Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Germany and the French Revolution
While the political history of the era of the French Revolution has been written by Sybel and Sorel and a crowd of lesser men, the in?uence of its ideas and of the moving drama of blood and tears on the mind and soul of the different countries of Europe has never been thoroughly explored. The universal significance of the upheaval was grasped at the outset both by actors and specta tors. 'your laws will be the laws of Europe, if you are worthy of them, ' declared Mirabeau to the Constituent Assembly; 'so strong is the in?uence of great States, and, above all, of France.' 'whoever regards this Revolution as exclusively French, ' echoed Mallet du Pan, 'is incapable of pronouncing judgment upon it.' Friends and foes beyond the frontiers were at one in emphasising the power of its appeal; and men like Burke and Paine, Kant and de Maistre, who agreed in nothing else, were convinced that the problems which it raised concerned humanity as a whole. 'when France has a cold, ' remarked Metternich bitterly, 'all Europe sneezes.' The verdict of contemporaries has been ratified by succeeding generations, and has now become an established commonplace.
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