its leaders, who were not only parlementaires but army officers. They guaranteed that the army would not serve the king when he needed it to suppress the insurrection in Paris in July 1789, and indeed pushed the officers to make common cause with the Third Estate. Thus Blanning provocatively but convincingly claims, In part at least, the French Revolution was a military coup (p. 28). In addition to the hated military reforms, Blanning argues that an unpopular alliance with Austria contributed to the discrediting of the monarchy and that, more directly, the crown lost its legitimacy when it failed, ostensibly due to bankruptcy, to respond to the Prussian invasion of the United Provinces and the suppression of the pro-French Dutch Patriots in 1787. The narrative continues with an account of the first two years of the Revolution, when Russia, Prussia and Austria were preoccupied with Poland--which they would soon partition out of existence--and therefore relatively uninterested in developments in France, despite some occasional counter-revolutionary sabre- rattling. Yet this period of deceptive isolation from the European states-system (p. 42) ended in the spring of 1792, when an unlikely coalition of Girondins and monarchists (including the king himself) provoked war against the equally unlikely coalition of Prussia and Austria, countries that had been at war for more than fifty years. Blanning tells the dreadful story of war and revolution from September 1792, when thousands of suspected traitors were butchered in Parisian prisons, to August 1793, when the revolutionary Convention declared total war against external and internal enemies alike. He describes the terrible process by which the war escalated both beyond and within French borders: republican victories in the autumn of 1792 brought Britain and the Dutch Republic into the war. To fight against this growing coalition, the revolutionary government was forced to adopt conscription, and conscription, more than any other single issue, provoked and fuelled the revolt of the Vendee and the civil war which according to Blanning killed some 400,000 people. The author goes on to describe the spectacular series of revolutionary victories from August 1793 to the spring of 1795, by which time France had nearly reached its natural frontiers through the conquest of Belgium, the Dutch Republic, and most of the left bank of the Rhine. He explains these victories largely in terms of French numerical superiority, but also emphasizes the government's power to requisition vast quantities of arms and to execute commanders judged insufficiently aggressive on the battlefield. In addition to indigenous factors, Blanning cites the allies' infighting and lack of commitment to the war with France as crucial to French victory. Next Blanning

Selena Nguyen Essays - Textual Scholarship, Printing, Documents

Selena Nguyen Essays - Textual Scholarship, Printing, Documents Selena Nguyen Deacon 8B 9/22/2017 Printing Press Essay Was the printing press the most influential invention in history? I think yes. Johannes Gutenberg was a German blacksmith, goldsmith and printer who invented the printing press and movable type.His business had been struggling, and he was looking for a new way to make money. Gutenberg combined two existing concepts - the power of a wine press and the detail of a coin p unch to create the printing press. His invention of mechanical movable type printing started a revolution in communication all through Europe. There followed the Age of Enlightenment and the sharing of Scientific Knowledge. People tend to takeprinted resourcesfor granted, but imagine life today if the printing press had never been invented. We would not have books, magazines, or newspapers. Flyers, posters, and mailers would not exist. The printing press allows us to share large amounts of information fast and in vast numbers. For centuries before the printing press, books were hand written. Books were expensive to create and only available to the rich. Learning was for those who could afford, or have access to books. Most books were religious in nature. In some cases, a family might be lucky enough to own a book, in that circumstance it would be a copy of the Bible. An important side effect was that people could read and increase their knowledge more easily now; where in the past it was common for people to be quite uneducated. This increased the discussion and development of new ideas. Another substantial effect was that the printing press was responsible for literacy increase and the power of the church began to be disperse. The printing press also helped standardize language, grammar, and spelling. The printing press played a major role in shaping the Renaissance. Citation https://www.psprint.com/resources/printing-press/ http://classroom.synonym.com/reasons-printing-press-great-invention-6116.html

Alcohol Drinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alcohol Drinking - Essay Example It makes one feel better after a hard day at office, in the playgrounds, at theatres, in shopping malls and even when standing before the teetotaler. There is nothing specifically that can happen in a neighborhood. Well, if this is the way you have been thinking on consuming liquor and avoiding academic statements, it is fine to the extent that you have been consuming liquor moderately and not more than 3-4 times a week (Who should not drink alcohol). Obviously irrespective of what scientists and doctors say, alcohol is a pleasant drink. Scientists have now veered to the view that drinking is all right as long as it is done within limits and the frequency maintained. There is no point in binge drinking during weekends and staying sober the rest of the week. This does more harm than good according to research conducted on drinking (Alcohol: Our Favourite Drug). However, moderate drinking which consists of consuming two to three drinks has health benefits. It stops heart attacks and improves blood circulation. It does the work of an appetizer inside the human body and it boosts digestion. On the other hand, people say that the benefits of alcohol are highly one sided. There may be some benefits to the heart. But it still leaves the kidneys and liver vulnerable to attacks by alcohol. So in spite of all the benefits discovered to be present in alcohol there is still the nagging doubt if the drink or two you consume every evening could be irreversibly problematic to your precious liver. There is nothing clear about the benefits or disadvantages of alcohol. Nowadays, scientists are quite clear that alcohol is beneficial to the heart. But it is silent when it comes to the kidneys and liver. Hence, we are back to square one where consuming alcohol is concerned. Therefore, the teetotaler is better off as he quietly battles the possibility of heart attacks by means other than alcohol. Thus, the debate rages on. On the one hand the teetotaler is happy that nothing is clear about the benefits of alcohol. On the other hand, those who consume alcohol moderately merrily point to the scientifically proved benefits of alcohol and agree that the teetotaler does not know the enjoyment that he is missing. Between the lines, those who are teetotalers are caught napping when they are told by the doctors their cholesterol level is high and they need to put in place dietary controls. And also those who consume alcohol are told by doctors that their cholesterol levels are high and they need to control their diets which include their beverages intake. In the circumstances, neither the teetotaler is at an advantage nor is the drinker in position to proclaim safety in his vaunted status. Why we should drink In the ultimate analysis, the drink is a substitute for medicine. We come across many medicines containing alcohol. There is some alcohol in cold syrups. There is alcohol in alternative medicines such as the ayurveda. Cutting across all the din and commotion about having or not having drinks, the alcohol has proved to be a booster for the heart. The liver and kidneys can be handled with enough diet and water consumption. There are people who have lived to over ninety years of age and continue merrily